Tuesday, September 9, 2014

A look at the Big East MBK TV schedule & neutral site events on FOX Networks

* The schedule of games on FOX broadcast network really fascinates me.  Here's a few things I noticed

  • The gap in the schedule from late December to late January, at least the one that currently exists, appears to be by design as it stays out of the way of the NFL playoffs.  Particularly the two Saturdays that would have games though most of FOX's game windows would be complete before a 4:30pm NFL playoff game would start.
  • The Duke-St. John's game is the sole Sunday game on the schedule for now, but it also happens to be the open week between the NFL's conference championship games and the Super Bowl
  • The network carrying the St. John's-Xavier game on Valentine's Day may be dependent on when FOX and NASCAR run the Sprint Unlimited race.  FOX is scheduled to carry the race this year and has aired in the evening in previous years.
The Big East will have at least ten controlled games on either CBS or FOX, which is more than the ACC, SEC, American or Big 12.  I'm curious to see whether FOX will elevate any Pac-12 games.  They left open December 13th where a Michigan-Arizona game is available.  CBS would not be able to carry it, but ESPN may have the bandwidth to do so.

* As part of the late season shuffle due to NASCAR conflicts, FOX Sports 2 will carry a pair of conference games.  FOX Sports 1 will only carry one game on 2/21 & 2/28.  They can carry two on 3/7 due to scheduling those games early in the afternoon with the Xfinity Series out west in Las Vegas.

* FOX Sports 2 will again carry some Big East non-conference games.  Eleven of the eighteen games currently scheduled for FS2 will occur in an nine day period between November 14-22.

* FOX's release highlighted their Tuesday Big East doubleheaders once conference play started, with the exception of February 17th (a single game) and skipping January 20th.  The conference will play just four games on Mondays.

* CBS & CBS Sports Network, which had the ability to select up to 30 games, selected just 19 of the conference's controlled games.  FSN will also have a regionally distributed conference game most Saturdays, and one Sunday, starting November 29th, skipping December 27-28 and February 27-28.

* The last point is more of a note about FOX, but they will have several neutral site events at the moment.  More could be on the way, like the Iowa St.-South Carolina game from Brooklyn on January 3rd.  Here they are:
  • Las Vegas Invitational (Memphis, Baylor, Indiana St., Illinois) on 11/27 & 11/28
  • BB&T Classic (Charlotte vs. George Washington, Towson vs. Georgetown) on 12/7
    • Yes, the Georgetown game could be considered a home game
  • The St. John's-Fordham game as part of the MSG Holiday Festival will be shown on FSN.  No word if the Rutgers-Iona game will be shown on TV as well, but last year the La Salle-Stony Brook game was carried.
  • Butler vs. Indiana from the Crossroads Classic on 12/20.  No idea if the Purdue-Notre Dame game will also end up on FS1.
  • Providence vs. Miami (FL) as part of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational on 12/22.  No idea if FOX will pick up the Fordham-Manhattan game on the front half of the doubleheader.
  • The championship round of the Las Vegas Classic on 12/23 (Boise St., Houston, Texas Tech, Loyola (Chicago)).
  • Tulane vs. St. John's as part of the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival on 12/28.  No word if the LIU Brooklyn-Hofstra game will be shown on TV.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

With 2 Games on March 7th, FS1's Xfinity Series Race will be pushed back to the late afternoon (eastern time) and MAYBE it'll serve as a UFC lead-in

Matt Sarzyniak said...

And that isn't a big deal. Wasn't going to be early afternoon as the race is in Las Vegas.