Big Ten Network opens its 20th season Thursday with Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith back together on the football pregame show at 4:30 p.m. The reunion comes before an opening-night doubleheader capped by UAB-Illinois. For viewers, the message is simple: the original on-air core is still carrying the show that started with the network.
Revsine said, “It’s really special to be working with them tomorrow night.” He added, “I think we’ll do a little bit of a nod to our history together.” That history starts on Aug. 30, 2007, when the three appeared at the network’s launch and Revsine became the face of the network from the start.
Aug. 30, 2007
Revsine said, “But I can’t think of many scenarios in the sports-television world where you have three guys who have been together that whole time.” The line fits the scale of what BTN has done since launch: it is now carried by every major distributor in the country, after launch-era distribution problems that left it off Comcast cable at the start. That evolution is the real business story behind the anniversary broadcast.
Revsine also said, “I remember my thought was, I’m going where they’re going,” and, “All these people were coming up to me, like, ‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’” He recalled hearing, “‘You’re in a good spot here. Why would you do this?’ I had no hesitation.” His account is the clearest reminder that BTN was once the riskier bet in college-sports television, before the network became part of the standard bundle.
BTN in Fall
BTN will mark the anniversary with three fall programs: B1G Network Season 20: 20 Moments, The B1G Story: Rise of Women’s Sports, and B1G Network Season 20: Moments and Memories. The first looks back at memorable network moments, the second examines how the conference helped lead the movement, and the third brings Revsine, DiNardo and Griffith together with Rick Pizzo and Mike Hall to discuss the network’s origin. That mix tells viewers the network is using the 20th season to sell memory, not just nostalgia.
Revsine said, “I was convinced this was the right thing for me. I just didn’t know how good. I don’t think that I envisioned that it would be as great as it’s been and that it would change college-sports television in the way that it has.” He was speaking about a move that drew skepticism from, yet the outcome is now visible in BTN’s reach and in the decision to open the season with the original trio. The anniversary is not a backward glance; it is BTN using its own history as proof that the network outlasted the doubts around it.
