By Staff
CHICAGO – When Big Ten champions are crowned this fall, the Big Ten Network will be there to provide television coverage.
The network will televise live the semifinals and finals of the upcoming Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament, Men's Soccer Championship and Women's Soccer Tournament and will also cover the Big Ten Cross Country Championships.
Coverage began on Sunday during Big Ten Tonight with highlights and reaction from the 2008 Cross Country Championships, hosted by the University of Michigan.
The Big Ten Network will be in Bloomington for the semifinals and final of the Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament.
The games will air live at 10 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. on Friday, as will Sunday's final at noon.
Four Big Ten teams are in the top 20 and defending tournament champion and No. 9 Iowa figures to be challenged by No. 8 Penn State, No. 10 Michigan State and No. 18 Ohio State.
Immediately following the field hockey semifinals, the action continues in Iowa City with the semifinals of the Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament. Those games will air live at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Sunday's championship game will be live at 3 p.m.
Last season, Penn State won the Big Ten title, but Purdue captured the tournament title. This year, the Nittany Lions are the Big Ten's highest-ranked team at No. 21 with Minnesota following closely behind at No. 25.
The Big Ten Network will televise live the semifinals and finals of the Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship, hosted by the University of Wisconsin. Semifinal coverage begins at noon and 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14. Sunday's final will be carried live at 1 p.m.
Ohio State will be out to defend its 2007 title and will be joined by four teams currently appearing in the national polls, including No. 6 Northwestern, No. 17 Indiana, No. 18 Michigan and No. 25 Michigan State.
Entering this week's action, the Big Ten has 31 nationally ranked programs in the fall season, including top 10 teams in men's cross country (No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 9 Michigan), women's cross country (No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Michigan State and No. 10 Illinois), field hockey (No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Iowa and No. 10 Michigan State), football (No. 3 Penn State), men's soccer (No. 6 Northwestern) and volleyball (No. 1 Penn State).