Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Way too early Week 1 CFB TV guesses

Key items from other programming that were considered based on when these events aired in 2013 and their scheduling for 2014:

All times listed are Eastern
  • In 2013, US Open tennis aired in the evening on ESPN2 on the Thursday & Friday before Labor Day.  I'm expecting that to continue in 2014.  That could change in 2015 as the schedule may return to a weekend final along with ESPN becoming the exclusive rightsholder to the event.
  • CBS and CBS Sports Network carried US Open tennis over both weekend days from 11am-6pm.  Also expecting that to remain in place for 2014.  
  • Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta aired on FS1 on delay on Friday evening on 8/30.  FS1 aired North Dakota St.-Kansas St. immediately following.  With the new qualifying format for races, there may be room to carry a game.
  • ESPN2 is currently scheduled to carry the Atlanta Nationwide race at 7pm on Saturday 8/30/14.
  • FS1 is scheduled to carry the Truck Series race from Ontario at 1pm on Sunday 8/31/14.
  • ESPN is scheduled to carry the Sprint Cup race from Atlanta on 7pm on Sunday 8/31/14.  FS1 may carry their prerace show that day as well.
  • ESPN2 is likely to carry a Sunday night MLB game on 8/31/14.
  • FOX and/or FS1 is likely to have an MLB commitment on 8/30/14.  Either one could have a UFC commitment too.  Where and when should be known over the next 6-8 weeks for MLB but for UCF it might not be know until later in the spring.
    • For purposes of this post, I'm assuming FOX will carry one MLB game window at 1pm and FS1 will carry one as well at around 4:15pm.  For the moment, I assume that there will not be any UFC fights on FS1 or FOX.
There are a few schools still looking for games and five conferences out there who have yet to finalize their schedules, so there might be a few conferences that will schedule games between members during the opening week.

Thursday
6pm SEC Network: Texas A&M at South Carolina
7pm ESPNU: BYU at Connecticut
7:30pm ESPN: Ole Miss vs. Boise St.
7:30pm CBSSN: Bowling Green at Western Kentucky
8pm BTN: Eastern Illinois at Minnesota
9pm FS1: Rutgers vs. Washington St.
9:15pm SEC Network: Temple at Vanderbilt
9:30pm Pac-12: Weber St. at Arizona St.
9:30pm Pac-12: Idaho St. at Utah

Right now, I expect any other games listed for Thursday to air on ESPN3 or a conference-based streaming service.

I think there's a chance another Big Ten game moves to Thursday to clear a small backlog of games.  I believe the SEC Network will be a true doubleheader instead of the games airing concurrently.

Friday
8pm ESPN: UTSA at Houston

Saturday
8:30am ESPN2: Penn St. vs. UCF (confirmed)
12pm ESPN: Arkansas at Auburn
12pm ESPN2: Appalachian St. at Michigan
12pm FS1: SMU at Baylor
12pm ESPNU: FAU at Nebraska
12pm BTN: Youngstown St. at Illinois
12pm BTN: Northern Iowa at Iowa
12pm SEC Network: UT-Martin at Kentucky
3pm Pac-12: Portland St. at Oregon St.
3pm Pac-12: UC Davis at Stanford
3:30pm NBC: Rice at Notre Dame
3:30pm ABC/ESPN2: UCLA at Virginia
3:30pm ABC/ESPN2: LSU vs. Wisconsin
3:30pm ESPNU: California at Northwestern
3:30pm FSN: Samford at TCU (Big 12 3rd tier)
3:30pm BTN: Indiana St. at Indiana
3:30pm BTN: Jacksonville St. at Michigan St.
3:30pm SEC Network: Utah St. at Tennessee
4pm ESPN: Clemson at Georgia
6:30pm Pac-12: Colorado St. vs. Colorado
7pm CBSSN: Ohio St. vs. Navy
7pm ESPNU: Southern Miss at Mississippi St.
7pm FSN: Central Arkansas at Texas Tech (Big 12 3rd tier)
7pm SEC/FSN: South Dakota St. at Missouri
7pm SEC Network: Idaho at Florida
7pm PPV: Louisiana Tech at Oklahoma (Big 12 3rd tier)
7pm FCS: Troy at UAB
8pm ABC: Oklahoma St. vs. Florida St.
8pm ESPN: West Virginia vs. Alabama
8pm BTN: James Madison at Maryland
8pm BTN: Western Michigan at Purdue
8pm CyclonesTV: North Dakota St. at Iowa St. (Big 12 3rd tier)
8pm Longhorn: North Texas at Texas (Big 12 3rd tier)
9pm FS1: UNLV at Arizona
10pm Pac-12: South Dakota at Oregon
10:30pm ESPN2: Fresno St. at USC
10:30pm CBSSN: Washington at Hawai'i

I've marked what I believe are the Big 12 3rd tier games.

To my knowledge, FSN still retains a regional eight game package of SEC games and I think they'll be at the end of the line in SEC selections, after the decisions of the SEC Network's content board.  I believe that Oklahoma St.-Florida St. is the premier game of the day and is the leader for the 8pm ABC window.

It is possible one of the Pac-12 games could move to Friday if needed for TV.  Probably one of the games vs. a FCS opponent.

Ohio St. vs. Navy could air on CBS in the evening, but I think that stays on CBSSN.  Notre Dame's game vs. Air Force stayed on CBSSN last year too.  With ABC having the top game, I don't think they would try competing with it on CBS.

I gave FS1 a little leeway to get UNLV-Arizona started a little early out on the east coast and balance concerns regarding heat.  6pm in Arizona should be ok for a start time.

All other games, including Stephen F. Austin-Kansas St. (Big 12 3rd tier), should air on ESPN3 exclusively or some form of conference/school based streaming package.

Sunday
3:30pm ESPN: Some combo of Cincy, Tulsa & Tulane

The American schedule is not out yet and I don't know if any of these teams are scheduled to face each other, though four schools have leaked or released them.  Based on the announcement that Tulane moved their game vs. Southeastern Louisiana to 9/13, all three schools have an opening.  Tulsa may balk at playing due to facing Oklahoma on 9/6, which would be less than a full week.  On the other hand, if Tulsa doesn't play this weekend, Oklahoma has the disadvantage in terms of rest.

If Tulane is involved, it looks like they'll be on the road.  Tulane at Cincy might be the combination they hit on.

Monday
8pm ESPN: Miami (FL) at Louisville (confirmed)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Miami' got to start winning some games and get back on track