Final fall schedules announced

By Jonathan Okanes

MIchael Rosenthal may finally get on Sportscenter, after all.

The USC water polo player jokes there are a ton of feats accomplished in the pool that should make ESPN’s “Top 10 plays,” but they are never seen because of lack of exposure. With the Pac-12 Networks’ announcement today that seven men’s water polo matches will be televised this fall, the sport should start to garner more notoriety across the country.

“We don’t get very much attention,” said Rosenthal, an honorable mention All-American last season who helped the Trojans win their fourth consecutive NCAA championship. “This is amazing for the sport. I think college water polo in the United States is a pretty high level of water polo. It’s incredible.”

In addition to the water polo matches, the Pac-12 Networks also announced they will televise six field hockey games involving the two conference schools that have programs — Cal and Stanford. Both teams will host two-time national champ Maryland in August. Two games against each other will also be aired.

And the networks additionally revealed they will televise the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships, marking the first conference championship game or tournament that they will air. The date for the event will be announced later.

All four conference schools that have men’s water polo programs — UCLA, USC, Cal and Stanford — will be featured on the networks, including the initial broadcast on Sept. 22 featuring Loyola Marymount and UCLA. All games will be on Saturday, except for the Stanford-UCLA game on Friday, Nov. 9.

“I think there is a good amount of interest, especially in California,” Rosenthal said. “For high school age kids, it’s not always easy to get to all the good games. This really gives an opportunity for younger kids to get excited about water polo and watch all the games.”

Rosenthal is especially excited because he is from Florida, and previously most of his family and friends would have to make the cross-country trip to see him play.

“My grandparents have always wanted to come watch but it’s hard for them to travel,” Rosenthal said. “This gives them an opportunity to see me play. It’s pretty special.”

For the complete water polo and field hockey schedules, click here.

All eyes on Pac-12 women’s volleyball

By Jonathan Okanes

The Pac-12 has been the dominant conference in women’s volleyball for decades.

A lot more people are about to find that out.

The Pac-12 Networks released their 2012 women’s volleyball schedule Wednesday and it will feature 82 matches. Every team in the conference will make at least 12 appearances on the networks, including every team on Nov. 23, the final day of the regular season.

Viewers will have plenty of chances to see college volleyball played at its highest level. UCLA won the national championship last season, the conference’s 14th in the 31 years the NCAA Tournament has been played for women’s volleyball. The Pac-12 has sent at least six teams to the tourney for 12 straight years. Last year, both UCLA and USC reached the Final Four, the 14th time the conference has made up at least half of the national semifinals. A Pac-12 team has played in the national championship match 23 times, including 10 out of the last 11 seasons.

“In my opinion, this changes the whole face of the sport in this country,” said USC coach Mick Haley, a former U.S. National Team coach who has led the Trojans to two NCAA titles. “This is what the coaches, the coaches association (AVCA), and everybody has been asking for; this kind of exposure. I think you’re going to see a tremendous jump in the sport’s following.”

The coverage commences on Aug. 28 when USC plays host to the Jiangsu Chinese Team at 7 p.m. The networks’ first four women’s volleyball broadcasts will feature the team from China, as it will also take on UCLA on Aug. 29, Stanford on Sept. 5 and Cal on Sept. 6.

UCLA also hosts perennial West Coast Conference power Pepperdine on Sept. 12 before the Pac-12 season begins. Last year, the conference sent seven teams to the NCAA Tournament and had six finish in the final AVCA top 25.

“The Pac-12 Networks broadcast of 82 volleyball matches this season is an excellent way to market collegiate volleyball and to increase exposure for our 12 volleyball programs, which collectively make up the top conference in the nation,” said Oregon State coach Terry Liskevych, who guided the U.S Olympic Team to the bronze medal at the 1992 games in Barcelona. “This will bring us great exposure and really allow us to show the rest of the country the both the talent and competitiveness of all 12 schools. I’m very excited for this first year and beyond.”

The networks will show a handful of quadruple headers on Fridays and Sundays, when most of the volleyball matches will take place. There will also be a singular featured match on most Wednesday nights. A handful of matches will also be played on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

For the complete women’s volleyball schedule, click here.

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Networks release soccer schedules

By Jonathan Okanes

The Pac-12 Networks released their 2012 men’s and women’s soccer schedules over the past couple of days, and they are highlighted by the networks’ first-ever live event production.

Stanford’s women’s soccer team, the defending NCAA champion, will meet Santa Clara on Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. (PT) in the first game ever to air on the Pac-12 Networks. That will be the first of 58 women’s soccer contests to air on the networks this season. There will be 28 men’s soccer games, beginning with a doubleheader on Aug. 24 when Gonzaga visits Washington and UCLA hosts New Mexico. Compare to a year ago and the exposure for Pac-12 soccer is up from a combined 22 TV appearances in 2011 to 86 this year.

Time to clear your weekends if you are a soccer enthusiast, because the Pac-12 Networks will be showing most games on Fridays and Sundays. Thirty-two women’s soccer games alone will air on Fridays. A combined 72 men’s and women’s games will take place on Fridays and Sundays.

There are 10 days this fall where at least three soccer games will be on the Pac-12 Networks. There will be five games on Sept. 28 and Sept. 30.

On the women’s side, 19 of the broadcasts will feature nonconference games. There will be nine nonconference tilts for men’s soccer.

The inaugural contest between Stanford and Santa Clara is a marquee matchup between the defending national champs and the Broncos, who are a perennial power in women’s soccer. UCLA’s men’s soccer team went to the NCAA College Cup last season and should be in the national mix again in 2012.

For the complete women’s soccer schedule, click here.

For the complete men’s soccer schedule, click here.

Stevenson talks Enterprises

By Jonathan Okanes

Pac-12 Enterprises president Gary Stevenson was a keynote speaker at the College Sports Video Summit last week in Atlanta, highlighting what the networks have to offer and engaging in discourse with fellow professionals in the field.

Here’s a sampling of what Stevenson had to say:

“This dramatically increased exposure for our universities will lead to interesting content that focuses on the excellence, rich traditions and unique personalities of each school. Learning opportunities for millions of people. Recruitment opportunities for our universities. And much-deserved exposure for world-class faculties that include Nobel Prize winners and many other leaders in their fields.”

“Our storytellers will dive deeper into the traditions and history of the Pac-12. People like Ronnie Lott, Rick Neuheisel and Summer Sanders, three of the most accomplished former student-athletes in Pac-12 history, will help us tell our story.”

“When I took this job last September, some people asked me why I wanted to take on this enormous challenge. It’s really quite simple! We have all the elements of success here: We have a great brand, an attractive geographic and demographic footprint, a great history that is full of tradition, full ownership of the enterprise, and the complete commitment from our university presidents, and our well-respected athletic directors and senior women’s administrators.”

Pac-12 Enterprises president Gary Stevenson speaks to the College Sports Video Summit last week in Atlanta. Stevenson was one of the event’s keynote speakers.

Former Pac-12 athletes talk about the network

By Jonathan Okanes

The Pac-12 Networks are in the process of compiling promotional material from some of the conference’s elite former athletes. So many of the conference’s student-athletes have gone on to reach the top of their respective sports. Tuesday, the Networks stopped by AT&T Park — home of the San Francisco Giants — to talk to a trio of former Pac-12 athletes that have reached the highest level of their sport.

Two of them play for the Giants — pitcher Barry Zito and shortstop Brandon Crawford. Zito was a first team All-American at USC in 1999. Crawford starred at UCLA, where he led the Bruins to three straight NCAA Regional appearances and was an all-conference selection.

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford prepares for an interview by the Pac-12 Networks at AT&T Park. Crawford played his college ball at UCLA.

While at the ballpark, the Networks were also paid a visit by former Stanford soccer star Kelley O’Hara, who recently was named to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team that will compete in the London Games this summer. O’Hara, who now resides in San Francisco, just returned from a national team training session in Philadelphia and leaves next week for Sweden to play the host country and Japan.

O’Hara led Stanford to the NCAA College Cup in back-to-back seasons. In 2009, she won the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top players.

Former Stanford star soccer player Kelley O’Hara has a pre-interview discussion with Pac-12 Enterprises vice president Kirk Reynolds. O’Hara was recently named to the U.S. Olympic Team for this summer’s London games. She also was on last summer’s team that went to the championship match of the World Cup.

O’Hara is asked a variety of questions about her time at Stanford and her experiences as an elite soccer player.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Pac-12 Networks Blog. Out here on the West Coast, we have a culture of starting new things, and we’re about to embark on one of the most exciting new launches in media history.

Coming in August, get ready for the Pac-12 Networks, a division of Pac-12 Enterprises, the new content and multiplatform media company for the Pac-12 Conference, a leader in collegiate athletics that includes 12 of the most prestigious universities in the world. With a nation-leading 448 NCAA titles across 27 sports (as of today), the Pac-12 has earned its preeminent position as the “Conference of Champions.”

Please allow us a bit more marketing speak: The Pac-12 Networks is a full-time linear network available to cable, satellite and telephone companies, dedicated solely to the Pac-12. It will consist of a national network and six regional feeds that will provide 24/7 access to Pac-12 teams and universities. The networks will televise more than 800 live sporting events annually and will showcase 12 Conference Championship events each year, representing 13 sports. The Pac-12 Digital group encompasses the digital network, mobile, the university websites, social media and innovative digital initiatives across the company.

We are excited and excited to share stories, news and behind-the-scenes glimpses of our ongoing story on the Pac-12 Networks Blog.