ESPNU, ESPN and ESPN2 2008 Old Spice High School Showcase Football Schedule

First-Ever ESPNRISE FAB 50 Rankings Unveiled; More Than 100 Players from the ESPNU 150
Expected to Make Appearances

This season, ESPNU, ESPN and ESPN2, will combine to present 19 live high school football games beginning Saturday, Aug. 23, with a local rivalry contest featuring Cathedral (Ind.) vs. defending state champion Carmel (Ind.) at noon ET on ESPN. Working in conjunction with Paragon Marketing Group, the ESPN networks will televise 18 of the games as part of the 2008 ESPNU Old Spice High School Showcase.  The Old Spice series of games will include teams from 16 different states with two on ESPN, three on ESPN2 and 13 games on ESPNU.  ESPN360.com will supplement coverage with simulcasts of all ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts.  ESPN Scouts Inc. Recruiting Director Tom Luginbill will serve as the primary analyst for all the game telecasts alongside play-by-play announcer Dave Ryan. 

To supplement game coverage, ESPNU Recruiting Insider, a 30-minute show on ESPNU that evaluates the top high school football recruits and programs throughout the season, will be aired on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., but will debut Friday, Aug. 29, with ESPNU anchor Lowell Galindo hosting alongside ESPN Scouts, Inc. recruiting analyst Luginbill. ESPN’s coverage of the high school football season will culminate with the annual Under Armour All-America High School Football Game on ESPN Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009, and ESPNU’s National Signing Day special in February. 

Complementing the 2008 schedule, ESPN RISE unveiled its first national team rankings for high school football – the ESPN RISE FAB 50.  The ESPN RISE FAB 50 is a combination of three national high school rankings (Student Sports FAB 50, RISE Magazine Top 25 and the ESPN Elite 25) that going forward will be represented as one national high school ranking.  The ESPN RISE FAB 50 is compiled by a panel of ESPN RISE and ESPN.com high school editors, which includes Doug Huff, Chris Lawlor, Mark Tennis and Jon Mahoney.  Beginning on Labor Day, Sept. 1, the FAB 50 will be published every Monday throughout the regular season, accompanied by stats and analysis on each team.

The top 10 schools in the FAB 50’s  preseason rankings include: No. 1 Trinity HS (Euless, Texas), No. 2 Lowndes HS (Valdosta, Ga.), No. 3 De La Salle HS (Concord, Calif.), No. 4  St. Thomas Aquinas HS (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), No. 5 Jenks HS (Jenks, Okla.), No. 6 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), No. 7 Gateway HS (Monroeville, Pa.), No. 8 Deerfield Beach HS (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), No. 9 St. Xavier HS (Cincinnati, Ohio) and No. 10 Byrnes HS (Duncan, S.C.).  Nineteen of the schools playing on the ESPN family of networks this season appear in the pre-season FAB 50 rankings.  For a complete listing of the ESPN RISE FAB 50, please visit http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=3520842. 

ESPNU revealed the ESPNU 150 Class of 2009 (formerly the ESPN 150) during a special edition of ESPNU Recruiting Insider: ESPNU 150 earlier this week.  Several players from the ESPNU 150 are expected to participate in the Old Spice High School Showcase: No. 1 Matt Barkley, QB, Mater Dei HS (Santa Ana, Calif.); No. 2 Russell Shepard, Athlete, Cypress Ridge HS (Houston, Texas); No. 3 Aaron Murray, QB, Plant HS (Tampa, Fla.); No. 4 Devon Kennard, DE, Desert Vista HS (Phoenix, Ari.); No. 7 Jacobbi McDaniel, DT, Madison County HS (Madison, Fla.); No. 9 Jelani Jenkins, LB, Our Lady of Good Counsel HS (Olney, Md.); No. 10 Rueben Randle, WR, Bastrop HS (Bastrop, La.); No. 38 Darren Myles Jr., CB, Carver HS (Atlanta, Ga.); and No. 47 Morrell Presley TE, Carson HS (Carson, Calif), to name a few.  More than 100 projected Division I athletes are expected to participate in the series. To see the complete listing of the ESPNU 150, please visit http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting/tracker/espn150.

The ESPNU 150 is a nationwide ranking of top prep football prospects. The ranking pulls from scouting information and evaluations of nearly 2,200 prep prospects compiled by ESPN Scouts Inc.  The ESPNU 150 and year-long recruiting coverage is available at Recruiting Insider on ESPN.com, which provides in-depth national news and information about the athletes. 

2008 ESPNU, ESPN and ESPN2 High School Football Schedule

(Schedule subject to change)

Date                    Game                                                                           Time (ET)    Network

*Denotes matchup from the 2008 Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge                     

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