Pointsettia Bowl, WAC announce agreement

The WAC and the Pointsettia Bowl announce an agree to face a MWC representative in 2011 and 2012. This fills in the blanks where the WAC will fill the Emerald Bowl slot in 2010 and 2013 as Army and Navy will be there the other two years.

Week 6 Network Selections

Here's the network selections for games to kick off on 10/10. The Big Ten and PAC-10 announced their selections on Sunday.

ACC
Boston College at Virginia Tech, 12pm Raycom
Indiana at Virginia, 3:30pm ESPN360
Georgia Southern at North Carolina, 3:30pm ESPN360
Duke at NC State, 4pm ESPNU
Maryland at Wake Forest, 6:30pm ESPN360
Florida A&M at Miami (FL) , 7pm ESPN360
Georgia Tech at Florida St., 8pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 (Network TBA on 10/4).

Big 12
Oklahoma St. at Texas A&M, 12:30pm FSN
Iowa St. at Kansas, 12:30pm Versus
Baylor at Oklahoma, 3:30pm ABC
Colorado at Texas, 7:15pm ESPN/ESPN2

Big East
Connecticut at Pittsburgh OR West Virginia at Syracuse, 12pm Big East (six day pick)
Connecticut at Pittsburgh OR West Virginia at Syracuse, 12pm Big East (six day pick) Southern Miss at Louisville, 7:30pm ESPNU

Big Ten
Purdue at Minnesota, 12pm ESPN/ESPN2
Eastern Illinois at Penn St., 12pm ESPN Classic
Michigan St. at Illinois, 12pm Big Ten
Miami (OH) at Northwestern, 12pm Big Ten
Wisconsin at Ohio St., 3:30pm ABC/ESPN
Michigan at Iowa, 8pm ABC or ESPN

PAC-10
Oregon at UCLA, 3:30pm ABC
Stanford at Oregon St., 7pm FSN
Arizona at Washington, 10pm FSN NW

SEC
Florida at LSU, 8pm CBS
Kentucky at South Carolina, 12:30pm SEC/FSN

The other four slots (3:30pm CBS, 12pm ESPN/ESPN2, 12pm SEC Network, 12:30pm ESPNU) are being held for a six day pick. The games in question are Houston at Mississippi St., Alabama at Ole Miss, Auburn at Arkansas and Georgia at Tennessee

Week 6 TV Guesses

Here's my guesses for the TV selections for 10/10. Looks like a Big 12/Versus window was added sometime recently at 12:30pm ET.

Note that CBS has exclusivity in the primetime window this week, so ESPN's SEC windows have moved up to 12pm.

CBS

Alabama at Ole Miss, 3:30pm

Florida at LSU, 8pm

ABC

Colorado at Texas, Boston College at Virginia Tech, Wisconsin at Ohio St., Oregon at UCLA 3:30pm

Michigan at Iowa, 8pm

ESPN

Purdue at Minnesota, 12pm

Oklahoma St. at Texas A&M, 7:45pm

ESPN2

Auburn at Arkansas, 12pm

Georgia Tech at Florida St., 7:30pm

FSN

Baylor at Oklahoma, 12:30pm

Stanford at Oregon St., 7pm

Versus

Kansas St. at Texas Tech, 12:30pm

ESPNU
Houston at Mississippi St., 12pm
Duke at NC State, 3:30pm
Pittsburgh at Connecticut, 7pm

ESPN Classic

Michigan St. at Illinois, 12pm

Big Ten (all at 12pm)

Miami (OH) at Northwestern and Eastern Illinois at Penn St.

Others

Kentucky at South Carolina, 12pm SEC/FSN

Georgia at Tennessee, 12pm SEC Network

West Virginia at Syracuse, 12pm Big East

Maryland at Wake Forest, 12pm Raycom

Indiana at Virginia, 3:30pm ESPN360

Southern Miss at Louisville, 3:30pm ESPN360

Iowa St. at Kansas, 7pm Fox College Sports

Arizona at Washington, 10:15pm FSN NW/FS AZ

I think there's a small chance ABC could again bypass a Big 12 game, though it doesn't seem likely. If that did happen, assume that ESPN at 7:45pm is the 1st choice:

Colorado at Texas, ESPN 7:45pm

Oklahoma St. at Texas A&M, 3:30pm FSN (FSN can move their early window to 3:30pm if ABC does not use the telecast window)

Baylor at Oklahoma, 12:30pm Versus

Kansas St. at Texas Tech, 7pm Fox College Sports

Iowa St. at Kansas could then go untelevised unless either a "regional window" opened for the Big 12 at 12pm or FSN opted to have two national Big 12 windows.

Week 4 Viewers Guide

Week three didn't disappoint. Great finishes in Washington and Syracuse wins, a collapse by Nebraska in Blacksburg and another big finish involving Notre Dame. Each week feels like a game of "Can You Top This?". So can week four top week three?

I'm bypassing the weeknight games this week. Nothing in my opinion that brings a lot of viewers, though a top ten SEC team is usually worth watching (Ole Miss).

Saturday
USF at Florida St., 12pm (ESPNU HD) - It's a shame that Matt Grothe's career at USF would end before getting his shot at two of Florida's big three schools (this week at USF, 11/28 vs. Miami (FL)). BJ Daniels will get the start and gets a nice nine game run through those two and the seven Big East games. Florida St. awoke from a lackluster effort against Jacksonville St. to whitewash BYU and will be coming home to reestablish itself. No better way to do that then win in-state.

North Carolina at Georgia Tech, 12pm (Raycom HD/Game Plan) - TJ Yates efficiency has been the key to UNC's victories over UConn and East Carolina. Georgia Tech has been hit and miss with their pass defense, on vs. Clemson and completely off vs. Miami (FL). They'll need to be on to keep UNC in check.

Miami (FL) at Virginia Tech, 3:30pm (ABC HD/ESPN) - Lots of ACC so far, but both of these teams have been involved in some great games so far and Miami (FL) could have the look of an ACC champion, at least early. If I were Randy Shannon, I'd be thrilled with a 2-2 or 3-1 start if I had Florida St., Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma as my 1st four games for a season. Get to 3-0 and you can really play with house money against the Sooners. But don't look ahead. Virginia Tech is always ready.

Texas Tech at Houston, 9:15pm (ESPN2 HD) - The 1st matchup between these two former SWC schools was also Texas Tech's final SWC game (Houston and Rice played each other the following week). Houston has quietly made a name for itself with a high octane offense and may have the most impressive non-AQ win with the win at Oklahoma St. Texas Tech, like Houston, also ranks in the top 20 in offense. Should be a wild night with lots of points in front of the largest crowd to watch a game at Robertson Stadium.

Week 5 TV Selections

Placeholder for the ACC, Big Ten, PAC-10 and SEC selections for games to be contested on October 3rd. I am not expecting any Big 12 or Big East games to be selected or have kickoff times changed.

Come back here for updates.

ACC
Clemson at Maryland, 12pm ESPNU
Virginia at North Carolina, 12pm Raycom
Virginia Tech at Duke, 12pm ESPN360.com
NC State at Wake Forest, 3:30pm ESPNU

Oklahoma at Miami (FL) is a six day pick for ABC at either 3:30pm or 8pm.
Florida St. at Boston College is a six day pick for ESPN/ESPN2 at 12pm or ABC at 3:30pm

Big Ten
Wisconsin at Minnesota, 12pm ESPN/ESPN2
Arkansas St. at Iowa, 12pm ESPN2/ESPN Classic
Michigan at Michigan St., 12pm Big Ten
Purdue at Northwestern, 12pm Big Ten
Penn St. at Illinois, 3:30pm ABC/ESPN

PAC-10
UCLA at Stanford, 3:30pm ABC
Oregon St. at Arizona St., 7pm Versus

SEC
Alabama at Kentucky, 12pm SEC Network
LSU at Georgia, 3:30pm CBS
Ole Miss at Vanderbilt, 7pm ESPNU
South Carolina St. at South Carolina, 7pm ESPN Classic
Texas A&M vs. Arkansas, 7:30pm ESPN2
Georgia Tech at Mississippi, 7:30pm CSS
Auburn at Tennessee, 7:45pm ESPN

WAC
Colorado St. at Idaho, 10:30pm ESPNU (moved from a 5pm ET kick on Altitude2)

Others
Penn at Dartmouth, 12pm Versus
William & Mary at Villanova, 3:30pm Versus <--- Possibly a simulcast of Comcast Network

Week 5 TV Guesses

Here's my guesses for the Week Five TV selections. The ACC, PAC-10, Big Ten and SEC are the conferences having game times announced. The Big East only has one Saturday game and it is earmarked for their syndication package and the Big 12 had their selections for this date done prior to the season starting.

Note that there are two open TV windows for this date on ESPN Classic. I'm guessing one will be an SEC game.

I think it is possible that we could see the ACC's TV partners invoke a six day selection for their games.

CBS
LSU at Georgia, 3:30pm

ABC
Florida St. at Boston College (RM), Michigan St. at Michigan (RM) and UCLA at Stanford, 3:30pm
Oklahoma at Miami (FL) and USC at California (confirmed), 8pm

ESPN
Penn St. at Illinois, 12pm
ABC Reverse Mirror, 3:30pm
Alabama at Kentucky, 7:45pm

ESPN2
Virginia at North Carolina, 12pm
Texas A&M at Arkansas, 7:30pm

FSN
Texas Tech at New Mexico. 3:30pm (confirmed)

ESPNU
Virginia Tech at Duke, 12pm
NC State at Wake Forest, 3:30pm
Ole Miss at Vanderbilt, 7pm
UNLV at Nevada, 10:30pm

ESPN Classic
Wisconsin at Minnesota, 12pm
South Carolina St. at South Carolina, 7pm

Big Ten
Arkansas St. at Iowa & Northwestern at Purdue, 12pm
Ohio St. at Indiana, 7pm (confirmed)

Versus
Oregon St. at Arizona St., 7:30pm

Others
Auburn at Tennessee, 12pm SEC Network
Clemson at Maryland, 12pm Raycom
USF at Syracuse, 12pm Big East (confirmed)
Cincinnati at Miami (OH), 1pm ESPN360 (confirmed)
Kansas St. vs. Iowa St., 3pm Fox College Sports (confirmed)
Georgia Tech at Mississippi St., 7:30pm CSS
Washington St. at Oregon, 9:15pm Oregon Sports/FSN Northwest (semi-confirmed)

Tidbits

A few small items worth discussing:

• A reader sent in that Bright House Sports will also show the SEC package of games that CSS originally signed up for. Coupled with the recent announcement from Cox Sports in Louisiana, the CSS package should reach the entire footprint, excluding satellite.
• After probably a lot of backroom negotiation, the Stanford-Washington game on 9/26 will be televised by Fox College Sports. Earlier this week, UW issued a press release which seemed to blame Stanford for the reason why the game would not be on TV.
• Right around the same time Washington issued their release about their game originally not being televised, Nevada also issued a "broadcast information" release about their road game at Colorado St. In the release, Nevada simply says the game would not be on TV because the MWC's TV partners decided not to pick it up AND they would not grant a waiver to allow a local broadcast back to Reno. I believe this is the 2nd time Nevada has been denied a local broadcast by a MWC since CBS College Sports/CSTV purchased the MWC's TV rights. A few years ago they denied the right for Nevada to do a local broadcast of a Nevada-UNLV game. Different circumstances though as the mtn. did televise the game, but the mtn. did not have carriage in Reno.
  
• In other PAC-10 related TV news, Oregon took a somewhat unusual step to announce the kickoff time of their home game vs. Washington St. in the event it would not be televised on ABC or Versus on 10/3. Me thinks that the poor shape of the Cougars has already eliminated this game from television coverage.
• Sports Business Journal did a great followup article on the demise of the Arizona Wildcats Sports Network, which really never did get off the ground. According to SBJ, neither IMG nor the Wildcats athletic department ever checked with the conference regarding the parameters involved in a local broadcast deal. The real problem was when the partners announced affiliates across the nation, which put them in violation of the deals the conference struck with ABC and FSN.