ESPN is coming to campus on Saturday afternoon, and it’s not because of Tony Romo.

The men’s basketball game against Samford on Saturday at 5 p.m. will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

“I’m really excited,” said junior center Jake Byrne, who hopes to see a big crowd.

“I hope we can pack the place.”

Byrne also added that the game will give his friends back home in Elsberry, Mo., a chance to watch him play.

“It’s too far for them to come to games but now they can watch it on TV,” Byrne said.

Besides friends from home getting a chance to watch an Eastern game, there are other important benefits to the program as whole.

Head coach Mike Miller said he has told recruits about the game for a while now.

“When you have a chance to get national exposure it’s a great thing,” Miller said. “We hope to show (recruits) a fun environment and a team that works hard.”

The decision to broadcast Saturday’s game was made by both Ohio Valley Conference and ESPN officials.

OVC assistant commissioner for media relations, Kyle Schwartz, said ESPN gives the conference available dates and then ESPN producers and conference administrators get together to determine “the most attractive match-ups.”

The OVC has an agreement with ESPN to have a set number of games televised each season, but the majority of those games are aired on ESPNU, the station’s all-college sports channel that is not a part of most cable providers’ basic plans, including Mediacom.

The Panthers’ game against the Bulldogs will be the only regular season OVC game to be televised on ESPN2. The championship game of the conference tournament will also be shown on ESPN2.

Dr. Jerry Punch and Bucky Waters will be the on-air talent for Saturday’s game.

Samford has a home game Thursday night against Tennessee State in Birmingham, Ala., and will immediately get on a bus and make the eight-hour trip to Charleston overnight.

Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette said the long distance for the game is a negative but playing on ESPN2 is always a positive, especially since the school is debating a switch to the Southern Conference.

With all the added attention and a much larger crowd expected to be at Lantz Arena than for most Eastern games, Byrne said the Panthers would likely feed off the atmosphere.

“It really shouldn’t, but I know it will,” Byrne said about the attention affecting the team. “Maybe we will play longer and with more energy.”

Despite all the added coverage and hoopla surrounding a nationwide broadcast, Tennessee Tech head coach Mike Sutton offered a small reality check.

“Games are won on the court, not in the newspapers or on TV,” Sutton said. “You still have to go out and play like always.”