After being shut out of the Mountain West between 2005 and 2011, ESPN returns to airing Mountain West Conference football games this year. With the mtn., going by the wayside after this month, the conference expanded its national rights agreement with CBS Sports Network for the upcoming season. Then CBS sublicensed games to other networks including ESPN and NBC Sports Network.
As a result, ESPN will distribute the games either on the Mothership, ESPN2 or ABC. Overall, four games will be seen on the Family of Networks.
Here’s the ESPN press release outlining what will be seen on the networks for the 2012 college football season.
ESPN to Televise Mountain West Conference Regular-Season College Football
ESPN’s 2012 college football coverage will include telecasts of four regular-season Mountain West Conference home games. Through a one-year agreement with CBS Sports Network, ESPN will televise two Friday, one Thursday and one Saturday contest hosted by a member of the Mountain West Conference. It will mark the first time ESPN has televised Mountain West Conference games from a member institution’s home venue since 2005. ESPN had a regular schedule of conference member home games from 1999 to 2005 and televised BYU vs. TCU at Cowboys Stadium on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011.With this deal, ESPN will now televise home games from all 11 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences.The first of the four games will pit Washington State of the Pac-12 at UNLV on Friday, Sept. 14, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. ESPN will also televise independent BYU at Boise State on Thursday, Sept. 20 on ESPN. Kick time is to be determined.ESPN2 will televise Hawaii at Air Force on Friday, Nov. 16, at 9:30 p.m. while the Boise State at Nevada game on Saturday, Dec. 1 will be aired on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. The time is to be determined.The 2012 season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Regional Television will include more than 400 regular-and post-season games, concluding with all five games of the Bowl Championship Series.
That will do it.
