May 29, 2009

CHICAGO - On Monday, June 1, the Big Ten Network will go green with 24 consecutive hours of Michigan State programming.

The day will include recent remarkable Spartan victories. The men's soccer team's triumph over Indiana in November, which secured the regular season and tournament conference titles for the first time in MSU program history, will air at 10 a.m./p.m. The men's ice hockey team's shootout win over Ohio State will air at 4 p.m. Michigan State's team victory at the 2008 Big Ten Golf Championships is on the schedule at 3 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Three episodes of Big Ten's Greatest Games, featuring the Michigan State football and men's basketball teams, also are part of the day's schedule, including the 1979 National Championship battle against Larry Bird and Indiana State, the 2000 National Championship game with Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and A.J. Granger against Florida, and the biggest comeback in Division I football history, the 2006 Michigan State-Northwestern battle in which the Spartans rallied from 38 points down.

In addition, four separate episodes of the University-produced MSU Today Presents will be seen throughout the day.

The day of Michigan State programming is the third of 11 full days of university-themed programming devoted to Big Ten universities, including Indiana (June 3), Minnesota (June 7), Northwestern (June 8), Iowa (June 10), Michigan (June 15), Ohio State (June 17), Penn State (June 21), Purdue (June 24), Wisconsin (May 27), and Illinois (May 31). Two more full days per university of school-specific programming also are planned for later in the summer.

Michigan State Day Schedule - June 1

All times Eastern

6 a.m. - Big Ten's Greatest Games, Men's Basketball: Michigan State 84, Minnesota 82 (2/13/99)
In this battle of two ranked teams with NCAA Tournament hopes, Michigan State staged a tremendous comeback in the second half, despite 29 points from the Gophers' Quincy Lewis. Mateen Cleaves drove the length of the court and hit a layup with one second remaining, cementing Michigan State's victory and leaving the Golden Gophers squarely on the bubble for a tournament bid.

8 a.m. - Big Ten's Greatest Games, Football: Michigan State 28, Michigan 27 (10/13/90)
Michigan was ranked No. 1 going into the game in Ann Arbor. A Desmond Howard touchdown and the extra point would have tied the game at 21, but a failed two-point conversion kept the Wolverines out of the title hunt and gave the Spartans the victory.

10 a.m. - Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship: Michigan State 1, Indiana 0 (11/16/08)
Despite the Hoosiers' first-half dominance (a 9-3 shot advantage in the first 45 minutes), the Spartans scored the game's only goal and secured the regular season and conference tournament titles for the first time in MSU history.

12 p.m. - Michigan State Campus Programming: MSU Today Presents A Study in Jazz

12:30 p.m. - Michigan State Campus Programming: MSU Today Presents Bringing the World to Tanzania

1 p.m. - Big Ten's Greatest Games, Football: Michigan State 34, Michigan 31 (10/9/99)
Michigan quarterback Tom Brady completed 30 of 41 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns but it wasn't enough as MSU's Bill Burke threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Spartans to the victory. Spartan sophomore wide receiver Plaxico Burress hauled in 10 passes for 255 yards to lead the offensive attack. Michigan State's run defense was stifling, allowing just six yards the entire game.

3 p.m. - Big Ten Men's Golf Championship (4/25/08)

4 p.m. - Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey: Michigan State 2, Ohio State 1 (2/14/09)
After the Buckeyes tied the game with a late goal, the teams skated through a five-minute overtime period, then headed to a shootout to determine who would receive the extra league point. The Spartans won the shootout 2-1, in four rounds.

6 p.m. - Big Ten Short Stories: Michigan State Spartans

6:30 p.m. - The Greatest Stories of Michigan State Basketball

8 p.m. - Big Ten's Greatest Games, Men's Basketball: 1979 NCAA Championship: Michigan State 75, Indiana State 64 (3/26/79)
Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird, two of the greatest players of all time, squared off for the first time, triggering one of the great individual rivalries in basketball history. In the end, Magic's Michigan State team was too much for Bird and previously undefeated Indiana State.

10 p.m. - Big Ten's Greatest Games, Football: Michigan State 41, Northwestern 38 (10/21/06)
Michigan State pulled off the biggest comeback in Division I football history, rallying from a deficit of 38 points to defeat Northwestern.

12 a.m. - Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate: Michigan State (9/19/08)

1:30 a.m. - Big Ten Short Stories: Michigan State Spartans

2 a.m. - Michigan State Campus Programming, MSU Today Presents: Rumba Sinfónica!

2:30 a.m. - Michigan State Campus Programming, MSU Today 12

3 a.m. - Big Ten's Greatest Games, Men's Basketball: 2000 NCAA Tournament Championship: Michigan State 89, Florida 76 (4/3/00)
Three Michigan State seniors, Morris Peterson (21 points), A.J. Granger (19) and Mateen Cleaves (18), led the Spartans to the program's second national championship in Indianapolis. Cleaves, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, came back from a second-half injury to help lead the Spartans on a 16-6 run to clinch the win and seal Florida's fate.

5 a.m. - Big Ten Men's Golf Championship (4/25/08)

About the Big Ten Network: The Big Ten Network is the first nationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With approximately 350 live events, and nearly all of them in HD, the network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. The network operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, showcasing a wide array of classic-to-current sports and televising more Olympic sporting events and women's sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation's finest universities. Each year, the network offers approximately 35 football games, 105 regular season men's basketball games; 55 women's basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; Big Ten Tonight, a nightly studio show; coaches' shows; and classic games. Available to all cable and satellite providers nationwide, the network currently has agreements with more than 250 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Charter, Comcast, Cox (Cleveland), DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For updated information on the Big Ten Network, go to www.BigTenNetwork.com.