ESPN Women's Basketball

Eight games in two times slots? Half a dozen ranked teams?

Sounds like the annual February Frenzy, a "dress rehearsal" for ESPN's upcoming coverage of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and one of the biggest days of the regular season.

On Sunday, Feb. 10, ESPN2 will showcase eight regionalized games within two telecast windows (2 p.m. ET and 4:30 pm ET). The day allows ESPN to hone the production coordination between game crews and the studio needed to air the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

But this month's Frenzy will feature something new -- and it comes in pink. Teams such as NC State, Rutgers, Georgia and LSU are expected to wear pink uniforms, shoelaces or shooting shirts to help promote breast cancer awareness and encourage fans to contribute to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

The Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, in collaboration with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), launched the initiative in early December. It honors NC State women's coach Kay Yow, who worked alongside Jim Valvano at NC State before he succumbed to cancer in 1993. Yow, who has more than 700 coaching victories, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and learned in November she has stage-four cancer.

More than 800 universities have signed on to celebrate the "Think Pink" initiative and make a donation to the organization of its choice (the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation or local cancer organizations or hospitals, for example). Rutgers tipped off the campaign on Tuesday; Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma wore a light pink dress shirt with matching pink pocket square as the top-ranked and previously unbeaten Huskies were upset.

The pink party continues Friday, as players in the Virginia-Maryland game will wear everything from pink shoelaces to pink headbands. When Baylor hosts Texas Tech on Saturday, 12 dozen pink T-shirts will be handed out to fans. On Sunday, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Georgia and LSU will wear pink uniforms or uniforms with pink incorporated into them.

Breast cancer survivors are expected to attend each game of the February Frenzy, pink basketballs will be raffled off for charity, and even coaches -- C. Vivian Stringer, Van Chancellor and Andy Landers -- are being encouraged to show up in their favorite pink hue, be it salmon, carnation or coral creations.

And on Monday, the normally orange-clad Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., might be unrecognizable. Both coaching staffs and the officials at the scorers table are expected to be dressed in pink when Tennessee hosts Rutgers (ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET). Additionally, two breast cancer survivors (or someone currently undergoing treatment) will be selected to serve as a guest coach on Pat Summitt's staff.

In addition to pink socks or pink Gatorade towels, Think Pink participation from other schools will include giveaways of pink pom-poms and pink silicon bracelets. Some schools will donate a percentage of the day's gate to charity, while others are expected to even wear the Susan G. Komen logo on their uniforms.

Fans watching from home also will get an opportunity to see Tennessee coach Pat Summitt join forces with Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma in an ESPN-produced public service announcement for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

The WBCA will hold the 4Kay run/walk as part of the Final Four festivities on April 5.

A look at the Feb. 10 ESPN2 schedule*:

2 p.m. ET: East Carolina at UTEP, Oklahoma State at Nebraska, Pittsburgh at Notre Dame, Georgia at LSU

4:30 p.m. ET: Louisville at DePaul, Ohio State at Wisconsin, Washington at UCLA, Boston College at NC State

* All 16 teams will be home-market protected; the markets with no team affiliation will be moved in-and-out of the most compelling game action.