CFB TV Selections for 10/15/16 (Week Seven)

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for 10/8 from the twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to.  Please understand that games can be held until next Sunday if a broadcaster wants to wait on the results of the Week Six games.  Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their games held for a six day hold of the start time.

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'll prove to be incorrect) and here is the current schedule for the week as several FBS games do have their time & television/webcast assignments already accounted for.  

All times Eastern.  

12pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2: NC State at Clemson
12pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2: Kansas St. at Oklahoma
12pm ABC/ESPN2/ESPNU: Minnesota at Maryland
12pm ABC/ESPN2/ESPNU: Iowa at Purdue
12pm FS1: West Virginia at Texas Tech
12pm ESPNews: Illinois at Rutgers
12pm SEC: Vanderbilt at Georgia
12:30pm ACC Network: Pittsburgh at Virginia
12:30pm ACC RSNs: Georgia Southern at Georgia Tech
2pm ESPN3: Eastern Michigan at Ohio
2:30pm ESPN3: Kent St. at Miami (OH)
3:30pm CBS: Alabama at Tennessee
3:30pm FOX: USC at Arizona
3:30pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2: Nebraska at Indiana
3:30pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2: Wake Forest at Florida St.
3:30pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2: North Carolina at Miami (FL)
3:30pm FS1: Kansas at Baylor

3:30pm ESPNews: New Mexico vs. Air Force
3:30pm CBSSN: Western Michigan at Akron
3:30pm BTN: Northwestern at Michigan St.
3:30pm ASN: Bowling Green at Toledo
3:30pm ESPN3: Central Michigan at Northern Illinois
3:30pm ESPN3: Ball St. at Buffalo
3:30pm ESPN3: Georgia St. at Troy
3:45pm ESPNU: Virginia Tech at Syracuse
4pm SEC: Missouri at Florida

4pm Pac-12: Utah at Oregon St.
7pm ESPN: Ole Miss at Arkansas
7pm ESPN2: Tulsa at Houston
7pm CBSSN: Connecticut at USF
7pm Longhorn/Cyclones.TV: Iowa St. at Texas
7pm ESPN3: Texas St. at UL-Monroe
7pm ESPN3: South Alabama at Arkansas St.
7:30pm SEC: Southern Miss at LSU
7:30pm ESPNU: Temple at UCF
8pm ABC: Ohio St. at Wisconsin

8pm Pac-12: Arizona St. at Colorado
10:15pm ESPN/ESPN2: Colorado St. at Boise St.
10:30pm ESPN/ESPN2: UCLA at Washington St.

CFB TV Guesses for 2016 Week Seven (10/15/16)

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

* Ohio St. at Wisconsin will be on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 at 8pm.  Also, Iowa at Purdue & Illinois at Rutgers (12pm) and Nebraska at Indiana & Northwestern at Michigan St. (3:30pm) are also locked into their start times.  The four afternoon games are homecoming games.
* I struggled a bit with the placing of New Mexico vs. Air Force, which is being played at the Cotton Bowl, which has no lights, so I prioritized its start time a bit.  Because of that, Iowa at Purdue, which isn't flexible on the start time, gets the bump to ESPN2 even though Minnesota at Maryland, based on records, may be more worthy.
* Right now, I'm assuming two BTN windows, but programming for the network on that day has switched to TBA from 12pm to 8:30pm ET, so it is possible that BTN will drop a telecast window.
* FOX & FS1 are carrying two Big 12 games and a Pac-12 game.  Note that the broadcast network's television window is earlier due to the possibility of airing of  NLCS Game 1 in primetime, though I think FS1 will be carrying the baseball game, or at least intends to with several hours of "To Be Announced" programming that night.
* ACC RSN package will have a doubleheader at 12pm & 3:30pm.
* Iowa St. at Texas has been claimed for Longhorn Network, with Cyclones.TV providing a broadcast in Iowa.  What is being determined is the start time.
* After filling in the MAC's two windows on CBS Sports Network and American Sports Network, I looked over the remaining games from the MAC & Sun Belt and did not see a reason to use the two ESPNEWS windows and discarded them.
* Since the Pac-12 isn't likely to have a telecast window on ABC or FOX that requires exclusivity, the Pac-12 Networks telecast windows could be moved slightly to allow for the first telecast window to start after noon Pacific Time.

All times Eastern.

12pm ABC: North Carolina at Miami (FL)
12pm ESPN: Kansas St. at Oklahoma
12pm ESPN2: Iowa at Purdue
12pm FS1: Kansas at Baylor
12pm ESPNU: New Mexico vs. Air Force
12pm SEC: Missouri at Florida
12pm BTN: Illinois at Rutgers
12pm ACC RSNs: Pittsburgh at Virginia
12:30pm ACC Network: Virginia Tech at Syracuse
2pm Pac-12: UCLA at Washington St.
3:30pm ABC: NC State at Clemson
3:30pm CBS: Alabama at Tennessee
3:30pm FOX: West Virginia at Texas Tech
3:30pm ESPN: Nebraska at Indiana
3:30pm ESPN2: Tulsa at Houston
3:30pm FS1: Arizona St. at Colorado
3:30pm ESPNU: Minnesota at Maryland
3:30pm CBSSN: Eastern Michigan at Ohio
3:30pm BTN: Northwestern at Michigan St.
3:30pm ASN: Western Michigan at Akron
3:30pm ACC RSNs: Georgia Southern at Georgia Tech
4pm SEC: Vanderbilt at Georgia
5:30pm Pac-12: Utah at Oregon St.
7pm ESPN: Ole Miss at Arkansas
7pm ESPN2: Wake Forest at Florida St.
7pm ESPNU: Temple at UCF
7pm CBSSN: Connecticut at USF
7pm Longhorn/Cyclones.TV: Iowa St. at Texas
7:30pm SEC: Southern Miss at LSU
8pm ABC: Ohio St. at Wisconsin
10:15pm ESPN2: Colorado St. at Boise St.
10:30pm ESPN: USC at Arizona

ESPN3
Ball St. at Buffalo
Kent St. at Miami (OH)
Central Michigan at Northern Illinois
Bowling Green at Toleddo
South Alabama at Arkansas St.
Georgia St. at Troy
Texas St. at UL-Monroe

Now, based on the possibility of only one BTN window (let's say no 3:30pm window), add back one ESPNEWS window.  Here's the games affected:

12pm ESPN2: Minnesota at Maryland
12pm ESPNEWS: Iowa at Purdue
3:30pm ESPNU: Northwestern at Michigan St.

Throwaway Guesses for 10/8 Six Day Holds

Some quick guesses for 10/8 since there are quite a few games awaiting time & television assignments.

12pm ABC: Virginia Tech at North Carolina
12pm ESPN2: Iowa at Minnesota
3:30pm ABC: Indiana at Ohio St.
3:30pm CBS: Tennessee at Texas A&M
3:30pm ESPN: Notre Dame at NC State
3:30pm ESPN2: BYU at Michigan St.
3:30pm ESPNU: Iowa St. at Oklahoma St.
7pm ESPN: Alabama at Arkansas
7pm ESPN2: Michigan at Rutgers
7pm ESPNU: Texas Tech at Kansas St.
8pm ABC: Florida St. at Miami (FL)
10:30pm ESPN: UCLA at Arizona St.
10:30pm ESPN2: Washingston St. at Stanford

Though Florida St. has now lost twice, I think the competitiveness of their game vs. Miami should be greater than Michigan at Rutgers will be.

I could be swayed into a reverse mirror at 12pm or 3:30pm with the combo being Big Ten & ACC in both places.  Wrote about it in the original 10/8 guesses with the same four games in their slots, though in a reverse mirror situation I'd prefer to mirror Notre Dame at NC State with Iowa at Minnesota & Indiana at Ohio St. with Virginia Tech at North Carolina.

Also, if ESPN2 is the pay TV mirror network at 3:30pm, move BYU at Michigan St. up to ESPN with the reverse mirror between ABC & ESPN2.

CFB TV Selections for 10/8/16 (Week Six)

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for 10/8 from the twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to.  Please understand that games can be held until next Sunday if a broadcaster wants to wait on the results of the Week Five games.  Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their games held for a six day hold of the start time.

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'll prove to be incorrect) and here is the current schedule for the week as several FBS games do have their time & television/webcast assignments already accounted for.  

All times Eastern.  

Six day holds

12pm ABC/ESPN2, 3:30pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU, 7pm ESPN2/ESPNU, 8pm ABC
Florida St. at Miami (FL) 
Virginia Tech at North Carolina
Notre Dame at NC State

3:30pm CBS, ESPN 7pm or 7:15pm
Alabama at Arkansas 
Tennessee at Texas A&M

ESPN2 7pm or ABC 8pm 
Michigan at Rutgers

12pm ABC and/or ESPN2: Iowa at Minnesota
12pm ESPN: LSU at Florida
12pm FS1: Oklahoma vs. Texas
12pm ESPNU: TCU at Kansas
12pm ESPNEWS: East Carolina at USF
12pm SEC: Auburn at Mississippi St.
12pm BTN: Maryland at Penn St.
12:30pm ACC Network: Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh
2pm ESPN3: Bowling Green at Ohio
3pm BCSN/Spectrum: Toledo at Eastern Michigan
3pm ESPN3: Miami (OH) at Akron
3:30pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2: BYU at Michigan St.
3:30pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2: Indiana at Ohio St.
3:30pm ABC/ESPN2/ESPNU: Iowa St. at Oklahoma St.
3:30pm BTN: Purdue at Illinois
3:30pm ACC RSN: Army at Duke
3:30pm ASN: Ball St. at Central Michigan
3:30pm ASN: Stephen F. Austin at Nicholls

3:30pm ESPN3: Kent St. at Buffalo
4pm SEC: Vanderbilt at Kentucky
4pm Pac-12: Colorado at USC
6:30pm CBSSN: Northern Illinois at Western Michigan
7pm ESPN2/ESPNU: Texas Tech at Kansas St.
7pm ACC RSN: Syracuse at Wake Forest
7pm CST: McNeese St. at Southeastern Louisiana
7pm ESPN3: Sam Houston St. at Incarnate Word
7pm ESPN3: Fresno St. at Nevada
7pm ESPN3: Idaho at UL-Monroe
7:30pm FOX: Washington at Oregon
7;30pm SEC: Georgia at South Carolina
9pm Pac-12: California at Oregon St.
10pm FS1: Arizona at Utah
10:30pm ESPN/ESPN2: UCLA at Arizona St.
10:30pm ESPN/ESPN2: Washington St. at Stanford
10:30pm ESPNU: UNLV at San Diego St.

CFB TV Guesses for 2016 Week Six (10/8/16)

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

* FOX Sports is scheduled to air one Big 12 game & two Pac-12 game.  With the Red River Rivalry (Oklahoma vs. Texas) scheduled to air on FS1 and the other FS1 window at 10pm ET, the FOX broadcast network game will be a Pac-12 game unless FOX pulls some wacky shenanigans.  The Pac-12 Networks windows are set up appropriately to allow a primetime game on FOX.
* The time of the Red River Rivalry is dependent on FOX Sports's NLDS telecast schedule and which games they'll give to MLB Network.  I discussed that in an earlier post and the main event  is set to start at 3am local time Sunday (10pm ET, and yes, you read that correctly.  3am), which sends my plan of a 3pm ET start possibly out the window & may mean FS1 is carrying a MLB game as well.  Listings for 10/8 that came out yesterday have the football game at 12pm ET, so lets go with that.
* Because FOX has only one Big 12 game & it is Oklahoma vs. Texas, everything else will be on an ESPN platform.
* If CBS wants the freedom of being able to select the Iron Bowl at the end of the year, they may pass on the Arkansas game.  Both Alabama (Kentucky) & Arkansas (Alcorn St.) should get past their opponents this week.  Where it could get dicey is this would Tennessee's third CBS game with a max of five, but Tennessee's remaining schedule isn't as attractive outside of the Alabama game which I would expect CBS to take a hard look at for 10/15 (which would conceivably be four in a row for Tennessee), where Alabama has games vs. Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU plus the Iron Bowl and was already on CBS vs. Ole Miss.
* I could also see a reverse mirror scenario for ABC & ESPN2 with the Big Ten and ACC at 3:30pm, with either Virginia Tech at North Carolina or Notre Dame at NC State being mirrored with either Indiana at Ohio St. or Iowa at Minnesota
* The MAC has twelve day selections for 3:30pm on ASN, a TBD slot on BCSN/Spectrum and 6:30pm on CBSSN.
* The ACC's RSN package has a doubleheader at 3:30pm & 7pm.
* Michigan at Rutgers is confirmed for a night game on ABC at 8pm or ESPN at 7pm.  Maryland at Penn St. is set for 12pm as a homecoming game.
* As of this post being made available, Pac-12 selections for 10/1 have not yet been made and I think that could have some bearing on the selection for 10/8 by FOX.  A reasonable case could be made UCLA at Arizona St.  For the moment, I'm going with Washington at Oregon.  Oregon's loss yesterday complicates a lot of things and Washington has a tough home game vs. Stanford on Friday, while Arizona St. is currently 4-0 with USC upcoming.  Its also possible that FOX uses another six day selection here, though that would burn both of theirs for the season as its my understanding that both FOX and ESPN get two six day holds to use and I'm under the assumption FOX used theirs on 10/1 and not ESPN.
* Stephen F. Austin at Nicholls was listed by a couple RSNs at 3:30pm ET.  The Southland Conference has an ASN twelve day selection for that time, so that's my "guess".

12pm ABC: Florida St. at Miami (FL)
12pm ESPN: Iowa at Minnesota
12pm ESPN2: Texas Tech at Kansas St.
12pm FS1: Oklahoma vs. Texas
12pm ESPNU: Maryland at Penn St.
12pm ESPNEWS: East Carolina at USF
12pm SEC: Auburn at Mississippi St.
12pm BTN: BYU at Michigan St.
12:30pm ACC Network: Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh
3:30pm CBS: Tennessee at Texas A&M
3:30pm ABC/ESPN2: Virginia Tech at North Carolina
3:30pm ABC/ESPN2: Indiana at Ohio St.
3:30pm ESPN: Notre Dame at NC State
3:30pm ESPNU: Iowa St. at Oklahoma St.
3:30pm BTN: Purdue at Illinois
3:30pm ACC RSN: Army at Duke
3:30pm ASN: Toledo at Western Michigan
3:30pm ASN: Stephen F. Austin at Nicholls
4pm SEC: Vanderbilt at Kentucky
4pm Pac-12: Washington St. at Stanford
6:30pm CBSSN: Ball St. at Central Michigan
7pm ESPN: Alabama at Arkansas
7pm ESPN2: Florida at LSU
7pm ESPNU: TCU at Kansas
7pm ACC RSN: Syracuse at Wake Forest
7:30pm FOX: Washington at Oregon
7;30pm SEC: Georgia at South Carolina
8pm ABC: Michigan at Rutgers
9pm Pac-12: California at Oregon St.
10pm FS1: Arizona at Utah
10:30pm ESPN: Arizona St. at UCLA
10:30pm ESPN2: Colorado at USC
10:30pm ESPNU: UNLV at San Diego St.

TBA BCSN/Spectrum: Toledo at Eastern Michigan

ESPN3 Exclusives
Fresno St. at Nevada
Miami (OH) at Akron
Bowling Green at Ohio
Kent St. at Buffalo
Texas St. at Georgia St.
Idaho at UL-Monroe

CFB Selection Notes for 10/1/16

Full schedule for Week Five

* Regarding the Sun Belt, I have no idea it took so long to finalize their selections.  Most of them showed up around 9pm ET Monday, and that could have been for a number of reasons that the rest of us deal with in our daily lives.

ESPN had an open ESPNEWS slot that they moved to later in the day.  I'll admit to overthinking on the point I'm about to make: UAB used to like to try to have their home games not in conflict with Alabama & Auburn games due to the two SEC schools' wide appeal in the state.  I can't speak to the fanbase of South Alabama though and how their allegiances lie though.  But it did surprise me to see South Alabama play at the same time as Alabama, though if ESPNEWS at 4pm was the other choice, they would have conflicted with Auburn at 3:30pm.

I also wonder if ESPN and American Sports Network were haggling over either the selection order or if South Alabama really didn't want a pre-noon start.  San Diego St., current owners of the nation's longest winning streak, would have been a good get for ASN too.

* It doesn't surprise me much to see six games set for ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, three each at 12pm and 3:30pm ET, with the television outlet to be set after games on 9/24.  It is early in the season and there's a relative amount of unknown with several teams.  It also allows ESPN to preserve "real" six day holds for later in the year, when there may be a decision to be made about whether a game should air at 3:30pm or 8pm on ABC, for example.  In other words, when there's going to be a massive difference in the start time of the game.

* Interesting strategy that ESPN used to have a game on standby for ESPN2 in the event the World Cup of Hockey championship rounds ends in a 2-0 sweep.  I believe Memphis at Ole Miss & Cincinnati at USF are flexible between ESPN2 and ESPNU, but if there is a World Cup of Hockey deciding game, Cincinnati at USF will be on ESPNU and Memphis at Ole Miss on SEC Network's alternate.  To allow for the alternate channel to have some extra leeway for the potential of an extra game, UL-Monroe at Auburn starts at 3:30pm instead of the customary 4pm start for the middle window.

* For Pac-12 selections, the way I read it is that FOX requested the six day hold, which probably seems obvious as the broadcast network of the three Pac-12 openings available (8:30pm FOX, 9:30pm Pac-12, 10:30pm ESPN).  Since the Pac-12 Networks window starts after 6pm local time as all three options are on Pacific time, there's no concern I guess on the shorter overlap even though FOX's late window starts later than usual.  That could be where Pac-12 Networks changed the evening window's initially scheduled time of 9pm ET to 9:30pm ET, which allowed the early window to start an hour later (2:30pm ET instead of 1:30pm ET) with no gaps between games.

* The 7:30pm slot for the ACC RSNs made sense to be Marshall at Pittsburgh.  I consider the 7:30pm start time to be intentional because it allows for an MLB telecast window on a regional sports network at 4pm ET plus 30 minutes of postgame.   The Pirates have a telecast scheduled for ROOT Sports that day starting at 4pm and while ROOT does have an alternate channel that pops up on occasion, I'm unclear as to how many providers carry this extra feed, so it would have been tough for Marshall at Pittsburgh to be carried at 3:30pm ET.

As a side note - I'm a bit curious as to how weeknight selections are slotted on a given week vs. Saturday.  Stanford at Washington on Friday 9/30 on ESPN is arguably the best looking Pac-12 game if it were available as a Saturday selection, so I'm curious how that affects where ESPN selections are slotted on Saturday evening.  Would the Pac-12 Networks selection be ahead or behind them?  Guess we'll find out on Sunday.  Same goes for Kansas at Texas Tech on FS1, which isn't the same stature as the Pac-12 game mentioned above, but does it get "slotted" against Big 12 selections on Saturdays, or are those done independently?

Some Men's College Basketball TV Notes for the 2016-17 season

A few men's college basketball scheduling notes that were of interest to me that you might find fascinating as well

ESPN
* Surprise!  The first matchup between Duke and North Carolina isn't scheduled for a Wednesday.  Instead it is set for Thursday, February 9th.  The last time the first meeting of the season for the two schools wasn't set for a Wednesday was 2006 when they met on Tuesday, February 7th.  NOTE: The first meeting in 2014 ended up being on a Thursday due to a postponement from a Wednesday date.
* Instead of bumping the NBA for Duke-UNC with a solid undercard, the Wednesday with no NBA on ESPN in February will have a very solid ACC doubleheader of Duke at Syracuse followed by Louisville at North Carolina.  Still probably worth your time.
* Wake Forest at Notre Dame was scheduled for ESPNEWS on February 7th, the first time I can recall that the ACC has allowed a men's basketball game to be scheduled for ESPNEWS.

* ESPN Networks will carry just seven Pac-12 intraconference games on Wednesday nights, down from fourteen a season ago.  They'll carry three more intraconference games on Thursday nights with small increases on other nights.  To be fair, the Pac-12 TV partners, to my knowledge, do not have a set number of intraconference or non-conference games that they are required to carry (see FOX Sports note re: Pac-12).
* A nice rivalry doubleheader on February 17th on ESPN2, the Friday of the NBA All Star Break, with Valparaiso at Oakland & Richmond at VCU (the Capital City Classic).  Missing from that Friday right now: a college basketball game on ESPN.  No game is scheduled for the network on that date right now.  Might have NBA All Star Game festivities & programming instead.
* I think there's an opening on ESPNU for the North Carolina at Hawai'i MBK game to be shown at 11:30pm on Friday 11/18 after the last Charleston Classic game that evening.

FOX Sports
* Moving the date of the Big East marathon to the MLK Jr. holiday makes some sense as many schools do observe the holiday.  For some schools it may be the last day before the start of spring semester, so students should be back on campus.  The date is typically a big day for the NBA as well, with NBA TV carrying games in the afternoon and TNT in the evening.  Scheduling around the College Football Playoff, end of NFL season on New Years Day along with shared arenas with NBA and NHL teams isn't easy.  In fact, Marquette's game is in the evening due to a Bucks in the afternoon.
* Speaking of the College Football Playoff, interesting call for a Big East game on January 9th, the date of the championship game.   St. John's at Georgetown is starting at 6:30pm and should be done before the start of the football game.
* FOX Sports, being very judicious with their 22 Pac-12 choices, did not select any non-conference games, though they'll have games from Cal, Arizona and USC as part of the Pearl Harbor & Las Vegas events that they will televise.  Every Pac-12 controlled game will be an intraconference game.
* One of FOX's Pac-12 broadcast network games is on a Sunday this year, with a doubleheader on the Sunday before the Super Bowl of Virginia at Villanova followed by Washington at Arizona.  The other FOX broadcast network game, Colorado at Oregon, was originally listed by the Pac-12 for February 19th and would have followed Daytona 500 pole qualifying.  FOX's schedule release has the corrected date of February 18th, where it would be part of a doubleheader with Villanova at Seton Hall.
* The semifinal evening games of the Las Vegas Classic on December 22nd have had time adjustments that will allow them to air on FS1.  They were originally scheduled for FOX College Sports.  This season is the first time the semifinal games from this event have made it to television since FOX Sports has taken over the operations of the two Las Vegas events.
* The Orange Bowl Classic will be shown nationally on FS2 this season instead of one game being shown on FSN and the other on FS1 with a FOX Sports Florida simulcast.
* Besides C-USA, which has moved its basketball games to other networks, there are no Ivy League games on the schedule,  Curious to see where its conference tournament ends up.

ACC Regional
* Most non-conference games were set for ACC Network Extra, but don't be surprised if a handful end up on ESPNU or regional sports networks.  Only three non-conference games were set aside for ACC RSNs and they all involved Duke or North Carolina.  Last season there were fifteen non-conference games distributed to regional sports networks, so I think they've got some adjustments to make.

* Boston College at Clemson on March 4th is the only intraconference game without any television designation at this time.  This is typically when the ACC regional sports network would run into conflicts with the women's basketball tournament, but the tournament would be in semifinals on an ESPN platform that day (ESPNU in previous years).

Pac-12 Networks
* Pac-12 Networks will have just four games during conference play on Sunday nights, down from nine last season.  It appears those games have been shifted over to Saturdays.

BTN
* As has been standard practice, a few dates have flexible start times for BTN telecasts: December 3rd (conference football championship) and the first three Sundays of January (last Sunday of the NFL season and two playoff rounds).
* February 18-19th, February 25-26th and March 4th-5th are the dates where CBS will have Big Ten wildcard games.  BTN will be in on many of those games CBS doesn't select.  ESPN may be once their schedule is announced.