CBS, Big East reach agreement

Pitt center Aaron Gray’s return for his senior season has put lofty expectations on the… Pitt center Aaron Gray’s return for his senior season has put lofty expectations on the shoulders of head coach Jamie Dixon and his Panther basketball team.

A number of publications have the 2006-07 Panthers placed in their preseason top 10, with a few giving heavy consideration on a top-5 placement.

With high expectations comes national exposure, too, and recently the Big East Conference and CBS Sports reached an agreement to extend the rights to telecast Big East games on the CBS network.

The new agreement, which begins with the 2007-08 season, extends the current agreement through the 2012-13 season and calls for a minimum of 14 men’s basketball appearances per season by Big East schools.

Appearances by Big East women’s basketball teams will also be featured on the network.

“We’re very pleased to maintain our partnership with CBS,” Big East Commissioner Michael Tranghese said. “Big East teams have enjoyed outstanding exposure through the years on CBS.

“The length of this agreement guarantees that Big East teams will have a high profile on national broadcast television well into the future.”

During last season, CBS televised 11 regular season games involving Big East member schools, including five league matchups.

CBS first started televising Big East basketball in the 1981-82 season. Three years later, the Big East became the first conference to ink an exclusive deal with a television network when the two first forged an agreement in 1985.

“This agreement assures that Big East basketball will remain a central component of CBS Sports’ basketball schedule, as it has been for over 25 years,” said Mike Aresco, senior vice president of programming for CBS Sports.

A strong season for the Panthers will put them in position for a few national broadcasts. And with Gray back leading the way, the chance for Pitt to show nationally what it can do couldn’t be greater.