INDIANAPOLIS – NCAA Division II announced 24 regular-season men's and women's basketball games that will be highlighted in January and February on ESPN3 or NCAA social media as part of a new media agreement intended to promote the division on several platforms throughout the academic year. An additional four flex doubleheaders will be finalized in February, and the games are expected to highlight premier and pivotal matchups toward the end of the season.

The new media agreement features two distribution models for basketball and football. For basketball, 18 games will stream exclusively on ESPN3, available on the ESPN app. Eighteen additional games are part of the hybrid model, and they have the flexibility to be distributed on TV and online. The division will work with the TV partners of participating conferences and schools on the opportunity to air games on TV. These games also will be distributed online through NCAA social media accounts — specifically, Division II Facebook (facebook.com/ncaadivisionii) and Twitter (@NCAADII) — and could be distributed through conference or school digital networks.

"We are excited for the second half of the basketball season and look forward to featuring the accomplishments of Division II basketball student-athletes on ESPN3 and in the division's hybrid model," said Terri Steeb Gronau, vice president of Division II. "Fans will continue to watch talented student-athletes who make a difference in the classroom and in their communities."
The current schedule, which spans December through February, features 14 of the 24 basketball-sponsoring conferences in Division II and is created from a pool of conference nominations. One conference declined to participate due to an existing media rights agreement.

ESPN3 is ESPN's live multiscreen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible on the ESPN app across mobile and TV-connected devices to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. ESPN3 also is available at no cost to U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband networks.

The basketball showcase tipped off in December with two doubleheaders in the hybrid model — Daemen versus Roberts Wesleyan and Bloomfield versus Caldwell. The 2019 portion of the schedule began Wednesday, Jan. 9, with a doubleheader between Columbus State and North Georgia on ESPN3.