CFB TV Confirmations for 2025 Week 5 (09/27/2025)

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for Week 5 (9/27/25) from the (mostly) twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to. Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their scheduled games held for a six day hold for the start time and/or the TV network. The list of available TV windows are based on media websites, TV listings and press releases. They can change based on the needs of the broadcaster or the conference.

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set. 

All times Eastern

Memphis at Florida Atlantic - 4pm ESPNU or 7pm ESPN2

Tulane at Tulsa - 4pm ESPNU or 7pm ESPN2

12pm FOX: USC at Illinois

12pm ESPN/ESPN2: Georgia Tech at Wake Forest

12pm ESPN/ESPN2: Louisville at Pitt

12pm FS1: UCF at Kansas State

12pm TNT: Cincinnati at Kansas

12pm BTN: Rutgers at Minnesota

12pm ESPNU: South Alabama at North Texas

12pm ACCN: Duke at Syracuse

12pm CBSSN: Bowling Green at Ohio

1pm ESPN+: Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan

1:30pm ESPN+: Georgia Southern at James Madison

3pm ESPN+: Arkansas State at ULM

3:30pm ABC: LSU at Ole Miss

3:30pm FOX: Utah at West Virginia

3:30pm CBS: Ohio State at Washington

3:30pm ESPN: Auburn at Texas A&M

3:30pm ESPN2: Baylor at Oklahoma State

3:30pm BTN: UCLA at Northwestern

3:30pm ACCN: California at Boston College

3:30pm Peacock: Indiana at Iowa

3:30pm ESPN+: Akron at Toledo

3:30pm ESPN+: UConn at Buffalo

3:30pm ESPN+: San Diego State at Northern Illinois

4pm FS1: Hawai'i at Air Force

4:15pm SECN: Tennessee at Mississippi State

6pm ESPN+: Middle Tennessee at Kennesaw State

6pm ESPN+: Liberty at Old Dominion

7pm ESPN: Arizona at Iowa State

7pm CW: Virginia Tech at NC State

7pm ESPNU: UMass at Missouri

7pm ESPN+: WKU at Missouri State

7pm ESPN+: Jacksonville State at Southern Miss

7pm ESPN+: Jackson State at Southern

7:30pm ACCN: San Jose State at Stanford

7:30pm FS1: App State at Boise State

7:45pm SECN: Kentucky at South Carolina

8pm ESPN+: Marshall at Louisiana

9pm ESPN+: Louisiana Tech at UTEP

CFB TV Guesses for 2025 Week 5 (9/27/2025)

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows. 

I have done my best to list what TV windows are out there. Every listing service has a little different schedule for these networks. It is also possible that a window could be eliminated or the time of a window could shift slightly to accommodate a network's needs.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements in a separate post.  

A few notes and considerations: 

* ABC only has a selection open for the mid-afternoon SEC window.  The noon & primetime windows have already been filled with other SEC games.

* FOX has MLB in the evening.

* NBC has also already filled its primetime slot.  Per the Peacock app, a mid-afternoon Peacock exclusive is planned for.

* ESPN & ESPN2 have also filled their late evening slots.

* CBSSN will have a MAC selection for 12pm ET.

* Games selected for TV or start time, but not both:

• Indiana at Iowa (12pm or 3:30pm ET, TBA)
• Hawai'i at Air Force (TBA, FOX Sports)
• App State at Boise State (TBA, FOX Sports)
• Jackson State at Southern (7ppm, ESPN Networks or ESPN+ TBA)
• SEC time slots for games
• Auburn at Texas A&M - afternoon only
• UMass at Missouri - evening only
• All other available games are flexible between afternoon and evening

* ESPN chose BYU at Colorado before the season started and I'm assuming that's the top Big 12 choice for the week.  I put Arizona at Iowa State as the next best game on FOX, though it would not surprise me if a six day hold were used based on the result of Texas Tech-Utah.

* With Oregon at Penn State chosen for NBC in advance, and Ohio State at Washington unavailable for FOX at noon, I believe CBS chose Ohio State at Washington ahead of FOX choosing USC at Illinois, though the game locations themselves kinda dictate this order.

12pm FOX: USC at Illinois

12pm ESPN: Utah at West Virginia
12pm ESPN2: Louisville at Pitt

12pm FS1: Baylor at Oklahoma State

12pm BTN: Rutgers at Minnesota

12pm ESPNU: South Alabama at North Texas

12pm ACCN: Duke at Syracuse

12pm CBSSN: San Diego State at Northern Illinois

12:30pm TNT: UCF at Kansas State

3:30pm ABC: LSU at Ole Miss

3:30pm FOX: Arizona at Iowa State

3:30pm CBS: Ohio State at Washington

3:30pm ESPN: Auburn at Texas A&M

3:30pm ESPN2: Georgia Tech at Wake Forest

3:30pm BTN: Indiana at Iowa

3:30pm ESPNU: Memphis at Florida Atlantic

3:30pm ACCN: California at Boston College

3:30pm Peacock: UCLA at Northwestern

4pm FS1: Hawai'i at Air Force

4:15pm SECN: Kentucky at South Carolina

7pm ESPN: Tennessee at Mississippi State

7pm ESPN2: Cincinnati at Kansas

7pm CW: San Jose State at Stanford

7pm ESPNU: Jackson State at Southern

7:30pm ACCN: Virginia Tech at NC State

7:30pm FS1: App State at Boise State

7:45pm SECN: UMass at Missouri

ESPN+ Exclusives

Tulane at Tulsa

Middle Tennessee at Kennesaw State

Louisiana Tech at UTEP

WKU at Missouri State

Akron at Toledo

Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan

UConn at Buffalo

Bowling Green at Ohio

Marshall at Louisiana

Jacksonville State at Southern Miss

Arkansas State at ULM

Liberty at Old Dominion

Georgia Southern at James Madison

CFB TV Confirmations for 2025 Week 4 (09/20/2025)

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for Week 4 (9/20/25) from the (mostly) twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to. Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their scheduled games held for a six day hold for the start time and/or the TV network. The list of available TV windows are based on media websites, TV listings and press releases. They can change based on the needs of the broadcaster or the conference.

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set. 

All times Eastern

12pm FOX: Texas Tech at Utah

12pm NBC: Maryland at Wisconsin

12pm ABC/ESPN: Syracuse at Clemson 

12pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2: Arkansas at Memphis

12pm ESPN/ESPN2: SMU at TCU 

12pm ESPNU: UNLV at Miami (OH)

12pm ACCN: Bowling Green at Louisville

12pm ACCNX/ESPN+: Wofford at Virginia Tech

3pm BTN: Oregon State at Oregon

3:30pm ABC: Auburn at Oklahoma

3:30pm FOX: North Carolina at UCF

3:30pm ESPN: Tulane at Ole Miss

3:30pm ESPNU: James Madison at Liberty

3:30pm ACCN: Kent State at Florida State

3:30pm ESPN+: Louisiana at Eastern Michigan

3:30pm ESPN+: Troy at Buffalo

3:30pm ESPN+: Toledo at Western Michigan

4pm ESPN2: NC State at Duke

4:30pm CW: Temple at Georgia Tech

6pm FS1: West Virginia at Kansas

6pm ESPN+: Arkansas State at Kennesaw State

6pm ESPN+: Delaware at FIU

7pm ESPN: South Carolina at Missouri OR Florida at Miami (FL)

7pm ESPN+: Marshall at Middle Tennessee

7pm ESPN+: Nevada at WKU

7pm ESPN+: Coastal Carolina at South Alabama

7pm ESPN+: Maine at Georgia Southern

7:30pm ABC: South Carolina at Missouri OR Florida at Miami (FL)

7:30pm NBC: Illinois at Indiana

7:30pm FOX: Arizona State at Baylor

7:30pm ESPN2: BYU at East Carolina

7:30pm ESPNU: Georgia State at Vanderbilt

7:30pm ACCN: Stanford at Virginia

7:30pm ESPN+: Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech 

8pm ESPN+: Nicholls at Texas State

9pm ESPN+: ULM at UTEP

9:30pm FS1: UTSA at Colorado State
10:15pm ESPN: Wyoming at Colorado

11pm FOX: Michigan State at USC

CFB TV Guesses for 2025 Week 4 (9/20/2025)

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows. 

I have done my best to list what TV windows are out there. Every listing service has a little different schedule for these networks. It is also possible that a window could be eliminated or the time of a window could shift slightly to accommodate a network's needs.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements in a separate post.  

A few notes and considerations: 

* CBS's Big Ten choice has already been made (Michigan at Nebraska).

* NBC will carry a pair of Big Ten games sandwiched around Purdue at Notre Dame.

* TNT will skip this week from their sublicensed Big 12 games.

* FS1 will have college football at 6pm and 9:30pm ET. No mid-afternoon game due to NASCAR Trucks and horse racing.

* Games set for time or TV, but not both

• Georgia State at Vanderbilt (7:30pm, ESPN2 or ESPNU)
• UTSA at Colorado State (TBA, FOX Sports)
• All available SEC games will air either in mid-afternoon or evening time slots

* I gave FOX Sports the top Big 12 choice this week (UNC-UCF) and NBC the top remaining Big Ten choice. With the Big 12, I had ESPN taking the next two choices with the rest going to FOX Sports.

* There’s a good case to be made to flip Missouri-South Carolina & Florida-Miami (FL). I can see both games being scheduled for primetime with a six days decision on the final network and start time.

* Clemson, despite losing to LSU and struggling vs. Troy, has more value in the noon ET slot compared to other options.

12pm ABC: Syracuse at Clemson

12pm FOX: North Carolina at UCF

12pm NBC: Illinois at Indiana

12pm ESPN: SMU at TCU

12pm ESPN2: Arkansas at Memphis

12pm ESPNU: UNLV at Miami (OH)

12pm BTN: Maryland at Wisconsin

12pm ACCN: Temple at Georgia Tech

3:30pm ABC: Auburn at Oklahoma

3:30pm ESPN: Tulane at Ole Miss

3:30pm ESPNU: Coastal Carolina at South Alabama

3:30pm ACCN: Stanford at Virginia

4pm FOX: Texas Tech at Utah

4pm ESPN2: BYU at East Carolina

4:30pm CW: Bowling Green at Louisville

6pm FS1: West Virginia at Kansas

7pm ESPN: South Carolina at Missouri

7:30pm ABC: Florida at Miami (FL)

7:30pm NBC: Michigan State at USC

7:30pm FOX: Arizona State at Baylor

7:30pm ESPN2: Kent State at Florida State

7:30pm ESPNU: Georgia State at Vanderbilt

7:30pm ACCN: NC State at Duke

9:30pm FS1: UTSA at Colorado State
10:15pm ESPN: Wyoming at Colorado

11pm FOX: Oregon State at Oregon

Streaming Exclusives

Wofford at Virginia Tech

Nevada at WKU

Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech

James Madison at Liberty

Arkansas State at Kennesaw State

ULM at UTEP

Marshall at Middle Tennessee

Delaware at FIU

Louisiana at Eastern Michigan

Troy at Buffalo

Toledo at Western Michigan

Nicholls at Texas State

Maine at Georgia Southern

TV Decisions for Non-Conference MBK Will Have New Players

I was going through the Big East men's basketball non-conference schedule this morning. I am curious to see how several games are slotted for television now that the Big East and Big 12 split their rights even further with new agreements taking full effect, with the Big East taking a chunk of rights to TNT and ESPN+, along with additional rights to NBC Sports, and the Big 12 bringing on FOX Sports to carry men's basketball, along with new sublicensee TNT.

The first game that peaks my interest is Alabama at St. John's on 11/8.  The game is scheduled to be played at Madison Square Garden and the NY Rangers are at home that evening, so we know that the basketball game will have to be in the early afternoon.  FOX will be carrying college football all day, so they're out.  FS1 might be took unless they move around their schedule a bit.  NBC would be a good place for the game since it could lead in to a Big Ten women's volleyball match.  Otherwise, TNT or Peacock are in play.  Maybe TNT would hook it to Big 12 college football and create a basketball-football doubleheader.

The next game that caught my eye is Arizona at UConn on 11/19.  Its a weeknight game, so I'd lean towards FS1 carrying the game.  TNT and Peacock might be in the mix.  I don't think ESPN+ will be as I think they'll be carrying non-conference games that the linear TV partners can't accommodate.

Next up is a Big 12 controlled matchup when UConn travels to Kansas on 12/2.  I don't think ESPN will be able to carry the game as they have the ACC - SEC basketball challenge series on 12/2 and 12/3.  FS1 might end up with this one too, unless it falls into the lap of CBSSN or TNT as sublicensees of ESPN's Big 12 content.

December 6th has a great schedule.  We know that Indiana-Louisville (2pm ET) and Baylor-Memphis (4:30pm ET) will comprise two games for CBS to air.  Duke-Michigan State is a huge game for someone to air.  FOX could air it leading into coverage of the Mountain West championship game, CBS could have it for the opening game of a tripleheader, or NBC could take it.  Ole Miss-St. John's and Cincinnati-Xavier would be fine selections for FS1 or TNT.  And whichever network doesn't carry Duke-Michigan State could end up with Marquette-Wisconsin.  

Auburn-Arizona is out there on 12/6 too, but I'd expect ESPN to end up with that one since their cable nets will be open most of the afternoon.  Iowa State-Purdue could be sought after by Peacock too.

2025 Conference TV Requirements, Six Day Holds and Likely First Picks

Instead of cluttering up the weekly picks for 2025, I'm going to keep track of selection specific information in this post like six day holds that have been used, the number of times I think a network has chosen first and the required appearances that a school needs to fill on conference networks like Big Ten Network.

Updated as of 9/27 selections on 9/15.

Six Day Holds Used

ACC (4 remaining): 

American (3 remaining): 9/27 

Big Ten (4 remaining):

Big 12  (4 remaining):

SEC: 

Please note that this is my guess about who chose first in a given Saturday. This is not a confirmation from either the networks or conferences of who chose first.

Big Ten

Assumed top Saturday choice each week.  Weeks 1-5 and 14 were known in advance of the early season selection release.

08/30	FOX: Texas at Ohio State
09/06	CBS: OK State at Oregon
09/13	FOX: Oregon at NW
09/20	CBS: Michigan at Nebraska
09/27	NBC: Oregon at Penn State
10/04
10/11
10/18
10/25
11/01
11/08
11/15
11/22
11/29	FOX: Ohio State at Michigan

Each school is supposed to appear on BTN twice each season with at least one appearance against another Big Ten school

School	Remaining Needed
Illinois	Two games with one vs. B1G
Indiana	One vs. B1G
Iowa	One vs. B1G
Maryland	One vs. B1G
Michigan	One vs. B1G
Michigan State	One vs. B1G
Minnesota	None
Nebraska	One vs. B1G
Northwestern	None
Ohio State	One vs. B1G
Oregon	One vs. B1G
Penn State	One vs. B1G
Purdue	One vs. B1G
Rutgers	None
UCLA	None
USC	One vs. B1G
Washington	One vs. B1G
Wisconsin	One vs. B1G

124 regular season games are available to the Big Ten's rightsholders.  It appears that NBC, CBS and Peacock will take at least 39 of those games.  FOX, FS1 and BTN would take on 85 of them. 

Here's the known remaining selections from each rightsholder:

FOX/FS1	NBC	CBS	Peacock	BTN
20 of 41	9 (or 10) of 15 (or 16)	9 of 15	3 (or 4) of 8 (or 9)	20 of 44

Big 12

Assumed top Saturday choice each week.  

08/30	FOX: USD at ISU
09/06	FOX: Iowa at ISU
09/13	ESPN: Pitt at WVU
09/20	FOX: TxTech at Utah
09/27	ESPN: BYU at CU
10/04
10/11
10/18
10/25
11/01
11/08
11/15
11/22
11/29

Starting with this season, ABC & ESPN Networks has the top four choices across the season.  After that, FOX Sports and ESPN share selections.  

Per Jon Wilner of Bay Area News Group and other reports,

* FOX Sports is capped somewhere around 35 games per season with at least seven games on FOX broadcast network.  

* ESPN will carry (at least?) 27 games across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

* TNT will carry 13 games.  Ten games will be intraconference games.  Most games are early in the day and they will skip 9/20.

* Remaining games will be on ESPN+, which appears to be 33 games at the most.

* Counts below exclude the conference championship game airing on ABC.

FOX	13
FS1	3
Total	16 of 35

ABC	0
ESPN	12
ESPN2	2
TBD	1
Linear TV	15 of 27
ESPN+	16 of 33 (?)
Overall	31 of 60

TNT

4 of 13

American

The American has a minimum of 40 games per season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, excluding the conference championship game.  At least 20 of the 40 are expected to be on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.  So far, at least 20 games have been guaranteed to air on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.  Counts below exclude the conference championship game on ABC.

ABC	1
ESPN	6
ESPN2	8
ESPNU	4
ESPNEWS/Other	0
TBD	4
Total	23

A Few Thoughts About the Initial 2025 CFB TV Selections

* There was a bit of conspiracy theories when the time for Texas-Ohio State didn't immediately show up, and by now you've seen that Texas declined a request to move the game to Sunday night.  I know there was hope about it being a 3:30pm game, but this is FOX's calling card for Saturday games: They want the best available game in that noon slot whenever possible.

That said, the Big 12 will still have possibilities for Big Noon, likely during non-conference play, and Cy-Hawk will be that chance at least one time this year.  Scott Dochterman of The Athletic was able to get some insights about the Big Ten draft and if you subscribe, you can read about it here.

* It feels like FOX's Friday night schedule, which was extremely hyped last year, was announced as more of an afterthought this year.  There are gaps in the schedule in October, presumably for MLB postseason, and one in November for reasons not yet clear to me (maybe a basketball event?).  But there's only one host in the in the Eastern Time Zone (Rutgers).  I'm curious if enough schools have put up roadblocks in the Big Ten where its not as viable.

FOX appears to have been able to get both Arizona schools to relax a longstanding preference for 7pm or later starts in September, with both hosting 6pm local games on Friday nights on the broadcast network. That said, that preference was relevant for the Pac-12 and I don't know if it has carried over to the Big 12.

* Reading a few tea leaves with the Big 12, BYU-Colorado feels like ESPN using one of their top 4 picks as it was outside the first four weeks of the season.  It was also the only Big 12 game available on that Saturday available to be placed in the late evening slot with TCU-ASU on FOX on Friday.  Also, knowing that Oregon-Penn State was selected for NBC that evening, I assume that ABC will have Alabama-Georgia in the evening.

Also, I'm a bit surprised that no Big 12 games were scheduled to air on FS1 over the early season portion of the schedule.

* As for the Big Ten, knowing that the 3rd of FOX's top 3 selections likely wasn't announced today (assume Texas-Ohio State at Ohio State-Michigan are the other two), it feels like NBC had the 4th pick by announcing Oregon-Penn State for 9/27 with the Ryder Cup occupying the afternoon on NBC that day.  Was Michigan-Nebraska on 9/20 CBS's top Big Ten choice? It definitely indicates they were picking first in Week Four.  Suspect we'll need to see how the season plays out.

* New Mexico at UCLA was listed as TBD on the Big Ten schedule for a Friday, and the game showed up on the FOX Sports release, which tells me that its part of their pool, either FOX/FS1 or BTN.  Since FOX already has Kansas State at Arizona that evening, the game is for either FS1 or BTN.  I assume that if the game is on FS1 with maybe a 9pm or 9:30pm ET start, Indiana State at Indiana will be a 7pm ET start on BTN.  If its on BTN, it looks like a doubleheader with Indiana State at Indiana at 6:30pm and New Mexico at UCLA at 10pm ET.

* I was surprised to see no Big Ten game on NBC on 9/13, though I can appreciate a network being creative.  Texas A&M at Notre Dame is taking the primetime game, and Peacock will have a doubleheader that day.  Per the previously mentioned Scott Dochterman article, NBC is allowed to use their choice for Peacock or move their NBC game to an earlier timeslot, and in the case of 9/13 made the choice to go with Peacock for their game, which I'll assume was the Ohio at Ohio State game.

* The Mountain West's national TV release indicated that remaining games would be part of non-national TV packages, which indicates that the deal with TNT Sports to air games on TruTV has ended.  That's a bit of a surprise since it was touted as a multi-year deal.  I don't know if things soured when no men's basketball games were selected by TNT Sports when some schools indicated there were plans for games to be selected.  Really unsure.  

EDIT: Mountain West media relations has confirmed that only CBS Sports and FOX Sports will be the national TV partners for the conference in 2025-26, so yes, TNT Sports is out.

Of the remaining 21 games (one SJSU home game was picked up for NBC Sports Bay Area), seven will be part of the Hawai'i PPV package.  Most of the remaining games have hosts that have televised games via regional or local TV stations, and I'd expect them to be streamed through the conference.  Have reached out to the Mountain West and TNT Sports for confirmation, but multiple MW schools have noted that their remaining MW controlled games would be shown through MW Networks and other local/regional TV means.

* ESPN backing away from Friday night NBA is college football's gain, with main ESPN carrying a game nearly every week on Friday nights, and some weeks where ESPN2 will have their own games.

* Didn't see any Ivy League Friday night games announced, nor any weeknight games from the two HBCU conferences.  I assume those will show up during the summer.