Sunday, September 10, 2017

Pre-Schedule Release Notes from the Big East & Pac-12

* With respect to non-conference play for the Pac-12, the following games were found as selected by ESPN in ESPN MediaZone:
  • Georgia Tech vs. UCLA (11/10, played in Shanghai, China)
  • North Carolina at Stanford (11/20)
  • Alabama at Arizona (12/9)
  • Kansas St. vs. Washington St. (12/20, played in Spokane)
  • Connecticut at Arizona (12/21)
  • Kansas vs. Stanford (12/21, played in Sacramento)
In addition, six conference games were selected by ESPN for airing on ESPN or ESPN2:
  • Washington St. at USC (12/29)
  • Washington St. at UCLA (12/31)
  • Arizona at Utah (1/4)
  • Utah at UCLA (1/11)
  • Oregon at Arizona (1/13)
  • UCLA at Oregon (1/20)
If FS1 picks up any Pac-12 games in November or December, and they've stayed away from non-conference Pac-12 games in prior years with a few exceptions, here's some candidates (NOTE: some of these games could end up on ESPNU as their December schedule has not been published. Pac-12 Networks schedules also are awaiting finalization.):
  • Missouri at Utah (11/16) - Incoming freshman Michael Porter seems to be driving some TV decisions on ESPN2 for Mizzou in non conference play with games vs. Wagner & Stephen F. Austin to be shown.  Would probably need to be the last game of a tripleheader after Nebraska at St. John's & Xavier at Wisconsin
  • Texas A&M at USC (11/26) - No Big East games currently scheduled for that day.  Maybe paired with UC Riverside at Michigan as a doubleheader.
  • Gonzaga at Washington (12/10) - Maybe pair it with Philly Big 5 matchup La Salle at Villanova.
  • Cincinnati at UCLA (12/16) - ESPN has bowl games this day, while ESPN2 has three MBK games, plus the Division II football championship & NCAA women's volleyball tournament (championship?).
  • Vanderbilt at Arizona St. (12/17) - I have nothing for this one.
* The other side of this is the dates where FS2, FSN or CBS Sports Network could end up being used for the Big East due to other commitments for FS1 or FOX.
  • 11/10 - All schools openers except for DePaul & Georgetown, though we don't know when Georgetown's opener is.  CBSSN isn't available at all either, so look for FS2 and FSN, plus the possibility of FOX College Sports to be used
  • 11/11 - This would be DePaul's opener and the CFB schedule for FS1 only has one game, followed by UFC in the evening, so they could slot this one to tip at around 4pm ET on FS1.
  • 11/13 - At least one of Delaware St.-DePaul and Rider-Xavier.  Minnesota-Providence on FS1 already.
  • 11/14 - At least one of Central Connecticut-St. John's and Nicholls-Villanova.  Purdue-Marquette on FS1 already.
  • 11/17 - Only Lafayette vs. Villanova.  NASCAR on FS1.
  • 11/18 - Three games: UMES at Georgetown, Furman at Butler, NJIT at Seton Hall
  • 11/25 - Boston College at Providence could end up on FS1 at 8pm ET, but SIU Edwardsville at Creighton probably ends up on FS2.
  • 12/2 - Of the five games currently on the schedule (Cincy-Xavier, Saint Louis-Butler, Younsgtown St.-DePaul, Sacred Heart-St. John's & Georgia-Marquette), I'd throw at least the DePaul & St. John's games on secondary outlets.  FS1 should also have UFC PPV prelims in the evening.
  • 12/9 - FS1 has a UFC card at night.  Colorado-Xavier & Nebraska-Creighton should be on FS1 and Marquette-Wisconsin is either on FOX or FS1.  Look for NCA&T-Georgetown or Youngstown St.-Butler to slide over.
  • 12/16 - FS1 should have UFC prelims before FOX takes over in the evening.  Kansas at Nebraska is on FS1 at 8pm and the Orange Bowl Classic is on FS2 from 2pm to 6:30pm.  
  • 11/29, 12/5, 12/6 & 12/21 are weeknights with three Big East games scheduled.  Typically you can only get two games in on FS1 from the conference on an evening.
* Based on FS1 schedules, look for the Big East schedule to start on December 30th.  December 28th has the Holiday Bowl and the 29th has UMBC at Maryland in the evening, possibly paired with a Pac-12 game.  Saturday the 30th has one Big Ten game (Brown at Northwestern) with a TBA start time, so they may be looking to slot Big East games around that one.

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