Friday, April 3, 2015

Handicapping the TV Outlets for C-USA, Big 12 & Pac-12 Weeknight & Special Date Games

Wanted to go through the currently scheduled weeknight games from the Big 12, Pac-12 and C-USA.  These three conferences, because their rights are split between multiple entities, usually do not set television assignments for their weeknight games until later in the spring.

With all of these conferences, plus conferences like the Mountain West or independent BYU, there could be more weeknight games forthcoming.  For now, I am assuming no games will get placed on FOX Sports 2.

Game Time (ET) Day of Week TV Options
UTSA at Arizona 09/03/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Michigan at Utah 09/03/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Weber St. at Oregon St. 09/04/2015 08:00 PM   Friday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Purdue at Marshall 09/06/2015 03:00 PM   Sunday CBSSN or FOX Sports
Louisiana Tech at Western Kentucky 09/10/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday CBSSN or FOX Sports
Miami (FL) at FAU 09/11/2015 08:00 PM   Friday CBSSN or FOX Sports
Utah St. at Utah 09/11/2015 09:00 PM   Friday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
New Mexico at Arizona St. 09/18/2015 10:00 PM   Friday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Stanford at Oregon St. 09/25/2015 12:00 AM   Friday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Temple at Charlotte 10/02/2015 12:00 AM   Friday CBSSN or FOX Sports
Washington at USC 10/08/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Southern Miss at Marshall 10/09/2015 07:00 PM   Friday CBSSN or FOX Sports
UCLA at Stanford 10/15/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Western Kentucky at North Texas 10/15/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday CBSSN or FOX Sports
California at UCLA 10/22/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
West Virginia at TCU 10/29/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks or FOX Sports
Oregon at Arizona St. 10/29/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Louisiana Tech at Rice 10/30/2015 12:00 AM   Friday CBSSN or FOX Sports
Baylor at Kansas St. 11/05/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks or FOX Sports
Rice at UTEP 11/06/2015 12:00 AM   Friday CBSSN or FOX Sports
USC at Colorado 11/13/2015 12:00 AM   Friday ESPN Networks, FS1, Pac-12 Networks
Texas Tech at Texas 11/26/2015 12:00 AM   Thursday ESPN Networks or FOX Sports
Oregon St. at Oregon 11/27/2015 12:00 AM   Friday ABC, ESPN Networks, FSMG, Pac-12 Networks
Washington St. at Washington 11/27/2015 12:00 AM   Friday ABC, ESPN Networks, FSMG, Pac-12 Networks
Marshall at Western Kentucky 11/27/2015 12:00 AM   Friday CBSSN or FOX Sports
Baylor at TCU 11/27/2015 12:00 AM   Friday ABC, ESPN Networks or FOX Sports

Here are a few things that stuck out to me:
  • Some of the C-USA games had times while others did not.  The Purdue at Marshall, Miami (FL) at FAU and Southern Miss at Marshall games had start times attached to them.  But I don't think that means each was selected by the same network.
  • By both Utah at Utah St. & Miami (FL) at FAU being selected for the same night and having start times within an hour of each other, that eliminates a potential FS1 doubleheader.  One game should end up on FS1 though.
  • FOX has a commitment to MLB for the ALDS & ALCS on FS1 presumably for 2-3 weeks.  Using Thursday 10/8 as a start date for the DS series, FS1's coverage should be scheduled from Friday 10/9 - Thursday 10/15 (NLCS started first in '13, ALCS started first in '14) , with the ALCS from Saturday 10/17 - Sunday 10/25.
    • FOX ran into an issue with a Pac-12 game on a Thursday night having to be moved to FS2 with additional local coverage plus Pac-12 Networks due to an NLCS conflict last year.
  • The placement of the Las Vegas Invitational basketball event on FS1 will factor into how many games they can pick up on Friday 11/27.  Same with ESPN's coverage of their owned & operated basketball events plus the NIT Tip Off, along with a new doubleheader event from Miami
Here's how I see things being set with some notes:

Game Guessed Network Notes
UTSA at Arizona Pac-12 Networks
Michigan at Utah FOX Sports 1
Weber St. at Oregon St. Pac-12 Networks
Purdue at Marshall FOX Sports 1
Louisiana Tech at Western Kentucky FOX Sports 1 FS1 has carried C-USA on opening NFL Thursday in '13 & '14
Miami (FL) at FAU FOX Sports 1 USU-UoU could air on FS1 & this game on CBSSN
Utah St. at Utah ESPN2 ESPN has US Open men's semifinals
New Mexico at Arizona St. FOX Sports 1 After NASCAR truck series race
Stanford at Oregon St. ESPN Doubleheader w/Boise St. at Virginia
Temple at Charlotte CBSSN
Washington at USC ESPN SMU-Houston already on ESPN2 to clear way for this one
Southern Miss at Marshall CBSSN Assuming FS1 has MLB postseason
UCLA at Stanford ESPN Assuming FS1 has MLB postseason. Doubleheader with Auburn-Kentucky (?)
Western Kentucky at North Texas CBSSN Assuming FS1 has MLB postseason. Potentially on FSN
California at UCLA ESPN Assuming FS1 has MLB postseason. Doubleheader with Temple-ECU (?).
West Virginia at TCU FOX Sports 1 Assuming FS1 doubleheader
Oregon at Arizona St. FOX Sports 1 Assuming FS1 doubleheader
Louisiana Tech at Rice CBSSN FS1 has NASCAR truck series race at 8:30pm ET
Baylor at Kansas St. FOX Sports 1 Assuming ESPN carries Mississippi St.-Missouri
Rice at UTEP CBSSN NASCAR truck race on FS1 at 8:30pm ET
USC at Colorado ESPN2 ESPN has Armed Forces Classic & NBA game(?).  FS1 has truck series at 8pm ET
Texas Tech at Texas ESPN
Oregon St. at Oregon ABC Doubleheader with Iowa at Nebraska
Washington St. at Washington FOX Sports 1 Depends on the Las Vegas Invitational
Marshall at Western Kentucky FOX Sports 1 If CBSSN does not have a MW game on 11/27, could air on that network
Baylor at TCU FOX

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