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College Viewing Picks For Week 7, 10/13/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from South Bend, IN — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
ACC Blitz — ACC Network, noon
College Football Uncut-Auburn — CBS, 2 p.m.
College Football Uncut-South Carolina — CBS, 2:30 p.m.
Fox College Saturday — Fox, 2:30 p.m.
Onward Notre Dame: South Bend to Soldier Field — NBC, 2:30 p.m.
BTN Football Postgame — Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN/ESPN2, 3 p.m.
ESPN Goal Line — ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.
Fox College Saturday — Fox, 6;30 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 7 p.m.
College Football Central — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
BTN Football Gamebreak 2012 — Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 8:30 p.m.
The Final Drive — Big Ten Network, 11 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.
College Football Final — ESPN2, midnight

11 a.m.
Louisville at Pittsburgh — ESPNU (Tom Hart/John Congemi)

noon
Oklahoma vs. Texas at Dallas, TX — ABC (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)

Syracuse at Rutgers — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/David Diaz-Infante/Paul Carcaterra)

Wisconsin at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Chris Martin/Jon Jansen)

Kent State at Army — CBS Sports Network (Ben Holden/Randy Cross/Cadet Ally McKearn)

Richmond at New Hampshire — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic/New England/Philadelphia)

Iowa at Michigan State — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown)
Northwestern at Minnesota — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Heather Mitts)

Kansas State at Iowa State — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)
UAB at Houston — Fox Sports Net/Fox College Sports Central/WLVI/KICU (Ron Thulin/Shaun King/Desmond Purnell)

Brown at Princeton — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Ross Tucker/Carolyn Manno)

Auburn at Mississippi — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. kickoff (Dave Neal/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

12:30 p.m.
Duke at Virginia Tech — ACC Network

1 p.m.
SMU at Tulane — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area Plus/Houston)

2 p.m.
Lindsey Wilson at Campbellsville — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Jim Tirey/Brian Rive)

2:30 p.m.
North Carolina at Miami (FL) — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)

3 p.m.
Utah at UCLA — Fox/Fox Deportes (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)
Maryland at Virginia — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Paul Kennedy/Keith Jones/Jenn Hildreth)

3:30 p.m.
Illinois at Michigan — ABC/ESPN (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell/Lewis Johnson)
Oregon State at BYU — ABC (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)
West Virginia at Texas Tech — ABC/ESPN (Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Quint Kussenich)

Alabama at Missouri — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson)
Bucknell at Harvard — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Todd Christensen/Evan Washburn)

William & Mary at James Madison — Comcast SportsNet (California/Mid-Atlantic Plus/The Comcast Network)

Oklahoma State at Kansas — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central/WDCA/KICU (Joel Myers/Brian Baldinger/Jim Knox)
Texas-San Antonio at Rice — Fox College Sports Pacific (Adam Alexander/Dave Lapham/Lesley McCaslin)

Stanford at Notre Dame — NBC (Tom Hammond/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan)
Fresno State at Boise State — NBC Sports Network (Paul Burmeister/Rod Woodson/Anthony Herron)

Eastern Washington at Montana State — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Root Sports (Northwest/Rocky Mountain)

4:30 p.m.
Memphis at East Carolina — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area Plus/Houston/Northwest)

5:30 p.m.
Boston College at Florida State — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Maria Taylor)

6 p.m.
Florida at Vanderbilt — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Tom Luginbill)

7 p.m.
USC at Washington — Fox (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)
TCU at Baylor — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central (Mike Morgan/JC Pearson/Laura McKeeman)
Kentucky at Arkansas — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Bob Rathbun/Tim Couch/Elizabeth Moreau)

Air Force at Wyoming — Root Sports (Northwest/Rocky Mountain)

8 p.m.
Ohio State at Indiana — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/J Leman)

Southern Mississippi at Central Florida — CBS Sports Network (James Bates/Aaron Taylor/Lauren Gardner)

South Carolina at LSU — ESPN (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)

9 p.m.
Tennessee at Mississippi State — ESPN2 (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Allison Williams)
Texas A&M vs. Louisiana Tech at Shreveport, LA — ESPNU (Joe Davis/Kelly Stouffer)

10:30 p.m.
Cal at Washington State — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Glenn Parker/Ryan Nece)

midnight
New Mexico at Hawaii — Root Sports Rocky Mountain

ESPN’s College Football Games For Week 7 Including Announcing Assignments

Time for the college football games on the ESPN family of networks for Week 7. ABC has an afternoon doubleheader featuring the annual Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas at noon ET. Then the network splits its coverage three ways at 3:30 p.m. ET with Illinois-Michigan, West Virginia-Texas Tech and Oregon State at BYU.

In primetime, ESPN has Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit (flying over from South Bend in the morning) and Heather Cox at Baton Rouge for South Carolina at LSU for one of their rare SEC appearances.

It should be noted that Heather Mitts of the US Women’s Soccer Team will be making her sideline debut at the Northwestern-Minnesota game at noon at ESPN2 with Beth Mowins and Joey Galloway.

Here’s the ESPN slate of games that begin tonight.

ESPN College Football Schedule Includes Three Games between Ranked Teams

ESPN’s college football schedule this week will be highlighted by telecasts of three of the four matchups between ranked teams, all on Saturday, Oct. 13: No. 3 South Carolina at No. 9 LSU (8 p.m. ET on ESPN); the Red River Rivalry pitting No. 15 Texas vs. No. 13 Oklahoma from Dallas (noon on ABC); and No. 22 Texas A&M vs. No. 23 Louisiana Tech from Shreveport, a game postponed from opening weekend due to weather (9 p.m. on ESPNU).

Additional notes for Saturday, Oct. 13:

• ESPNU will televise four games, including three unbeaten – and four ranked – teams: No. 18 Louisville (at Pittsburgh at 11 a.m.), No. 4 Florida (at Vanderbilt at 6 p.m.) and No. 23 Louisiana Tech (against one-loss No. 22 Texas A&M at 9 p.m.)
• ESPNU and ESPN3 will combine to carry all three of the remaining undefeated BIG EAST teams: No. 18 Louisville (at Pittsburgh at 11 a.m. on ESPNU), No. 20 Rutgers (against Syracuse at noon on ESPN3 and the BIG EAST Network) and No. 21 Cincinnati (against Fordham at 7 p.m. on ESPN3).
• ESPN2 will televise No. 19 Mississippi State, one of four remaining unbeaten teams in the SEC, against conference rival Tennessee at 9 p.m. Mississippi State’s 5-0 record is its best start to a season since 1999. It is also only the fourth time Mississippi State has won its first five games in its 113 years of playing football. Tennessee leads the series 28-15-1, including wins in 9 of the last 10 games.
• ESPN platforms will carry 10 undefeated teams in action Saturday, Oct. 13: No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 West Virginia, No. 10 Oregon State, No. 18 Louisville, No. 19 Mississippi State, No. 20 Rutgers, No. 21 Cincinnati, No. 23 Louisiana Tech and Ohio.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Thu, Oct 11	7:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Troy Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Arizona State at Colorado Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele	ESPN
Fri, Oct 12	8 p.m.	Navy at Central Michigan Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN2
Sat, Oct 13	11 a.m.	No. 18 Louisville at Pittsburgh Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
	Noon	No. 15 Texas vs. No. 13 Oklahoma (from Dallas) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ABC
	Noon	Iowa at Michigan State Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Northwestern at Minnesota Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Heather Mitts	ESPN2
	Noon	Auburn at Ole Miss Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	Noon	Syracuse at No. 20 Rutgers Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	Noon	Lafayette at Yale	ESPN3
	12:30 p.m.	Duke at Virginia Tech	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	1 p.m.	Temple at Connecticut Dave Weekley & Rene Ingoglia	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Tennessee-Chattanooga at Furman	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Akron at Ohio Dan Gutowsky & John Gregory	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Youngstown State at Illinois State	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Liberty at Presbyterian	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	North Carolina at Miami (Fla.) Anish Shroff & Dan Hawkins	ESPNU
	3 p.m.	Western Michigan at Ball State Jim Barbar & Ben Leber	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Maryland at Virginia	ESPN3 *
	3:30 p.m.	Illinois at No. 25 Michigan Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Lewis Johnson	ABC & ESPN **
		No. 5 West Virginia at Texas Tech Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich	ABC & ESPN **
		No. 10 Oregon State at BYU Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ABC & ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Stony Brook at Coastal Carolina	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Miami (Ohio) at Bowling Green	ESPN3 *
	3:30 p.m.	Buffalo at Northern Illinois	ESPN3 *
	4 p.m.	Utah State at San Jose State Trey Bender & Jay Taylor	ESPN3 *
	4 p.m.	Indiana State at North Dakota State	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Northwestern State at Southeastern Louisiana	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	Boston College at No. 12 Florida State Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Maria Taylor	ESPN2
	6 p.m.	No. 4 Florida at Vanderbilt Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Tom Luginbill	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Kentucky at Arkansas	ESPN3 *
	7 p.m.	Fordham at No. 21 Cincinnati Mike Gleason, John Bunting & Rontina McCann	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Western Illinois at South Dakota State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	TCU at Baylor Bill Rosinkski, David Norrie & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	No. 3 South Carolina at No. 9 LSU Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ESPN
	8 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at Louisiana-Monroe	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	Tennessee at No. 19 Mississippi State Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Allison Williams	ESPN2
	9 p.m.	No. 22 Texas A&M vs. No. 23 Louisiana Tech (from Shreveport) Joe Davis & Kelly Stouffer	ESPNU

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast

Fox Sports Media Group’s college football games are next.

College Football Viewing Picks For Week 6, 10/06/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from Columbia, SC — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 11 a.m.
ACC Blitz — ACC Network, noon
College Football Countdown — ABC, 3 p.m.
College Football Today — CBS, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN/ESPN2, 3 p.m.
BTN Football Gamebreak — Big Ten Network, 3:30 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN/ESPN2, 6:30 p.m.
Fox College Saturday — Fox, 6:30 p.m.
BTN Football Postgame — Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 10 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.
College Football Final — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

11:30 a.m.
Navy at Air Force — CBS (Spero Dedes/Steve Beuerlein/Otis Livingston)

noon
South Florida at Temple — Big East Network (Eamon McEnaney/David Diaz-Infante/Paul Carcaterra)

Michigan State at Indiana — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Chris Martin/Jon Jansen)

Boston College at Army — CBS Sports Network (Ben Holden/Randy Cross/Cadet Tommy Busterud)

Northwestern at Penn State — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown)
Arkansas at Auburn — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Tom Luginbill)
UConn at Rutgers — ESPNU (Tom Hart/John Congemi)
Buffalo at Ohio — ESPN Plus/ESPN3 (Michael Reghi/Doug Graber)

Kansas at Kansas State — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)
Boise State at Southern Mississippi — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central/WLVI/KICU (Joel Myers/Brian Baldinger/Jim Knox)
Albany at Bryant — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Cox Sports RI/Time Warner Cable Albany (Paul Dottino/Steve Levy)

Mississippi State at Kentucky — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. kickoff (Dave Neal/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

12:30 p.m.
Virginia Tech at North Carolina — ACC Network

1 p.m.
Towson at James Madison — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Anthony Herron/Carolyn Manno)

3 p.m.
Arizona at Stanford — Fox/Fox Deportes (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)
Virginia at Duke — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Paul Kennedy/Keith Jones/Jenn Hildreth)

3:30 p.m.
Illinois at Wisconsin — ABC/ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell/Maria Taylor)
Oklahoma at Texas Tech — ABC/ESPN2 (Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Quint Kessenich)

LSU at Florida — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson)
Tulsa at Marshall — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/Doug Chapman/Tammy Blackburn)

Maine at Delaware — Comcast SportsNet (California/Chicago/Mid-Atlantic Plus/New England/Northwest/Philadelphia)

Georgia Tech at Clemson — ESPN (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)
Wake Forest at Maryland — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)

Iowa State at TCU — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Pacific/WDCA/KICU (Mike Morgan/JC Morgan/Laura McKeeman)

Montana at Northern Colorado — Root Sports (Northwest/Rocky Mountain/Audience Network (DirecTV)

4 p.m.
Michigan at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/J Leman)

6 p.m.
Washington State at Oregon State — Pac-12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Adam Archuleta/Yogi Roth)

7 p.m.
North Texas at Houston — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area Plus/Chicago/Houston/Mid-Atlantic)

Georgia at South Carolina — ESPN (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)
Texas A&M at Mississippi — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Angela Mallen)
UNLV at Louisiana Tech — ESPN Plus/ESPN3 (Trey Bender/Jay Taylor)

West Virginia at Texas — Fox (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)
Vanderbilt at Missouri — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Bob Rathbun/Tim Couch/Elizabeth Moreau)
Rice at Memphis — Fox College Sports Central (Steve Physioc/Ben Leber/Lesley McCaslin)

Montana State at Cal Davis — Root Sports (Northwest/Pittsburgh/Rocky Mountain)/Audience Network (DirecTV)

7:30 p.m.
Miami (FL) vs. Notre Dame in Chicago, IL — NBC (Tom Hammond/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan)

8 p.m.
Nebraska at Ohio State — ABC (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)

Hawaii at San Diego State — CBS Sports Network (James Bates/Todd Christensen/Lauren Gardner)

Florida State at North Carolina State — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Shelley Smith)

10 p.m.
UCLA at Cal — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Glenn Parker/Ryan Nece)

10:30 p.m.
Washington at Oregon — ESPN (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Lewis Johnson)
Southern at Alcorn State — ESPNU (Joe Davis/Jay Walker) (same day coverage)

Your Thursday Linkage

Let’s do a few links for you.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at the local MLB TV ratings.

Mike Ozanian from Forbes explains what the new national MLB TV deals mean for the upcoming bids for the Los Angeles Dodgers TV rights.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter has an NBC Sports executive defending its decision not to air live coverage of the Paralympics.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry at the Poynter Institute discusses ESPN taking credit for the work of others and standardizing its editorial policies.

Bradley Klein of Golfweek was not enamored with the amount of commercials in NBC’s Ryder Cup coverage. Thanks to Ed Sherman for the link.

Speaking of Ed, he wonders if this season will be the last for the partnership of Chicago White Sox TV announcers Ken Harrelson and Steve Stone.

Jill Goldsmith from Variety discusses the new carriage deal between Disney and Cablevision that includes WatchESPN, Longhorn Network and other ESPN platforms.

Broadcasting & Cable reports on Golf Channel’s record viewership for the third quarter of 2012.

Dan Daly from Sports Video Group explores how Fox and Turner are preparing to pick up audio during the MLB Postseason.

ESPN’s Kristi Dosh looks at the next Manchester United cash deal.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell wonders how much Master Swindler Curt Schilling can receive for selling his bloody sock. I live in Rhode Island and I’m an angry taxpayer on the hook thanks to Curt’s 38 Studios deal.

Rocco Pendoia at The Street wonders if national sports radio can generate revenue for CBS.

Jordan Rabinowitz at SportsGrid has the painful video of actor Liam Neeson’s appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter as Mike Hill asked him about Tim Tebow. You can only imagine the results.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with SiriusXM’s Chris Russo.

Jerry Barmash at FishbowlNY says YES has received its best ratings in two years for the last two Red Sox-Yankees games.

The Schenectady Gazette’s Ken Schott says local sports anchor Andrew Catalon will call UConn women’s basketball on SNY this season.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Week 5 NFL TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record looks at the SNY UConn Women’s basketball schedule.

Tom Luicci of the Newark Star-Ledger talks with ESPN analyst John Congemi about Saturday’s UConn-Rutgers game.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says IndyCar racing returns next year to Pocono Raceway, but in a shorter form and with ABC televising the race over NBC Sports Network.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun has a slideshow in which he gives grades to the MASN Orioles broadcasters for this season.

David notes the O’s home finale’s ratings on MASN almost doubled from the last season.

In the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg wants to know why former WaPo columnist Michael Wilbon trashed DC in ESPN The Magazine.

Dan also responds to Michael’s trashing of him.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says the final day of the Astros season meant saying goodbye on both TV and radio.

Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes that several Oklahoma City Thunder players were gripped by ESPN’s “Broke” 30 for 30 documentary.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Reds set a ratings record on Fox Sports Ohio.

In the Los Angeles Times, Joe Flint writes about the Disney carriage deal with Cablevision.

Joe Eskanazi of San Francisco explains how the Bleacher Report became so big.

John Carvalho at ChuckOliver.net delves into the feud between South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier and a newspaper columnist.

Andrew Kameka of Mobile Play says WatchESPN is now adding support for Apple AirPlay through iOS6.

Dave Kohl has some various sports media thoughts in The Broadcast Booth.

I’m going to end it there.

ESPN’s College Football Games For Week 6 Including Announcing Assignments

For Week 6, the ESPN family of networks has a slew of college football games. ABC/ESPN2 has two games at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Some will see Oklahoma at Texas Tech while others will watch Illinois at Wisconsin.

The primetime games will be Georgia at South Carolina on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET with Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Heather Cox. ESPN2 will carry Florida at NC State at 8 p.m. as Mark Jones, Brock Huard and Shelley Smith will be in Raleigh. ESPNU has Texas A&M at Mississippi as Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb and Angela Mallen will call the game. Then ABC’s game at 8 p.m. will be Nebraska at Ohio State with Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe live in Columbus.

The late night contest has Washington at Oregon on ESPN at 10:30 p.m. with Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen and Lewis Johnson.

For the other games, check out ESPN’s games below.

Three Prime Time Games between Ranked Teams Highlights Television Schedule

ESPN’s college football schedule this week will include telecasts of three matchups between ranked teams in prime time on Saturday, Oct. 6 highlighted by an ESPN doubleheader: No. 5 Georgia at No. 6 South Carolina at 7 p.m. ET followed by No. 23 Washington at No. 2 Oregon at 10:30 p.m. The ABC Saturday Night Football broadcast at 8 p.m. will pit No. 21 Nebraska at No. 12 Ohio State.

In addition, ESPN Radio will broadcast two games between undefeated, ranked squads on Saturday, Oct. 6: No. 4 LSU at No. 10 Florida at 3:30 p.m. and No. 8 West Virginia at No. 11 Texas at 7 p.m.

Overall, ESPN platforms will carry 16 of the 20 undefeated teams playing games this Saturday: No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 South Carolina, No. 8 West Virginia, No. 10 Florida, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 20 Mississippi State, No. 22 Rutgers, No. 24 Northwestern, Cincinnati, Louisiana Tech, Ohio and Texas Tech. There are 23 unbeaten teams total with Alabama, Louisville and University of Texas-San Antonio having bye weeks.

Additional highlights for Saturday, Oct. 6:

• A showdown of Big 12 rivals at 3:30 p.m. will feature one-loss No. 17 Oklahoma at undefeated Texas Tech on ABC and ESPN2.
• No. 24 Northwestern, leaders of the Big Ten Legends Division at 5-0, will visit Penn State, winners of three straight games, at noon on ESPN and ESPN 3D.
• ESPNU will televise unbeaten No. 24 Rutgers against Connecticut at noon.
• The ESPN2 primetime game at 8 p.m. will pit No. 3 Florida State at NC State.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Thu, Oct 4	7:30 p.m.	Arkansas State at Florida International Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	Midwestern State at West Alabama	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	No. 13 USC at Utah Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele	ESPN
Fri, Oct 5	7 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Syracuse Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN
	10:15 p.m.	Utah State at BYU Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Shelley Smith	ESPN
Sat, Oct 6	Noon	No. 24 Northwestern at Penn State Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Arkansas at Auburn Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Tom Luginbill	ESPN2
	Noon	Connecticut at No. 22 Rutgers Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
	Noon	No. 20 Mississippi State at Kentucky Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	Noon	South Florida at Temple Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	Noon	Buffalo at Ohio Michael Reghi & Doug Graber	ESPN3 *
	Noon	Albany at Bryant	ESPN3
	12:30 p.m.	Virginia Tech at North Carolina	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	1:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Virginia Military Institute	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Youngstown State at North Dakota State	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Southern Illinois at Illinois State	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Virginia at Duke	ESPN3 *
	3 p.m.	Central Michigan at Toledo Mike Gleason & John Bunting	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Northern Illinois at Ball State Jim Barbar & John Gregory	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	No. 17 Oklahoma at Texas Tech Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich	ABC & ESPN2 **
		Illinois at Wisconsin Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Maria Taylor	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 15 Clemson Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Wake Forest at Maryland Anish Shroff & Dan Hawkins	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	No. 4 LSU at No. 10 Florida Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Allison Williams	ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe at Middle Tennessee	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Gardner-Webb at Liberty	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Stephen F. Austin at Sam Houston State	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Tulane at Louisiana-Lafayette	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Southern at Alcorn State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 5 Georgia at No. 6 South Carolina Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Texas A&M at Ole Miss Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Angela Mallen	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	No. 8 West Virginia at No. 11 Texas Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Owen Fitzsimmons	ESPN Radio
	7 p.m.	Vanderbilt at Missouri Rich Hollenberg & Stan Lewter	ESPN3 *
	7 p.m.	UNLV at Louisiana Tech Trey Bender & Jay Taylor	ESPN3 *
	7 p.m.	Miami (Ohio) at Cincinnati	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 21 Nebraska at No. 12 Ohio State Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ABC
	8 p.m.	No. 3 Florida State at NC State Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Shelley Smith	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	No. 23 Washington at No. 2 Oregon Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Lewis Johnson	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	Southern at Alcorn State Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU ***

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast
*** Live on ESPN3 at 5 p.m. ET & same day delay on ESPNU

More coming shortly.

Doing Some Monday Linkage

I’m going to make a concerted effort to do linkage regularly again. It’s the reason why I started Fang’s Bites back in 2007 and I was able to do the links daily, even on weekends. But lately, my schedule has been so busy that the site has become a press release dump and I want that to stop.

So I hope to do the links every day for you this week unless I have to be off-site, but I’m going to do my best to bring you the linkage.

So without further delay, here’s the linkage.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about the drama that was the Ryder Cup at Medinah.

In Sports Business Journal, John Ourand notes that NBC Sports Network’s ratings have really fallen after getting big ratings for the 2012 London Olympics.

John reports that Fox Sports is about to renew its deal with NASCAR.

Over to the ESPN Front Row PR blog where ESPN PR maven Bill Hofheimer tells us that tonight’s Monday Night Football game between Chicago and Dallas will be Mike Tirico’s 100th contest. Congrats, Mike!

Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal delves into which MLB announcer is the most biased and the results will probably confirm your suspicions.

Bloomberg’s John Helyar, Scott Church and Scott Soshnick report on MLB’s secret TV deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report says the European post-Ryder Cup press conference was an embarrassment to golf.

Ed explains how the Ryder Cup become a coveted property for NBC Sports after it was originally a sleepy event.

And Ed talks with NBC’s Roger Maltbie about his first job in television.

Mike Barnes of the Hollywood Reporter remembers former ABC and CBS motorsports voice Chris Economaki who died last week at the age of 91.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says the Pro Bowlers Tour is back on ESPN.

As part of a special section, Advertising Age’s Brian Steinberg notes that NBC’s Seth Winter is one of the publications Media Mavens.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group writes about the launch of Comcast SportsNet Houston which kicks off on participating cable and satellite systems (not DirecTV though) today.

Mike McCarthy at Sports Biz USA talks about how track athletes are attempting to unionize to combat the International Olympic Committee’s Rule 40 which prevents them from being in non-Olympic sponsor ads during the Games.

At the New York Post, Phil Mushnick wants NBC’s announcers to kick Tiger Woods to the curb.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Fox’s Michael Strahan and co-host of “Live with Kelly and Michael” says he got good practice for his latest gig by talking with reporters when he was a New York Football Giant.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union talks with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network Radio co-host Jim Duquette about the Nationals.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle tells us about today’s launch of the latest Comcast SportsNet regional sports network.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel says the Green Bay Packers got screwed by the replacement and the real NFL referees.

Chicagoland Radio and Media says WGN in Chicago, not WGN America, will air tonight’s Bears-Cowboys Monday Night Football game plus a locally produced pregame show.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says former Comcast SportsNet reporter Sarah Kustok received an honor last week.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post notes that CBS’ Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will have called three consecutive Broncos games after next Sunday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the SoCal sports calendar for this week.

Tom has five things he learned from the weekend.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says drunk tweets from an NHL player made the lockout hit home.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star previews this week’s Blogs with Balls 5 event which takes place in Canada for the first time.

At SB Nation’s Puck The Media, Steve Lepore notes that four sports networks will combine for 50 college hockey regular season games, none of them named “ESPN”.

Steve DelVecchio at Larry Brown Sports says comedian Norm MacDonald actually predicted the European Ryder Cup comeback on Twitter the night before Sunday’s matches.

EPL Talk says Fox Soccer needs its own English Premier League highlight show similar to what BBC has in its venerable “Match of the Day.”

Sports Media Watch says ESPN will shuffle an IndyCar race in primetime to ABC next year.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has ten minutes of bloopers from New York Yankees radio voice John Sterling.

Matt notes that NBC inserted salsa music for Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz after scoring a touchdown for the second time in as many seasons.

And that’s going to wrap up the links for today.

College Football Viewing Picks For Week 5, 09/29/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from East Lansing, MI — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
ACC Blitz — ACC Network, noon
College Football Countdown — ABC, 3 p.m.
BTN Football Gamebreak 2012 — Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.
College Football Today — CBS, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 6;30 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.
The Final Drive — Big Ten Network, midnight
College Football Final — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Saturday)

noon
Buffalo at UConn — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/David Diaz-Infante/Paul Carcaterra)

Indiana at Northwestern — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Chris Martin/Jon Janesen)

Stony Brook at Army — CBS Sports Network (Ben Holden/Randy Cross/Cadet Linc Bradham)

Penn State at Illinois — ESPN/ESPN3D (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown)
Minnesota at Iowa — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Lewis Johnson)
NC State at Miami (Florida) — ESPNU (Tom Hart/John Congemi)
Ball State at Kent State — ESPN Plus/CSS (Michael Reghi/Doug Graber)

Baylor at West Virginia — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)
Missouri at Central Florida — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central/WLVI/KICU (Ron Thulin/Shaun King/Desmond Purnell)
Middle Tennessee State at Georgia Tech — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Mike Hogewood/Riley Skinner/Elizabeth Moreau)
Central Connecticut Stat at Sacred Heart — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Paul Dottino/Steve Levy)
Eastern Kentucky at Tennessee-Martin — Fox College Sports Pacific (Kevin Ingram/Bob Belvin)

Penn at Dartmouth — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Ross Tucker/Carolyn Manno)

Arkansas at Texas A&M — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. kickoff (Dave Neal/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

12:30 p.m.
Duke at Wake Forest — ACC Network

2 p.m.
Nevada at Texas State — Longhorn Network (Dave Armstrong/Kelly Stouffer)

3:15 p.m.
Marshall at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/J Leman)

3:30 p.m.
Ohio State at Michigan State — ABC (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)

Tennessee at Georgia — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson)
San Jose State at Navy — CBS Sports Network (Grant Boone/Todd Christensen/Sheehan Stanwick Burch)

Clemson at Boston College — ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell/Maria Taylor)
Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati at Landover, MD — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)
URI at Bowling Green — ESPN3 (Greg Franke/Tom Cole)

Houston vs. Rice (at Reliant Stadium) — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Atlantic/WMCN/WDCA/KICU (Mike Morgan/JC Pearson/Laura McKeeman)
Idaho at North Carolina — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Paul Kennedy/Keith Jones/Jenn Hildreth)
West Chester at California (PA) — Fox College Sports Pacific (Stan Savern/John Sanders)

Atlanta Football Classic
Florida A&M vs. Southern — NBC Sports Network (James Verrett/Anthony Herron/Rashan Ali)

Montana State at Southern Utah — Root Sports (Northwest/Rocky Mountain)/Audience Network (DirecTV)

4 p.m.
Arizona State at Cal — FX (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)

6 p.m.
Florida State at South Florida — ESPN (Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Quint Kessenich)

UCLA at Colorado — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Adam Archuleta/Yogi Roth)

7 p.m.
Georgia State at William & Mary — Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Chicago/Mid-Atlantic/Northwest)/CSS

South Carolina at Kentucky — ESPN2 (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)
Towson at LSU — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Allison Williams)

TCU at SMU — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Joel Myers/Brian Baldinger/Jim Knox)
Texas Tech at Iowa State — Fox College Sports Central (Mike Gleason/Dave Lapham/Lesley McCaslin)

Montana at Eastern Washington — Root Sports (Northwest/Rocky Mountain)/Audience Network (DirecTV)

7:50 p.m.
Texas at Oklahoma State — Fox (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)

8 p.m.
Wisconsin at Nebraska — ABC (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)

Louisville at Southern Mississippi — CBS Sports Network (James Bates/Aaron Taylor/Lauren Gardner)

9:15 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama — ESPN (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Jessica Mendoza)

10 p.m.
Oregon State at Arizona — Pac-12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Glenn Parker/Ryan Nece)

10:30 p.m.
Oregon vs. Washington State at Seattle, WA — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Shelley Smith)
Grambling State at Alabama A&M — ESPNU (Joe Davis/Jay Walker) (same night coverage)

ESPN’s College Football Games For Week 5 Including Announcing Assignments

Let’s look at the college football games ESPN will air this week. It all begins tonight with two games on the ESPN family, one on ESPNU and a Pac-12 game on ESPN.

Interesting week, ABC has just two games, one at 3:30 p.m. ET with Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Heather Cox in East Lansing, MI for the Ohio State-Michigan State. ABC’s primetime game will have Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe calling Wisconsin at Nebraska.

The other ESPN networks have lots of action including Mississippi at Alabama called by Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen and Shelley Smith Jessica Mendoza.

Let’s take a look at the games that ESPN’s networks will air this weekend.

Seven of Top Eight Teams across ESPN Networks; Five of Top Six in Prime Time on Saturday

ESPN’s college football schedule this week will include seven of the top eight teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The lineup is highlighted by five of the top six in prime time across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU on Saturday, Sept. 29.

• An ESPN doubleheader kicks off with No. 4 Florida State at South Florida at 6 p.m. ET followed by No. 1 Alabama against SEC West rival Ole Miss at 9:15 p.m. ESPN Radio will also broadcast the Ole Miss at Alabama game.
• An ESPN2 doubleheader showcases SEC and Pac-12 conference contests beginning with No. 6 South Carolina at SEC East foe Kentucky at 7 p.m. followed by No. 2 Oregon versus Pac-12 North rival Washington State from Seattle at 10:30 p.m.
• ESPNU will televise No. 3 LSU against Towson at 7 p.m.

ESPN and ESPN Radio will combine to cover the other two of the top eight teams. The Thursday ESPN College Football Primetime matchup on September 27 will pit undefeated No. 8 Stanford at Washington at 9 p.m. ESPN Radio will broadcast No. 5 Georgia against Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 3:30 p.m.

In addition, ABC will broadcast two Big Ten contests on Saturday, Sept. 29: unbeaten No. 14 Ohio State at one-loss No. 20 Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. and Wisconsin at No. 22 Nebraska in a showdown of 3-1 teams at 8 p.m.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Thu, Sep 27	7:30 p.m.	Morgan State at North Carolina A&T Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 8 Stanford at Washington ESPN: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Shelley Smith	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Fri, Sep 28	8 p.m.	Hawaii at BYU Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
Sat, Sep 29	Noon	Penn State at Illinois Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Minnesota at Iowa Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson	ESPN2
	Noon	NC State at Miami Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
	Noon	Arkansas at Texas A&M Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	Noon	Buffalo at Connecticut Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	Noon	Ball State at Kent State Michael Reghi & Doug Graber	ESPN3 *
	Noon	Middle Tennessee at Georgia Tech	ESPN3 * & RSN
	Noon	Central Connecticut at Sacred Heart	ESPN3
	12:30 p.m.	Duke at Wake Forest	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	2 p.m.	Nevada at Texas State Dave Armstrong & Kelly Stouffer	Longhorn Network
	2 p.m.	Miami (Ohio) at Akron Dave Weekley & Rocky Boiman	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	No. 14 Ohio State at No. 20 Michigan State Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ABC
	3:30 p.m.	No. 17 Clemson at Boston College Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Maria Taylor	ESPN2
	3:30 p.m.	Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati (from Landover, Md.) Anish Shroff & Dan Hawkins	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Tennessee at No. 5 Georgia Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Louisiana Tech at Virginia John Sadak, John Gregory & Angela Mallen	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Ohio at Massachusetts Bob Picozzi & Rene Ingoglia	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Central Michigan at Northern Illinois Dan Gutowsky & Cory Chavous	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Rhode Island at Bowling Green Greg Franke & Tom Cole	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Idaho at North Carolina	ESPN3 * & RSN
	3:30 p.m.	Troy at South Alabama	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Southeastern Louisiana at Lamar	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	North Texas at Florida Atlantic Shawn Kenney & John Bunting	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 4 Florida State at South Florida Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich	ESPN
	6 p.m.	Samford at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 6 South Carolina at Kentucky Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	Towson at No. 3 LSU Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Allison Williams	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Toledo at Western Michigan Jim Barbar & Ben Leber	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Arkansas State Rich Hollenberg & Stan Lewter	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Florida International at Louisiana-Lafayette Jonathan Yardley & Forrest Conoly	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Indiana State at Southern Illinois	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Missouri State at South Dakota State	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Wisconsin at No. 22 Nebraska Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ABC
	8 p.m.	UNLV at Utah State Trey Bender & Jay Taylor	ESPN3
	9:15 p.m.	Ole Miss at No. 1 Alabama ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Jessica Mendoza Radio: Dave Lamont, Tom Ramsey & Brett McMurphy	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	10:30 p.m.	No. 2 Oregon at Washington State (from Seattle) Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Shelley Smith	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	Grambling State at Alabama A&M Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU ***

* Local blackout may apply
*** Live on ESPN3 at 7 p.m. ET & same day delay on ESPNU

That will do it.

College Football Viewing Picks For Week 4, 09/22/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from Tallahassee, FL — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
ACC Blitz — ACC Network, noon
College Football Countdown — ABC, 3 p.m.
College Football Today — CBS, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN/ESPN2, 3 p.m.
BTN Football Postgame — Big Ten Network, 6:30 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
BTN Football Postgame — Big Ten Network, 11 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.
The Final Drive — Big Ten Network, midnight
College Football Final — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

noon
Central Michigan at Iowa — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Danan Hughes/Tom Helmer)
UAB at Ohio State — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/Lisa Byington)

Lafayette at Bucknell — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Ron Zook)

New Hampshire at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic/New England/Philadelphia)
Furman at Presbyterian — CSS

Virginia at TCU — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown)
UTEP at Wisconsin — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Lewis Johnson)
Bowling Green at Virginia Tech — ESPNU (Tom Hart/John Congemi)
UMass at Miami (OH) — ESPN Plus (Michael Reghi/Doug Graber)

Maryland at West Virginia — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)
Mississippi at Tulane — Fox Sports Net/Fox College Sports Central/WLVI/KICU (Ron Thulin/Shaun King/Desmond Purnell)

Kentucky at Florida — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. kickoff (Dave Neal/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

12:30 p.m.
Army at Wake Forest — ACC Network

1 p.m.
Yale at Cornell — NBC Sports Network (Todd Harris/Blaine Fowler/Kelli Johnson)

3 p.m.
Miami at Georgia Tech — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Paul Kennedy/Keith Jones/Jenn Hildreth)

3:30 p.m.
Oregon State at UCLA — ABC/ESPN2 (Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Quint Kessenich)
Temple at Penn State — ABC/ESPN2 (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)

Eastern Michigan at Michigan State — Big Ten Network (Matt Devlin/Glen Mason/Rebecca Haarlow)
Idaho State at Nebraska — Big Ten Network (Tom Werme/Kelly Stouffer/Damon Benning)
South Dakota at Northwestern — Big Ten Network (Wayne Larrivee/Jon Jansen/Evan Fitzgerald)

Missouri at South Carolina — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson)
VMI at Navy — CBS Sports Network (Grant Boone/Todd Christensen/Sheehan Stanwick Burch)

Villanova at Penn — Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
Marshall at Rice — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Mid-Atlantic Plus)

East Carolina at North Carolina — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)

Indiana (PA) at California (PA) — Fox College Sports Pacific (Stan Savern/John Sanders)

4 p.m.
Colorado at Washington State — FX (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)

4:30 p.m.
Harvard at Brown — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Ross Tucker/Carolyn Manno)

South Florida at Ball State — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/David Diaz/Infante)

6 p.m.
Cal at USC — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Glenn Parker/Ryan Nece)

7 p.m.
Delaware at William & Mary — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic/Philadelphia)

LSU at Auburn — ESPN (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)
Rutgers at Arkansas — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Allison Williams)

Lehigh at Liberty — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Steve Degler/Mike Yadush)
Wagner at Central Connecticut State — Fox College Sports Pacific (Paul Dottino/Steve Levy)
South Carolina State at Texas A&M — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Bob Rathbun/Tim Couch/Elizabeth Moreau)

7:30 p.m.
Akron at Tennessee — CSS (Matt Stewart/Chris Doering/Angela Mallen)

Kansas State at Oklahoma — Fox (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)

Michigan at Notre Dame — NBC (Tom Hammond/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan)

7:45 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Georgia — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Maria Taylor)

8 p.m.
Clemson at Florida State — ABC (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)

Louisiana Tech at Illinois — Big Ten Network (Chris Denari/J Leman/Tony Banks)
Syracuse at Minnesota — Big Ten Network (Matt Shephard/Chris Martin/Jay Wilson)

Fresno State at Tulsa — CBS Sports Network (James Bates/Aaron Taylor/Lauren Gardner)

10 p.m.
Utah at Arizona State — Pac-12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Adam Archuleta/Yogi Roth)

10:30 p.m.
Arizona at Oregon State — ESPN (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Shelley Smith)

Nevada at Hawai’i — NBC Sports Network (Paul Burmeister/Rod Woodson/Anthony Herron)

ESPN’s College Football Games For Week 4 Including Announcing Assignments

About to complete the first month of the college football season and it all begins with some MACtion tonight on ESPNU. Gotta love the MAC.

We still have some interconference games on the schedule. ESPN’s networks have plenty of games this weekend including one ACC matchup between Top 20 teams on ABC.

Let’s take a look at the games on the ESPN family schedule for Week 4 including the announcing assignments. Take a look at what we have for you below.

All Top Five Teams on ESPN Networks Saturday, Four in Prime Time

ESPN’s college football schedule this week will be highlighted by coverage of the top five teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Saturday, Sept. 22. ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will televise four of the teams in prime time:

• ABC’s weekly Saturday Night Football broadcast will showcase No. 10 Clemson at No. 4 Florida State in a contest of unbeaten ACC Atlantic Division squads at 8 p.m. ET.
• An ESPN doubleheader will kick off with No. 2 LSU at Auburn in a showdown of SEC West Division powers at 7 p.m. followed by No. 22 Arizona at No. 3 Oregon in a matchup of undefeated Pac-12 programs at 10:30 p.m. ESPN Radio will also broadcast LSU at Auburn.
• ESPN2 will televise No. 5 Georgia against SEC East rival Vanderbilt at 7:45 p.m.

ESPN3 will cover three ranked undefeated SEC teams on Saturday, Sept. 22, highlighted by No. 1 Alabama against Florida Atlantic at 5 p.m. Additional games include No. 14 Florida against Kentucky at noon (also on the SEC Network) and No. 23 Mississippi State against South Alabama at 7 p.m. (subject to local blackout).

 

ESPN’s weeknight series will be highlighted by BYU at No. 24 Boise State on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 9 p.m. and unbeaten Baylor at Louisiana-Monroe on Friday, Sept. 21, at 8 p.m.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Wed, Sep 19	7 p.m.	Kent State at Buffalo Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra	ESPNU
Thu, Sep 20	7:30 p.m.	Arkansas Pine-Bluff at Alabama State Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	BYU at No. 24 Boise State Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele	ESPN
Fri, Sep 21	7 p.m.	Georgetown at Princeton Joe Beninati & Rene Ingoglia	ESPNU
	8 p.m.	Baylor at Louisiana-Monroe Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
Sat, Sep 22	Noon	Virginia at No. 17 TCU Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	UTEP at Wisconsin Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson	ESPN2
	Noon	Bowling Green at Virginia Tech Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
	Noon	Kentucky at No. 14 Florida Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	Noon	Massachusetts at Miami (Ohio) Michael Reghi & Doug Graber	ESPN3 *
	Noon	Furman at Presbyterian	ESPN3 *
	12:30 p.m.	Army at Wake Forest	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	2 p.m.	Connecticut at Western Michigan Dan Gutowsky, Bob Chmeil & Brooke Weisbrod	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Norfolk State at Ohio Keith Morehouse & Jerod Cherry	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Southern Illinois at Missouri State	ESPN3 *
	3 p.m.	Miami at Georgia Tech	ESPN3 * & RSN
	3:30 p.m.	Oregon State at No. 19 UCLA Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich	ABC & ESPN2 **
		Temple at Penn State Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	East Carolina at North Carolina Anish Shroff & Dan Hawkins	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Kansas at Northern Illinois Jim Barbar & John Bunting	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Gardner-Webb at Pittsburgh Shawn Kenney, John Gregory & Rontina McCann	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Prairie View A&M at North Dakota State	ESPN3 *
	4 p.m.	Sam Houston State at Central Arkansas	ESPN3 *
	4:30 p.m.	South Florida at Ball State Eamon McAnaney & David Diaz-Infante	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	5 p.m.	Wyoming at Idaho Peter Young & John Fina	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at No. 1 Alabama	ESPN3 *
	6 p.m.	The Citadel at NC State Mike Gleason, Paul McGuire & Sarah Stankavage	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Memphis at Duke Ryan Rose, Doug Chapman & Beth McDade	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	California at No. 13 USC Rich Cellini, John Mackovic & Brett McMurphy	ESPN Radio
	7 p.m.	No. 2 LSU at Auburn ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	7 p.m.	Rutgers at Arkansas Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Allison Williams	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	South Alabama at No. 23 Mississippi State	ESPN3 *
	7 p.m.	Southern Mississippi at Western Kentucky Dave Weekley & Cory Chavous	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Troy at North Texas Jonathon Yardley & Stan Lewter	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at Toledo Frank Giardina & Robert Griffith	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Alcorn State at Arkansas State Brock Bowling & Forrest Conoly	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 20 Louisville at Florida International Drew Fellios, Rene Ingoglia & Anastasia Saunders	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Lehigh at Liberty	ESPN3 *
	7 p.m.	Northern Iowa at Youngstown State	ESPN3 *
	7 p.m.	South Carolina State at Texas A&M	ESPN3 * & FSN
	7:30 p.m.	Akron at Tennessee Matt Stewart, Chris Doering & Angela Mallen	ESPN3 & CSS
	7:45 p.m.	Vanderbilt at No. 5 Georgia Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Maria Taylor	ESPN2
	8 p.m.	No. 10 Clemson at No. 4 Florida State Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ABC
	8 p.m.	New Mexico at New Mexico State Trey Bender & Jay Taylor	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Langston at Lamar	ESPN3 *
	10:30 p.m.	No. 22 Arizona at No. 3 Oregon Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Shelley Smith	ESPN & ESPN3 (Spanish language)

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast

That’s going to do it.

College Football Viewing Picks For Week 3, 09/16/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame and Studio Shows
College GameDay live from Knoxville, TN — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
ACC Blitz — ACC Network, noon
College Football Today — CBS, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 3 p.m.
BTN Football Postgame — Big Ten Network, 6:30 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
College Football Final — ESPN2, 1 a.m. (Sunday)

noon
Cal at Ohio State — ABC (Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Quint Kessenich)

Charleston Southern at Illinois — Big Ten Network (Matt Shepard/J Leman/Tony Banks)
Eastern Michigan at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Chris Martin/Rebecca Haarlow)
Western Michigan at Minnesota — Big Ten Network (Wayne Larrivee/Justin Cozemius/Stacy Paetz)

Northern Illinois at Army — CBS Sports Network (Ben Holden/Randy Cross/Army Cadet Brad Strimel)

Wake Forest at Florida State — ESPN (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown)
Arkansas State at Nebraska — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Lewis Johnson)
Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh — ESPNU (Tom Hart/John Congemi)

TCU at Kansas — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)
Louisiana-Lafayette at Oklahoma State — Fox Sports Net/Fox College Sports Central/WLVI/KICU (Joel Myers/Brian Baldinger/Jim Knox)

William & Mary at Towson — NBC Sports Network (Todd Harris/Ross Tucker/Carolyn Manno)

Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. (Dave Neal/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

12:30 p.m.
UConn at Maryland — ACC Network

Presbyterian at Vanderbilt — CSS (Dave Neal/Cole Cubelic)

3 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at Oregon — Pac 12 Netowrk (Kevin Calabro/Adam Archuleta/Yogi Roth)

3:30 p.m.
Navy at Penn State — ABC/ESPN2 (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)
North Carolina at Louisville — ABC/ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kannell/Maria Taylor)

Boston College at Northwestern — Big Ten Network (Josh Lewin/Josh Jansen/Evan Fitzgerald)
UMass at Michigan — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/Lisa Byington)
Northern Iowa at Iowa — Big Ten Network (Tom Werme/Danan Hughes/Damon Benning)

Alabama at Arkansas — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson)
East Carolina at Southern Mississippi — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Ron Zook/Evan Washburn)

URI at Villanova — Comcast SportsNet (California/Mid-Atlantic Plus/New England/Philadelphia)

Virginia at Georgia Tech — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)

Texas A&M at SMU — Fox Sports Net/Fox College Sports Atlantic/WDCA/WLVI/KICU (Ron Thulin/Shaun King/Desmond Purcell)

4 p.m.
Stony Brook at Syracuse — Big East Network

Portland State at Washington — FX (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)

Boise State at Miami (OH) — NBC Sports Network (Paul Burmeister/Rod Woodson/Anthony Herron)

6 p.m.
Florida at Tennessee — ESPN (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)

7 p.m.
Arizona State at Missouri — ESPN (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Shelley Smith)
Western Kentucky at Kentucky — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Allison Williams)

North Texas at Kansas State — Fox Sports Net/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Mike Morgan/JC Pearson/Laura McKeeman)
UAB at South Carolina — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Bob Rathbun/Tim Couch/Elizabeth Moreau)
Sam Houston State at Baylor — Fox College Sports Central (Steve Physioc/Gary Reasons/Emily Jones)
New Mexico State at Texas Tech — Fox College Sports Pacific (Mike Gleason/Ben Leber/Lesley McCaslin)

7:30 p.m.
Florida Atlantic at Georgia — CSS (Matt Stewart/Chris Doering)

USC at Stanford — Fox, 7:50 p.m. (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)

8 p.m.
Notre Dame at Michigan State — ABC (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)

Ball State at Indiana — Big Ten Network (Chris Denari/Kelly Stouffer/Antwaan Randle El)
Utah State at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network (Matt Devlin/Glen Mason/Jay Wilson)

Colorado at Fresno State — CBS Sports Network (James Bates/Aaron Taylor/Lauren Gardner)

9:15 p.m.
Texas at Mississippi — ESPN (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Jessica Mendoza)

10 p.m.
BYU at Utah — ESPN2 (Mark Neely/Ray Bentley/Paul Carcaterra)

10:30 p.m.
Howard at Norfolk State — ESPNU (Joe Davis/Jay Walker)

Houston at UCLA — Pac 12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Glenn Parker/Ryan Nece)
South Carolina State at Arizona — Pac 12 Network Arizona (Dave Flemming/Coy Wire/Brook Oldenzam)

ESPN’s College Football Games For Week 3 Including Announcing Assignments

Let’s take a look at the ESPN Family of Networks’ schedule of college football games for Week 3. Conference play will begin in some leagues. Florida at Tennessee on ESPN this Saturday is one highlight and Knoxville will be the site for this week’s College GameDay visit.

ABC has a tripleheader starting at noon highlighted by Notre Dame at Michigan State in primetime with Brent, Herbie and Heather.

We have the entire schedule including announcing assignments for you.

Matchup of Undefeated Teams in Five Telecasts, Two between Ranked Squads

ESPN’s college football schedule this week is highlighted by telecasts of five of the week’s six Football Bowl Subdivision matchups between undefeated teams. Two of the games will include a matchup of ranked teams, both on Saturday, Sept. 15: No. 18 Florida at No. 23 Tennessee (6 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN Radio) and No. 20 Notre Dame at No. 10 Michigan State (8 p.m. on ABC). Additional games between unbeaten squads:

• The Thursday ESPN College Football Primetime game on September 13 at 7:30 p.m. will kick off the action with Rutgers at South Florida in a BIG EAST Conference showdown.
• ESPN will televise Wake Forest at ACC rival No. 5 Florida State on Saturday, Sept. 15, at noon. Wake Forest has defeated Florida State in four of the series’ six previous games, including a 35-30 victory over then-No. 23 Florida State last season.
• ESPN will televise No. 14 Texas of the Big 12 at Ole Miss of the SEC in a non-conference matchup on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 9:15 p.m. It will mark the first game between the programs since 1966.

Overall, ESPN networks will cover 14 teams ranked in the AP Top 25, including four games on ESPN3 on Saturday, Sept. 15: No. 3 LSU against Idaho at 8 p.m., No. 7 Georgia against Florida Atlantic at 7:30 p.m., No. 8 South Carolina against UAB at 7 p.m. and No. 11 Clemson against Furman at 3 p.m.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Thu, Sep 13	7:30 p.m.	Rutgers at South Florida Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele	ESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Mississippi Valley State at Southern Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU
Fri, Sep 14	9 p.m.	Washington State at UNLV Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
Sat, Sep 15	Noon	California at No. 12 Ohio State Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich	ABC
	Noon	Wake Forest at No. 5 Florida State Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Arkansas State at Nebraska Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson	ESPN2
	Noon	No. 13 Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
	Noon	Bethune-Cookman at Miami Drew Fellios, Doug Garber & Tiffany Green	ESPN3
	Noon	Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Connecticut at Maryland	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Vanderbilt Bob Neal & Cole Cubelic	ESPN3 & CSS
	3 p.m.	Furman at No. 11 Clemson	ESPN3 * & RSN
	3:30 p.m.	North Carolina at No. 19 Louisville Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Maria Taylor	ABC & ESPN2 **
		Navy at Penn State Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Virginia at Georgia Tech Anish Shroff & Dan Hawkins	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Morgan State at Akron Dan Gutowsky & Jerod Cherry	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Stony Brook at Syracuse	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	6 p.m.	No. 18 Florida at No. 23 Tennessee Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Joe Schad	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	6 p.m.	South Alabama at NC State Bob Picozzi, Forrest Conoly & Sarah Stankavage	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Arizona State at Missouri Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Shelley Smith	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Kentucky Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Allison Williams	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Rice at Louisiana Tech Rich Hollenberg & Ralph Friedgen	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Mississippi State at Troy Shawn Kenney & John Bunting	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Bowling Green at Toledo Frank Giardina & TBD	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Delaware State at Cincinnati Jim Barbar, John Gregory & Rontina McCann	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	North Carolina Central at Duke Dave Weekley, Stan Lewter & Beth McDade	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	UAB at No. 8 South Carolina	ESPN3 * & FSN
	7:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at No. 7 Georgia Matt Stewart & Chris Doering	ESPN3 & CSS
	8 p.m.	No. 20 Notre Dame at No. 10 Michigan State Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ABC
	8 p.m.	Colorado State at San Jose State Trey Bender & John Fina	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Idaho at No. 3 LSU	ESPN3
	9:15 p.m.	No. 14 Texas at Mississippi Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN
	10 p.m.	No. 25 BYU at Utah Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	Howard at Norfolk State Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU ***

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast
*** Live on ESPN3 at 4 p.m. ET & same day delay on ESPNU

I’ll have Fox’s college football schedule coming next.

College Football Viewing Picks for 09/08/12, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from College Station, TX — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 2:30 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN/ESPN2, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
Fox College Saturday — Fox, 7 p.m.
The Final Drive — Big Ten Network, 11 p.m.
College Football Final — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

noon
Penn State at Virginia — ABC (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/George Smith)

NC State at UConn — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/David Diaz-Infante/Paul Carcaterra)

New Hampshire at Minnesota — Big Ten Network (Matt Devlin/Glen Mason/J Leman)

Auburn at Mississippi State — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown)
Central Florida at Ohio State — ESPN 2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Lewis Johnson)
Maryland at Temple — ESPNU (Tom Hart/John Congemi)

Miami at Kansas State — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)
Tulane at Tulsa — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Atlantic/WLVI/KICU (Rod Thulin/Shaun King/Desmond Purnell)

East Carolina at South Carolina — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. (Dave Neal/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

12:30 p.m.
Ball State at Clemson — ACC Network

3 p.m.
Weber State at BYU — BYU TV

North Carolina at Wake Forest — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Paul Kennedy/Keith Jones/Jenn Hildreth)

Eastern Washington at Washington State — Pac 12 Network (Oregon & Washington) (Dwayne Ballen/Kelly Stouffer)
Sacramento State at Colorado — Pac 12 Network (Mountain) (Matt Smith/Jeremy Bloom)
Southern Utah at Cal — Pac 12 Network (National) (Rich Cellini/Gary Plummer/Erin Coscarelli)

3:30 p.m.
Air Force at Michigan — ABC/ESPN (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell/Maria Taylor)
USC vs. Syracuse at East Rutherford, NJ — ABC/ESPN (Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Shelley Smith)

Howard at Rutgers — Big East Network (Mike Corey/Rene Ingoglia)
Missouri State at Louisville — Big East Network

Iowa State at Iowa — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Chris Martin/Chuck Long/Jon Jansen)

South Florida at Nevada — CBS Sports Network (James Bates/Aaron Taylor/Lauren Gardner)

Florida at Texas A&M — ESPN (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)
Michigan State at Central Michigan — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)

Rice at Kansas — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central/WLVI/KICU/WDCA (Joel Meyers/Brian Baldinger/Jim Knox)
Carnegie Mellon at Allegheny College — Fox College Sports Atlantic (John Sanders/Ellis Cannon/Amanda McCall)

Purdue at Notre Dame — NBC (Tom Hammond/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan)
Delaware State at Delaware — NBC Sports Network (Todd Harris/Ross Tucker/Carolyn Manno)

Western Kentucky at Alabama — SEC Network (Mike Morgan/Chris Doering/Jill Montgomery)

4 p.m.
Wisconsin at Oregon State — FX (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)

6:30 p.m.
Fresno State at Oregon — Pac 12 Network (National) (Ted Robinson/Adam Archuleta/Yogi Roth)

7 p.m.
Washington at LSU — ESPN (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)
Louisiana-Monroe at Arkansas — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Allison Williams)

UTEP at Mississippi — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Bob Rathbun/Tim Couch/Elizabeth Moreau)
Western Carolina at Marshall — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Mike Gleason/Gary Reasons/Lesley McCaslin)
Grambling State at TCU — Fox Sports Southwest Plus/Fox College Sports Pacific (Mark Followill/JC Pearson/Emily Jones)

7:30 p.m.
Kent State at Kentucky — CSS (Matt Stewart/Cole Cubelic/Angela Mallen)

Nebraska at UCLA — Fox (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)

Army at San Diego State — NBC Sports Network (Paul Burmeister/Rod Woodson/Anthony Herron)

7:45 p.m.
Georgia at Missouri — ESPN2 (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Quint Kussenich)

8 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Northwestern — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/Lisa Byington)

Louisiana Tech at Houston — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Ron Zook/Evan Washburn)

New Mexico at Texas — Longhorn Network (Mark Neely/Ray Bentley/Kaylee Hartung)

10:30 p.m.
Illinois at Arizona State — ESPN (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Jessica Mendoza)

Duke at Stanford — Pac 12 Network (Bay Area) (Dave Flemming/Coy Wire/Brooke Olzendam)
Oklahoma State at Arizona — Pac 12 Network (National) (Kevin Calabro/Glenn Parker/Ryan Nece)

ESPN’s College Football Games For Week 2 Including Announcing Assignments

Week 2 in college football doesn’t have ranked teams facing each other, but ESPN will try its best to hype games for us. You have Missouri’s and Texas A&M’s first games in the SEC. ABC doesn’t have a primetime game this week as it carries a NASCAR race. But it still has a doubleheader at noon and at 3:30 p.m. ET.

ESPN does have a primetime doubleheader so there are plenty of games on the ESPN Family.

Check out the games with the announcing assignments.

Seven of Top Nine Ranked Teams; SEC Debut for Missouri & Texas A&M

This week’s college football schedule of 48 games will include a SEC tripleheader on ESPN, the first SEC conference games for new members Texas A&M and Missouri, and seven of the top nine – and 16 of the Top 25 – teams in the AP poll.

Highlights for Saturday, Sept. 8:

• Missouri and Texas A&M will make their SEC debut Saturday, each against a ranked opponent: Texas A&M will host No. 24 Florida at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN while Missouri will host No. 7 Georgia at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN2.
• Additional ranked SEC teams in action include two games on ESPN3 and the SEC Network: No. 1 Alabama against Western Kentucky at 3:30 p.m. and No. 9 South Carolina against East Carolina at noon.
• An ESPN prime time doubleheader will include No. 3 LSU against Washington at 7 p.m. and Illinois at Arizona at 10:30 p.m.
• The ABC and ESPN2 reverse mirror telecast at 3:30 p.m. will showcase a ranked team in each game: No. 2 USC at Syracuse and No. 19 Michigan against Air Force.
• The ESPNU night game will spotlight No. 8 Arkansas against Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Thu, Sep 6	8 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Cincinnati Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele	ESPN
Fri, Sep 7	8 p.m.	Utah at Utah State Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN2
Sat, Sep 8	Noon	Penn State at Virginia Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & George Smith	ABC
	Noon	Auburn at Mississippi State Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Central Florida at No. 14 Ohio State Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson	ESPN2
	Noon	Maryland at Temple Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
	Noon	East Carolina at No. 9 South Carolina Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	Noon	NC State at Connecticut Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	12:30 p.m.	Ball State at No. 12 Clemson	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	1 p.m.	Maine at Boston College Bob Picozzi, Paul Maguire & Cat Whitehill	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Southern Illinois at Miami (Ohio) Michael Reghi & Rocky Boiman	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Illinois State at Eastern Michigan	ESPN3 *
	1:30 p.m.	Austin Peay at No. 15 Virginia Tech John Sadak, John Gregory & Rontina McCann	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	North Carolina at Wake Forest	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Air Force at No. 19 Michigan Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Maria Taylor	ABC & ESPN2 **
		No. 2 USC at Syracuse Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Shelley Smith	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	No. 24 Florida at Texas A&M Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	No. 11 Michigan State at Central Michigan Anish Shroff & Dan Hawkins	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Indiana at Massachusetts Shawn Kenney, John Bunting & John Brickley	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky at No. 1 Alabama Mike Morgan, Chris Doering & Jill Montgomery	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Howard at Rutgers Mike Corey & Rene Ingoglia	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	3:30 p.m.	Missouri State at No. 23 Louisville	ESPN3 *
	4 p.m.	Georgia State at Tennessee	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Nicholls State at South Alabama Jared Schwartz & Stan Lewter	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Savannah State at No. 6 Florida State Dave Weekley, Ralph Friedgen & Tiffany Green	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Akron at Florida International Drew Fellios & Doug Graber	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Montana at Appalachian State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Washington at No. 3 LSU Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe at No. 8 Arkansas Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Allison Williams	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Memphis at Arkansas State Brock Bowling & Cory Chavous	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Texas Tech at Texas State Trey Bender & Jay Taylor	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Presbyterian at Georgia Tech Ryan Rose, Warrick Dunn & LaChina Robinson	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette at Troy Jonathon Yardley & Forest Conoly	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	New Mexico State at Ohio TBD & Jerod Cherry	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Tennessee-Martin at Northern Illinois Jim Barbar & Bob Chmeil	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Eastern Illinois at Western Michigan Dan Gutowsky & Ben Leber	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at Middle Tennessee	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Texas Southern at North Texas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Idaho at Bowling Green Greg Franke & Tom Cole	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	UTEP at Mississippi	ESPN3 * & FSN
	7 p.m.	Norfolk State at Liberty	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Lafayette at William & Mary	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Kent State at Kentucky Matt Stewart, Cole Cubelic & Angela Mallen	ESPN3 & CSS
	7:30 p.m.	No. 16 Nebraska at UCLA	ESPN Radio
	7:45 p.m.	No. 7 Georgia at Missouri Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Quint Kessenich	ESPN2
	8 p.m.	New Mexico at No. 17 Texas Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Kaylee Hartung	Longhorn Network
	10:30 p.m.	Illinois at Arizona Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN & ESPN3 (Spanish language)
	10:30 p.m.	Bethune Cookman at South Carolina State Joe Davis & Jay Walker	ESPNU ***

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast
*** Live on ESPN3 at 6 p.m. ET & same day delay on ESPNU

That will do it for this post.

A Rare Sunday Linkage Post!

I wanted to do a piece of site business before doing some rare Sunday linkage and rare linkage in general. Thanks to you, August was the best month ever as far as site visits are concerned. Whether it was due to you visiting over the Olympics schedules or wanting to see who Nicole Zaloumis was all about, Fang’s Bites had over 102,000 unique hits. While this is not in Deadspin or Big Lead range, both get way over 100,000 hits on a bad day, it’s a big deal for me. And this was even during a stretch when I couldn’t post due to the Office Move From Hell, so I thank you for visiting and returning during August. I hope you continue to visit during the fall months.

And because of that office move, I wasn’t able to do what is the bread and butter of this site, the links. I haven’t been able to provide them in several weeks. Let’s start September anew and provide good links to you as I used to.

Let’s begin.

One of the bigger stories from Saturday was the pre-emption in most of the country of the debut of the Fox College Saturday pregame show hosted by Erin Andrews, Joey Harrington and Eddie George. Because two Fox Saturday Baseball games ran long, it wiped out Erin’s Fox  debut. Only 10% of the country saw the pregame show in its entirety.

Media Rantz looks at why this happened.

Sports Media Watch says it wasn’t the start that Fox wanted in its first season of covering college football full-time.

Former USA Today sports media and business writer Mike McCarthy writes in his new $ports Biz USA site that Alabama coach Nick Saban came off as a jerk (what else is new?) in a halftime interview with ESPN’s Heather Cox.

Nicole Auerbach at USA Today at the Campus Rivalry blog asks readers about the debut of Samantha Steele on ESPN’s College GameDay.

Karl Taro Greenfeld at Bloomberg Businessweek takes a look at ESPN’s business model.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable says the embattled Longhorn Network got a big pickup before yesterday’s Texas season opener.

Multichannel News reports that the Athletic Director of the University of California-Berkeley ceremoniously dumped her DirecTV subscription over the satellite provider’s refusal to pick up Pac-12 Network.

Adweek looks at an unexpected shakeup at ESPN The Magazine.

Christopher Heine of Adweek notes that the Mohegan Sun casino has pulled ads from Penn State’s Beaver Stadium.

Adweek’s Anthony Crupi looks at this year’s crop of Nissan Heisman House spots that will air before each and every ABC Saturday Night Football game.

And Emma Bazilian of Adweek notes that USA Today is rolling out a new high school football magazine in 11 markets.

Dylan Murphy at SportsGrid noticed that ESPN’s Bottom Line obscured key sideline replays in two  college football games yesterday.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing says DirecTV is slashing prices of its UFC pay per views.

That will do us for now. I may add more links later.

ESPN’s College Football Studio Shows

We know about College GameDay which is ESPN’s signature pregame show for college football. ESPN has provided its studio show lineup for this season. It includes College Football Live and CFB Daily.

We also have the nightly studio crews for the live games from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ABC. Scott Van Pelt is the new host on Thursday nights joined by stalwarts Lou Holtz and Mark May plus studio newbie Brian Griese.

Take a look at the ESPN lineup.

College GameDay Headlines ESPN College Football Studio Show Lineup
CFB Daily Added to ESPNU’s Schedule

ESPN’s College GameDay – coming off its most-watched season ever – will return Saturday, Sept. 1, live from the Cowboys Classic as part of Kickoff Week at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, beginning at 9 a.m. ET on ESPNU and 10 a.m. on ESPN. On display will be top-10 teams Alabama and Michigan battling as part of the weekly Saturday Night Football series at 8 p.m. on ABC. The GameDay set, with an enhanced look for its 26^th season, will be located outside the state-of-the-art facility.

Hosted by Chris Fowler, GameDay will once again feature Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack during the 10 a.m. – noon hours on ESPN. Samantha Steele joins the first hour on ESPNU with Pollack, and will also contribute reports, interviews and features throughout the final two hours with reporter Tom Rinaldi.

SportsCenter anchor and ESPN Radio host Scott Van Pelt will make several on-site College GameDay appearances throughout the season, including the first weekend in Arlington. In addition, the Scott Van Pelt Show will make a stop at the Cowboys Classic on Friday, Aug. 31, on the East Plaza Lawn from the College GameDay on ESPN Radio set from 1-4 p.m. on ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com (except 2-2:30 p.m. when it will originate from the adjacent ESPN College GameDay set and be simulcast on ESPNEWS).

College GameDay on ESPN Radio airs noon-7 p.m. each Saturday with host Ryen Russillo and analysts Trevor Matich and Brad Edwards. The weekly radio show broadcasts live from its Bristol, Conn., studios when not traveling to the top matchups.

Prior to this season’s kickoff, the one-hour special College GameDay Preview Show will air Saturday, Aug. 25, at noon on ESPN with Fowler, Corso, Herbstreit and Howard.

Additional Studio Shows

College Football Live continues to be the daily destination for college football news and updates at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The show will primarily utilize three hosts – Joe Tessitore (Monday & Wednesday), Fowler (Tuesday & Friday) and John Saunders (Thursday), and will originate from the site of College GameDay most Fridays. Included in the rotation of expert analysts are Howard (Monday) and Herbstreit (Tuesday), who will be available via satellite weekly.

As the ESPN DIRECTV Mobile Studio travels the country visiting sites of top college games, interviews with ESPN analysts, along with coaches and players from each stop, will be incorporated into College Football Live.

ESPNU is joining the daily college football news and update genre with CFB Daily. Hosted by Dari Nowkhah, the new three-hour program beginning at 1 p.m. will have all the latest in college football action as well as in-depth analysis from a variety of guests. CFB Daily will also include a unique look at the top plays, the best hits and the most outstanding catches by incorporating popular video clips from that week. Regular contributors will include sports business reporter Darren Rovell, NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr., college football analysts Pollack and Jesse Palmer, plus additional ESPN experts.

Studio Commentators

Van Pelt will also host the ESPN College Football Primetime studio coverage with analysts Mark May and Brian Griese, a first-time role for the former Super Bowl champion. In addition, Griese will join returning commentator Dave Pasch on ESPN’s Saturday noon game. Last season, Griese was the analyst on the ESPNU Saturday night telecast.

This season’s Saturday studio coverage sees the return of John Saunders and Jesse Palmer on ABC, Rece Davis, Lou Holtz and May on ESPN and Wendi Nix, Todd McShay and Robert Smith on ESPN2.

Weekly ESPN Game & Wraps Studio Crew (subject to change)

Studio	Commentators
ESPN Thursday	Scott Van Pelt, Mark May & Brian Griese
ESPN Friday	Chris Cotter, Lou Holtz & May
College GameDay	Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Tom Rinaldi & Samantha Steele
ABC Saturday	John Saunders & Jesse Palmer
ESPN Saturday	Rece Davis, Holtz & May
ESPN2 Saturday	Wendi Nix, Todd McShay & Robert Smith
ESPNU Saturday Morning	Dari Nowkhah & Kevin Carter
ESPNU Saturday Evening	Matt Schick & Tom Luginbill, Jason Sehorn or Charles Arbuckle

That will do it.

College Football Viewing Picks for 09/01/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows: 
Inside College Football: Notre Dame-Navy Kickoff — CBS Sports Network, 7 a.m.
College GameDay live from Arlington, TX (season premiere) — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
College Football Countdown — ABC, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 6:30 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
Fox College Saturday (series premiere) — Fox, 7 p.m.
College Football Final — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

9 a.m.
Notre Dame vs. Navy at Dublin, Ireland — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson/David Feherty)

noon
Miami (OH) at Ohio State — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/Lisa Byington)

Ohio at Penn State — ESPN (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Tom Rinaldi/Mark Schwartz)
Northwestern at Syracuse — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Jenn Brown)
Western Michigan at Illinois — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)

Marshall at West Virginia — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)
Appalachian State at East Carolina — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central (Rod Thulin/Shaun King/Desmond Purnell)
Troy at UAB — Fox College Sports Pacific (Mike Gleason/Ben Leber/Lesley McCaslin)

Buffalo at Georgia — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. (Dave Neal/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

12:30 p.m.
Elon at North Carolina — ACC Network

3 p.m.
Richmond at Virginia — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Paul Kennedy/Keith Jones/Jenn Hildreth)

Nevada at Cal — Pac 12 Network (Dave Flemming/Coy Wire/Brooke Olzendam)

3:30 p.m.
Miami (FL) at Boston College — ABC/ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell/Maria Taylor)
Southern Mississippi at Nebraska — ABC/ESPN2 (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)

Eastern Kentucky at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Matt Devlin/Glen Mason/J Leman)
Northern Iowa at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Chris Martin/Jay Wilson)

Bowling Green at Florida — ESPN (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Jessica Mendoza)
Iowa vs. Northern Illinois at Chicago, IL — ESPNU (Tom Hart/John Congemi)

Tulsa at Iowa State — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Mark Followill/Gary Reasons)

4 p.m.
Furman at Samford — CSS

Colorado State vs. Colorado at Denver, CO — FX (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)

7 p.m.
Clemson vs. Auburn at Atlanta, GA — ESPN (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)
North Texas at LSU — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Allison Williams)

Jackson State at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Bob Rathbun/Tim Couch/Elizabeth Moreau)
Savannah State at Oklahoma State — Fox College Sports Central (Kevin Eschenfelder/ND Kalu/Erin Bajackson)
Northwestern State at Texas Tech — Fox College Sports Pacific (Bill Land/Dave Lapham/Emily Jones)

7:30 p.m.
Hawai’i at USC — Fox (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)

8 p.m.
Alabama vs. Michigan at Arlington, TX — ABC (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)

Indiana State at Indiana — Big Ten Network (Wayne Larrivee/Jon Jansen/Antwaan Randle El)

Rutgers at Tulane — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/Doug Chapman/Tammy Blackburn)

Texas State at Houston — CSS

Wyoming at Texas — Longhorn Network (Mark Neely/Ray Bentley/Kaylee Hartung)

10:30 p.m.
Arkansas State at Oregon — ESPN (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/ Shelley Smith)
Toledo at Arizona — ESPNU (oe Davis/Mike Bellotti)

Oklahoma at UTEP — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Mike Morgan/JC Pearson/Laura McKeeman)

San Diego State at Washington — Pac 12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Adam Archuleta/Yogi Roth)

Heather Cox Officially Named As Saturday Night Football on ABC Sideline Reporter

Rumored earlier this summer, this has now been made official by ESPN. Heather Cox will be the new sideline reporter for Saturday Night Football replacing Erin Andrews who (say it with me now) went to Fox Sports.

Heather who worked the Olympics for NBC as the reporter for beach volleyball, has an extensive resumé with both ESPN and NBC, having worked the sidelines not only on college football, but the NBA, WNBA, beach volleyball and the LPGA.

The Big Lead originally reported that Heather would replace Erin, but she told Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News that nothing had been set in stone and her contract with ESPN was up during the summer. However, as we can see, all things have worked out.

Here’s the official announcement from ESPN.

Heather Cox Named ESPN’s Saturday Night Football on ABC Sideline Reporter

Heather Cox, one of ESPN’s lead game reporters across multiple sports, has been named the new sideline reporter for the weekly Saturday Night Football college football game on ABC. She will join play-by-play commentator Brent Musburger and analyst Kirk Herbstreit each week on broadcast television’s first weekly prime time college football series, which was launched in 2006.

Cox has also signed a multiyear extension with the network where she will continue to work college football, men’s and women’s basketball, NBA and WNBA telecasts across various ESPN outlets. The versatile reporter joined ESPN in 1994 as an analyst on men’s and women’s college and professional volleyball and women’s college basketball.

“Being at ESPN gives me the best opportunity to work on a variety of sports that I am passionate about across multiple platforms,” said Cox. “I’m looking forward to working with Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit, two long-time colleagues and among the best announcers in the industry, on the Saturday Night Football series.”

In addition to covering regular-season NBA games, Cox has worked the playoffs, Draft and All-Star Celebrity Game. She also reports on the LPGA U.S. Women’s Open; NCAA championship for women’s basketball and soccer; men’s and women’s volleyball; college football bowl games, including BCS telecasts; and several professional men and women’s volleyball championships, including the Olympic Trials and World Championships.

The Big Lead has an interview with Heather discussing her new assignment.

ESPN’s College Football Games For Week 1 Including Announcing Assignments

I already gave you the 2012 ESPN College Football regular season schedule earlier today. Now let’s take a look at the Week 1 schedule complete with announcing assignments.

ESPN’s college football slate begins Thursday with a doubleheader beginning with an SEC matchup between South Carolina and Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. ET, followed by an intriguing interconference game featuring Washington State and BYU at 10:15 p.m.

Of course, ESPN3 will have its share of season opening games on Thursday as well.

This weekend marks the debut of several new announcing teams for the ESPN Family including Joe Tessitore and Matt Millen calling a Saturday night game, Beth Mowins and Joey Galloway assigned to the ESPN2 noon ET game, Carter Blackburn joins Rod Gilmore on Friday nights, Bob Wischusen teamed with Danny Kanell on ABC Saturday afternoon games plus the reunion of Sean McDonough and Chris Spielman.

All the games are listed below for you. There are a lot of them.

2012 College Football Season Kicks off Thursday

ESPN will kick off the 2012 college football season with 46 games in five days across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio as part of the fifth annualKickoff Week August 30 to September 3. The season will conclude with all five post-season Bowl Championship Series bowls, highlighted by the BCS National Championship Game Jan. 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio.

This season’s Labor Day weekend season kickoff celebration will showcase 16 teams in the Associated Press poll highlighted by eight of the top 10. The weekend coverage will conclude with Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech in a Labor Day telecast Monday, Sept. 3, at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Goal Line & WatchESPN
For the third consecutive season, the ESPN Goal Line network will offer unlimited live cut-ins and highlights from numerous top college football games every Saturday beginning at noon. Goal Line is currently available to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast and Midcontinent Communications customers. The season will kick off with a special edition of Goal Line on Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. ESPNU will simulcast Goal Line Thursday, Aug. 30 from 7 to 10:30 p.m.

Viewers can also watch live ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Goal Line game action online at WatchESPN.com or on smart phones and tablets through the WatchESPN app. The service – available to customers of Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV and Comcast Xfinity TV – gives fans the ability to watch ESPN’s live networks, no matter where they are.

Schedule highlights

• The season will kick off with ESPN doubleheader: No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. followed by Washington State, led by new head coach Mike Leach, at BYU at 10:15 p.m.
• ESPN3 will offer exclusive coverage of 15 games and 25 games overall.
• Saturday Night Football on ABC, the first primetime weekly college football series on broadcast television, will kick off with No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama. The Cowboys Classic matchup from Dallas Cowboys stadium Arlington, Texas will begin at 8 p.m.
• ESPN’s weekly Friday night series will kick off with No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State in a showdown between Mountain West and Big Ten teams at 8 p.m.

• Overall, the weekend will include 16 teams from the AP preseason poll. Additional teams include:

• No. 1 USC against Hawaii Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN Radio
• No. 3 LSU against North Texas Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPNU
• No. 5 Oregon against Arkansas State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 6 Georgia against Buffalo Saturday, Sept. 1, at noon on ESPN3 and the SEC Network
• No. 7 Florida State against Murray State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. on ESPN3
• No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 10 Arkansas against Jacksonville State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN3
• No. 14 Clemson vs. Auburn from Atlanta in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 15 Texas against Wyoming Saturday, Sept. 1, at 8 p.m. on Longhorn Network
• No. 16 Virginia Tech against Georgia Tech Monday, Sept. 3, at 8 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 17 Nebraska against Southern Mississippi Saturday, Sept. 1, at 3:30 p.m. on ABC and ESPN2
• No. 23 Florida against Bowling Green Saturday, Sept. 1, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 25 Louisville against Kentucky Sunday, Sept. 2, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

2012 Season
With the addition of games from the Mountain West Conference, ESPN will be the only network to televise home games from all 11 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and BYU. ESPN will also televise road games featuring Notre Dame, Navy and Army.

The 2012 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Regional Television and ESPN GamePlan will total more than 450 regular-and post-season games, concluding with the entire Bowl Championship Series, highlighted by the National Championship Game, on ESPN. The schedule will include weekly Saturday night games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, weekly ESPN and ESPNU Thursday night contests and telecasts every Friday.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game/Commentators	Network
Thu, Aug 30	7 p.m.	No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Central Florida at Akron Keith Morehouse & Jerod Cherry	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Eastern Michigan at Ball State Jim Barbar & Rocky Boiman	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State at Central Michigan Dan Gutowsky & Bob Chmeil	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	ESPN Goal Line simulcast	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	McNeese State at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Massachusetts at Connecticut Bob Picozzi & David Diaz-Infante	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	8 p.m.	Sacramento State at New Mexico State	ESPN3 *
	8 p.m.	Southern Utah at Utah State	ESPN3 *
	9 p.m.	Eastern Washington at Idaho Trey Bender & Jay Taylor	ESPN3
	10:15 p.m.	Washington State at BYU Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Shannon Spake	ESPN
Fri, Aug 31	7 p.m.	Villanova at Temple Scott Graham, John Bunting & Cat Whitehill	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Kickoff Game: NC State vs. Tennessee (Atlanta) ESPNU: Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Holly Rowe Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, and Joe Schad	ESPNU & ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
	8 p.m.	Wagner at Florida Atlantic Jared Schwartz & Forrest Conoly	ESPN3
Sat, Sep 1	Noon	Ohio at Penn State Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, Tom Rinaldi & Mark Schwartz	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Northwestern at Syracuse Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Jenn Brown	ESPN2
	Noon	Western Michigan at Illinois Anish Shroff & Dan Hawkins	ESPNU
	Noon	Buffalo at No. 6 Georgia Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Elon at North Carolina	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	2 p.m.	Texas San Antonio at South Alabama Jonathon Yardley & Cole Cubilic	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	William & Mary at Maryland John Sadak, Cory Chavous & Beth McDade	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Richmond at Virginia	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Southern Mississippi at No. 17 Nebraska Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ABC & ESPN2 **
		Miami at Boston College Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Maria Taylor	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Bowling Green at No. 23 Florida Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Iowa vs. Northern Illinois (from Solider Field – Chicago) Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
	6 p.m.	Youngstown State at Pittsburgh Bob Picozzi, Ralph Freidgen & Rotina McCann	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Murray State at No. 7 Florida State Shawn Kenney& Rene Ingoglia	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Liberty at Wake Forest Ryan Rose & Stan Lewter	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Kickoff Game: No. 14 Clemson vs. Auburn (Atlanta) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ESPN
	7 p.m.	North Texas at No. 3 LSU Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Allison Williams	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Florida International at Duke Darren Goldwater, John Gregory & Angela Mallen	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Tennessee-Chattanooga at South Florida Dave Weekley, Warrick Dunn & Tiffany Greene	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Austin Peay at Western Kentucky Dan Gutowsky & Doug Graber	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Jackson State at Mississippi State	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7 p.m.	Central Arkansas at Mississippi	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Jacksonville State at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Southeastern Louisiana at Missouri	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7:30 p.m.	Hawaii at No. 1 USC Rich Cellini, John Mackovic, and Brett McMurphy	ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	Cowboys Classic: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama (Arlington, Texas) Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ABC & ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	Wyoming at No. 15 Texas Mark Neely, Ray Bentle7 & Kaylee Hartung	Longhorn Network
	10:30 p.m.	Arkansas State at No. 5 Oregon Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Shelley Smith	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	Toledo at Arizona Joe Davis & Mike Bellotti	ESPNU
Sun, Sep 2	Noon	MEAC/SWAC Challenge: Bethune-Cookman vs. Alabama State (from Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium – Orlando) Dave Lamont, Jay Walker & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky at No. 25 Louisville Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
Mon, Sep 3	8 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich	ESPN

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast

There you have it.

ESPN’s Rather Extensive 2012 College Football Regular Season Schedule

Here’s something that came in last week and I’ve only been able to put this up now. This is the 450 game regular season college football schedule on the platforms of ESPN. There’s already been one change.

The Texas A&M-Louisiana Tech game originally scheduled for Thursday on ESPNU has been postponed due to Tropical Storm Issac and will be replayed on Saturday, October 13 on an ESPN platform to be determined. Other than that, this is what we have and it should be solid.

Of course as stated often in the television business, the schedule is subject to change. Here’s the ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN3/ESPN Radio/ACC Network/Big East Network/SEC Network combined schedule.

2012 ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio College Football Schedule Note: Schedule subject to change; Saturday noon, afternoon and prime time windows will be added as the season progresses; all rankings Associated Press

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Thu, Aug 30	7 p.m.	No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Central Florida at Akron	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Eastern Michigan at Ball State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State at Central Michigan	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Texas San Antonio at South Alabama	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	McNeese State at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Massachusetts at Connecticut	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	9 p.m.	Eastern Washington at Idaho	ESPN3
	10:15 p.m.	Washington State at BYU	ESPN
Fri, Aug 31	7 p.m.	Villanova at Temple	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: NC State vs. Tennessee (Atlanta)	ESPNU & ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State	ESPN
	8 p.m.	Wagner at Florida Atlantic	ESPN3
Sat, Sep 1	Noon	Ohio at Penn State	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Northwestern at Syracuse	ESPN2
	Noon	Western Michigan at Illinois	ESPNU
	Noon	Buffalo at No. 6 Georgia	ESPN3 * & SEC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Elon at North Carolina	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3 p.m.	William & Mary at Maryland	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Richmond at Virginia	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Southern Mississippi at No. 17 Nebraska	ABC & ESPN2 **
		Miami at Boston College	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Bowling Green at No. 23 Florida	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Iowa vs. Northern Illinois (from Solider Field – Chicago)	ESPNU
	6 p.m.	Youngstown State at Pittsburgh	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Murray State at No. 7 Florida State	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Liberty at Wake Forest	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: No. 14 Clemson vs. Auburn (Atlanta)	ESPN
	7 p.m.	North Texas at No. 3 LSU	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Florida International at Duke	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Tennessee-Chattanooga at South Florida	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Austin Peay at Western Kentucky	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Jackson State at Mississippi State	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7 p.m.	Central Arkansas at Mississippi	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Jacksonville State at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Southeastern Louisiana at Missouri	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7:30 p.m.	Hawaii at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	Cowboys Classic: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama (Arlington, Texas)	ABC & ESPN Radio
	10:30 p.m.	Arkansas State at No. 5 Oregon	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	Toledo at Arizona State	ESPNU
Sun, Sep 2	Noon	MEAC/SWAC Challenge Presented by Disney: Bethune-Cookman vs. Alabama State (from Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium – Orlando)	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky at No. 25 Louisville	ESPN
Mon, Sep 3	8 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech	ESPN
Thu, Sep 6	8 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Cincinnati	ESPN
Fri, Sep 7	8 p.m.	Utah at Utah State	ESPN2
Sat, Sep 8	Noon	Penn State at Virginia	ABC
	Noon	Auburn at Mississippi State	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Central Florida at No. 18 Ohio State	ESPN2
	Noon	Maryland at Temple	ESPNU
	Noon	East Carolina at No. 9 South Carolina	ESPN3 * & SEC Network
	Noon	NC State at Connecticut	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	12:30 p.m.	Ball State at No. 14 Clemson	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	1 p.m.	Maine at Boston College	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Southern Illinois at Miami (Ohio)	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Austin Peay at No. 16 Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	North Carolina at Wake Forest	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Air Force at No. 8 Michigan	ABC & ESPN2 **
		No. 1 USC at Syracuse	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	No. 23 Florida at Texas A&M	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Michigan State at Central Michigan	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Indiana at Massachusetts	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky at No. 2 Alabama	ESPN3 * & SEC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Howard at Rutgers	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	3:30 p.m.	Missouri State at No. 25 Louisville	ESPN3 * & RSN
	4 p.m.	Georgia State at Tennessee	ESPN3 * & PPV
	5 p.m.	Nicholls State at South Alabama	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Savannah State at No. 7 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Akron at Florida International	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Montana at Appalachian State	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Washington at No. 3 LSU	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Memphis at Arkansas State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette at Troy	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Texas Tech at Texas State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Presbyterian at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	New Mexico State at Ohio	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Tennessee-Martin at Northern Illinois	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Eastern Illinois at Western Michigan	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Idaho at Bowling Green	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Texas Southern at North Texas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	UTEP at Mississippi	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7:30 p.m.	Kent State at Kentucky	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7:30 p.m.	No. 17 Nebraska at UCLA	ESPN Radio
	7:45 p.m.	No. 6 Georgia at Missouri	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	Illinois at Arizona State	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State ^	ESPNU
Thu, Sep 13	7:30 p.m.	Rutgers at South Florida	ESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Mississippi Valley State at Southern	ESPNU
Fri, Sep 14	9 p.m.	Washington State at UNLV	ESPN
Sat, Sep 15	Noon	California at No. 18 Ohio State	ABC
	Noon	Arkansas State at No. 17 Nebraska	ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
	Noon	No. 16 Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh	ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
	Noon	Wake Forest at No. 7 Florida State	ESPN or ESPN2
	Noon	Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn	ESPN3 * & SEC Network
	Noon	Bethune-Cookman at Miami	ESPN3
	12:30 p.m.	Connecticut at Maryland	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Vanderbilt	ESPN3 * & RSN
	3 p.m.	Furman at No. 14 Clemson	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Navy at Penn State	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	North Carolina at No. 25 Louisville	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Virginia at Georgia Tech	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Morgan State at Akron	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Stony Brook at Syracuse	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	4 p.m.	Howard at Norfolk State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 23 Florida at Tennessee	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	6 p.m.	South Alabama at NC State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Arizona State at Missouri	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Kentucky	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	NC Central at Duke	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Rice at Louisiana Tech	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Bowling Green at Toledo	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Delaware State at Cincinnati	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Mississippi State at Troy	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	UAB at No. 9 South Carolina	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at No. 6 Georgia	ESPN3 * & RSN
	8 p.m.	Notre Dame at No. 13 Michigan State	ABC
	8 p.m.	Colorado State at San Jose State	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Idaho at No. 3 LSU	ESPN3 * & PPV
	9:15 p.m.	No. 15 Texas at Mississippi	ESPN
	10 p.m.	BYU at Utah	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	Howard at Norfolk State ^	ESPNU
Wed, Sep 19	7 p.m.	Kent State at Buffalo	ESPNU
Thu, Sep 20	7:30 p.m.	Arkansas Pine Bluff at Alabama State	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	BYU at No. 24 Boise State	ESPN
Fri, Sep 21	7 p.m.	Georgetown at Princeton	ESPNU
	8 p.m.	Baylor at Louisiana-Monroe	ESPN
Sat, Sep 22	Noon	Massachusetts at Miami (OH)	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	2 p.m.	Connecticut at Western Michigan	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Norfolk State at Ohio	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Gardner-Webb at Pittsburgh	ESPN3
	4:30 pm	South Florida at Ball State	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Wyoming at Idaho	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 25 Louisville at Florida International	ESPNU or ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Southern Mississippi at Western Kentucky	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Troy at North Texas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at Toledo	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Alcorn State at Arkansas State	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	New Mexico at New Mexico State	ESPN3
	TBD	Arizona at No. 5 Oregon	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	Kansas at Northern Illinois	ESPNU or ESPN3
	TBD	No. 3 LSU at Auburn	ESPN Radio
	TBD	California at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
Thu, Sep 27	7:30 p.m.	Morgan State at North Carolina A&T	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 21 Stanford at Washington	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Fri, Sep 28	8 p.m.	Hawaii at BYU	ESPN
Sat, Sep 29	Noon	Buffalo at Connecticut	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	Noon	Ball State at Kent State	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	2 p.m.	Miami at Akron	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Rhode Island at Bowling Green	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Central Michigan at Northern Illinois	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Ohio at Massachusetts	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Samford at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Arkansas State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Florida International at Louisiana-Lafayette	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Grambling State at Alabama A&M	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Indiana State at Southern Illinois	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Toledo at Western Michigan	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 12 Wisconsin at No. 17 Nebraska	ABC
	8 p.m.	UNLV at Utah State	ESPN3
	10:30 p.m.	Grambling State at Alabama A&M ^	ESPNU
	TBD	No. 7 Florida State at South Florida	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	North Texas at Florida Atlantic	ESPN3
	TBD	Tennessee at No. 6 Georgia	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Mississippi at No. 2 Alabama	ESPN Radio
Thu, Oct 4	7:30 p.m.	Arkansas State at Florida International	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 1 USC at Utah	ESPN
Fri, Oct 5	7 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Syracuse	ESPN
	10:15 p.m.	Utah State at BYU	ESPN
Sat, Oct 6	Noon	Buffalo at Ohio	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	1:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Virginia Military Institute	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Youngstown State at North Dakota State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Illinois at No. 12 Wisconsin	ABC & ESPN2 **
		TBD	ABC & ESPN2 **
	7 p.m.	UNLV at Louisiana Tech	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	7 p.m.	Grambling State at Prairie View	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Miami (Ohio) at Cincinnati	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 17 Nebraska at No. 18 Ohio State	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	Grambling State at Prairie View ^	ESPNU
	TBD	No. 11 West Virginia at No. 15 Texas	ESPN Radio
	TBD	No. 3 LSU at No. 23 Florida	ESPN Radio
Thu, Oct 11	7:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Troy	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Arizona State at Colorado	ESPN
Fri, Oct 12	8 p.m.	Navy at Central Michigan	ESPN2
Sat, Oct 13	1:30 p.m.	Chattanooga at Furman	ESPN3
	TBD	Texas A&M vs. Louisiana Tech (from Independence Stadium – Shreveport, LA)	TBD
	2 p.m.	Youngstown State at Illinois State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Illinois at No. 8 Michigan	ABC & ESPN2 **
		TBD	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Miami (Ohio) at Bowling Green	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Utah State at San Jose State	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	7 p.m.	Fordham at Cincinnati	ESPN3
	TBD	No. 15 Texas vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (Dallas)	ABC
	TBD	No. 20 TCU at Baylor	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Stony Brook at Coastal Carolina	ESPN3
Tue, Oct 16	9 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette at North Texas	ESPN2
Thu, Oct 18	7:30 p.m.	Hampton at NC Central	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 5 Oregon at Arizona State	ESPN
Fri, Oct 19	8 p.m.	Connecticut at Syracuse	ESPN
Sat, Oct 20	Noon	Northern Illinois at Akron	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	1 p.m.	Army at Eastern Michigan	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Harvard at Princeton	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Charleston Southern	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Western Carolina at Elon	ESPN3
	3:30 pm	Pittsburgh at Buffalo	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Idaho at Louisiana Tech	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	TBD	Cincinnati at Toledo	ESPNU or ESPN3
	TBD	No. 13 Michigan State at No. 8 Michigan	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Colorado at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
Tue, Oct 23	8 p.m.	Arkansas State at Louisiana-Lafayette	ESPN2
Thu, Oct 25	7:30 p.m.	No. 14 Clemson at Wake Forest	ESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Delaware State at Morgan State	ESPNU
Fri, Oct 26	8 p.m.	Cincinnati at No. 25 Louisville	ESPN2
Sat, Oct 27	Noon	Northern Illinois at Western Michigan	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	1 p.m.	Stony Brook at Presbyterian	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	The Citadel at Wofford	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	South Dakota at Indiana State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Michigan State at No. 12 Wisconsin	ABC
	3:30 p.m.	Alabama A&M at Alabama State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	North Texas at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Kent State at Rutgers	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	6 p.m.	No. 18 Ohio State at Penn State	ESPN or ESPN2
	8 p.m.	No. 8 Michigan at No. 17 Nebraska	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 & ESPN Radio
	10:30 p.m.	Alabama A&M at Alabama State ^	ESPNU
Thu, Nov 1	6 p.m.	Eastern Michigan at Ohio	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	No. 16 Virginia Tech at Miami	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	9:15 p.m.	Middle Tennessee State at Western Kentucky	ESPNU
Fri, Nov 2	9 p.m.	Washington at California	ESPN2
Sat, Nov 3	1 p.m.	Western Michigan at Central Michigan	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Penn at Princeton	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at Gardner-Webb	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Appalachian State at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Texas-San Antonio at Louisiana Tech	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	TBD	Missouri at No. 23 Florida	ESPN Radio
	TBD	No. 5 Oregon at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
Tue, Nov 6	8 p.m.	Ball State at Toledo	ESPN2
Wed, Nov 7	8 p.m.	Bowling Green at Ohio	ESPN2
Thu, Nov 8	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe at Arkansas State	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	No. 7 Florida State at No. 16 Virginia Tech	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Fri, Nov 9	8 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Connecticut	ESPN2
Sat, Nov 10	1 p.m.	UNI at South Dakota	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Navy at Troy	ESPN3*
	TBD	No. 11 West Virginia at No. 19 Oklahoma State	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Baylor at No. 4 Oklahoma	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Arizona State at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
Wed, Nov 14	8 p.m.	Ohio at Ball State	ESPN2 or ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Toledo at Northern Illinois	ESPN2 or ESPNU
Thu, Nov 15	7:30 p.m.	North Carolina at Virginia	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Fri, Nov 16	8 p.m.	Florida International at Florida Atlantic	ESPNU
	9:30 p.m.	Hawaii at Air Force	ESPN2
Sat, Nov 17	Noon	Rutgers at Cincinnati	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	Noon	Kent State at Bowling Green	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	1:30 p.m.	Liberty at Virginia Military Institute	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Florida Classic: Florida A&M vs. Bethune-Cookman	ESPN Classic
	TBD	Iowa at No. 8 Michigan	ESPN Radio
	TBD	No. 1 USC at UCLA	ESPN Radio
Tue, Nov 20	7 p.m.	Akron at Toledo	ESPN2
Thu, Nov 22	4 p.m.	Tuskegee at Alabama State	ESPNU
Fri, Nov 23	Noon	No. 17 Nebraska at Iowa	ABC
	2:30 p.m.	No. 3 LSU at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	No. 11 West Virginia at Iowa State	ABC
	10 p.m.	Arizona State at Arizona	ESPN
	TBD	South Florida at Cincinnati	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	Syracuse at Temple	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
Sat, Nov 24	Noon	No. 8 Michigan at No. 18 Ohio State	ABC
	3 p.m.	Idaho at Utah State	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	3:30 p.m.	Troy at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	TBD	Notre Dame at No. 1 USC	ABC or ESPN & ESPN Radio
	TBD	No. 19 Oklahoma State at No. 4 Oklahoma	ESPN Radio
Thu, Nov 29	7:30 p.m.	No. 25 Louisville at Rutgers	ESPN
Fri, Nov 30	7 p.m.	Marathon MAC Championship (Detroit)	ESPN2
	TBD	Pac-12 Championship Game	ESPN Radio
Sat, Dec 1	7:45 p.m. or 8 p.m.	Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game (Charlotte)	ABC or ESPN & ESPN Radio
	TBD	Conference USA Championship Game	ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	Pittsburgh at South Florida	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	No. 24 Boise State at Nevada	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	Cincinnati at Connecticut	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	No. 19 Oklahoma State at Baylor	ESPN Radio
TBD	TBD	SWAC Championship Game	ESPNU

 

* Local blackout may apply

** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast

^ Same-day telecast of live ESPN3 coverage

There you have it.

He’s Back For All the Tostitos; Brent Musburger Re-Ups with ESPN

A mere 73 years young, Brent Musbuger has signed a new deal with ESPN that will keep him as ESPN/ABC’s main college football play-by-play man for at least two more seasons. Under the new contract, he and Kirk Herbstreit will call the final two BCS Championship Games before the new playoff system takes effect.

Musburger has been with ESPN/ABC since 1990 after being unceremoniously fired by CBS during the Final Four. Since then, Brent has hosted Monday Night Football, called the Little League World Series, hosted the Pan Am Games in Cuba in 1991, hosted the Indianapolis 500 as well as the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand reports that this is a two year deal and that means Brent will be 75 when the contract is up. A man who created the NFL studio host position and has never won a Sports Emmy will be back calling marquee college football games this season and that’s a good thing.

The ESPN press release.

Brent Musburger Re-signs with ESPN

Veteran broadcaster Brent Musburger – one of the most recognized and prominent voices in sports televising, working numerous top events in a four-decade career – has signed a multiyear extension with ESPN.

“There are few sports moments better than turning on an event and hearing the signature ‘you are looking live’ open from Brent Musburger,” said Mark Gross, ESPN senior vice president and executive producer, production. “Brent is a leader in this industry among his peers and will continue to be the voice of many of our top telecasts.”

Musburger will continue to serve as a play-by-play commentator for multiple sports across ESPN and ABC. He primarily works college sports for ESPN, calling the weekly Saturday Night Football series on ABC, a role he has held since its debut in 2006, and several bowl games a year, highlighted by the BCS National Championship. He is also the announcer on an extensive schedule of men’s college basketball, most recently working ESPN’s Big 12 Big Monday telecasts.

“I couldn’t be happier about staying at ESPN,” said Musburger. “It was never a consideration for me to move on from here. The people I work for and with are some of the best in the industry. I love the atmosphere at college events and surrounding myself around college athletes. Hey, that’s how I stay young.”

For ABC and ESPN, Musburger has also hosted and/or called play-by-play for the NBA, golf, IRL races, Little League World Series and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also hosted Super Bowl XXV’s pre-game and half-time shows, the 1991 Pan Am Games from Cuba and NASCAR Nextel Cup races on ESPN and ABC during the 2007 season.

Musburger joined ABC in May 1990 after 15 years as CBS Sports’ primary host and play-by-play commentator, appearing on The NFL Today, the NCAA Final Four, tennis’ U.S. Open, the NBA and the Masters.

As is its recent custom with rehiring announcements, ESPN has a Front Row PR podcast to promote this move. This edition has Kirk Herbstreit talking with Brent about the decision to return.

That’s all.

ESPN Unveils 2012-13 College Football Announcing Teams

For the upcoming college football season, ESPN has made a few changes to its announcing teams. The main team of Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit for ABC’s Saturday Night Football will remain the same, however, there’s still no official replacement for Erin Andrews who left for Fox. The Big Lead has reported it will be Heather Cox, but she has told the Los Angeles Daily News that her contract with ESPN has expired so we’ll have to wait to see who replaces Erin.

As for the other teams, ESPN has created a new team for a package of primetime games, Joe Tessitore who had called Friday Night Football moves to Saturday night with Matt Millen. The sideline duties will be divided among Jessica Mendoza, Shannon Spake or Shelley Smith.

For the ESPN on ABC Saturday afternoon regional games, Sean McDonough remains on the top game, but he’ll be joined by once and now-present partner Chris Spielman. Mike Patrick and Ed Cunningham will form another team and Bob Wischusen and Danny Kanell will be the third team and be joined by new sideline reporter Maria Taylor.

ESPN’s Friday Night Football team will have one holdover, Rod Gilmore and he’ll have Carter Blackburn as his play-by-play man and Jamele Hill coming out of the First Take studios and to the sidelines.

We have the ESPN press release.

Multiple New Roles Highlight ESPN 2012 College Football Commentator Assignments

ESPN’s 2012 college football telecasts will be highlighted by commentators working in new roles and the addition of former Ohio State standout receiver Joey Galloway. In addition, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will return for their seventh season together on the ABC Saturday Night Football series while Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe will continue to work the Saturday ESPN College Football Primetime telecast.

New assignments include:

• Three new commentator teams will call ABC Saturday afternoon broadcasts:

• Chris Spielman, an analyst on ESPN’s Saturday noon telecast, will pair up with Sean McDonough and reporter Quint Kessenich this season. Spielman and McDonough previously worked together on Saturday and Friday games from 2006-08.
• Ed Cunningham, a Saturday afternoon game analyst for four years before taking on ESPN2’s Saturday night game last year, will work with Mike Patrick and reporter Jeannine Edwards.
• Danny Kanell will move from an ESPNU night game to work with announcer Bob Wischusen, who returns to the ABC Saturday afternoon game, and new reporter Maria Taylor.

• ESPN’s Thursday and Friday night games will also have familiar faces in new roles:

• Analyst David Pollack and reporter Samantha Steele will join returning announcer Rece Davis and analyst Jesse Palmer on ESPN’s Thursday night game.
• Carter Blackburn will move from Saturday games to call the weekly Friday series with returning analyst Rod Gilmore and new sideline reporter Jemele Hill. Hill has been an ESPN.com national columnist where she has also appeared on ESPN television programs since 2006.

• Joe Tessitore and Matt Millen will serve as the announcers for a new package of additional Saturday night games, primarily on ESPN. Shannon Spake or Shelley Smith will report from the sidelines. Tessitore previously worked Friday night games with Rod Gilmore while Matt Millen was the analyst on Saturday afternoon ABC games with Sean McDonough.
• Each of the ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU Saturday noon telecasts will include new pairings:

• Brian Griese and reporter Jenn Brown will join returning commentator Dave Pasch on ESPN’s noon game. Last year, Griese was the analyst on the ESPNU Saturday night telecast and Brown was the reporter on the Thursday ESPN College Football Primetime series.
• New analyst Joey Galloway, a former Ohio State and NFL veteran wide receiver, will call ESPN2’s weekly noon series with returning commentator Beth Mowins.
• The new announce team of Tom Hart and analyst John Congemi will work the ESPNU noon telecast. Congemi previously called ESPN Regional Television’s BIG EAST Network games and Hart is new to ESPN.

• ESPN2 and ESPNU Saturday night telecasts will include analysts in new roles:

• Brock Huard, who worked select ESPN and ABC Saturday games last season, will pair up with Mark Jones on a weekly ESPN2 prime-time game.
• Matt Stinchcomb, an ESPNU studio analyst last year, will move to the ESPNU prime-time game with Clay Matvick and reporter Allison Williams.

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Regional Television Game Announcer Pairings

Note: Additional commentators will contribute throughout the season.

Game Telecast	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
Saturday Night Football (on ABC)	Brent Musburger	Kirk Herbstreit	TBA
ESPN College Football Primetime (Saturday)	Brad Nessler	Todd Blackledge	Holly Rowe
ESPN Saturday Prime Time	Joe Tessitore	Matt Millen	Jessica Mendoza, Shelley Smith or Shannon Spake
ESPN2 College Football Primetime (Saturday)	Mark Jones	Brock Huard	Jessica Mendoza or Shelley Smith
ESPNU Saturday Prime Time	Clay Matvick	Matt Stinchcomb	Allison Williams
ESPN College Football Primetime (Thursday)	Rece Davis	Jesse Palmer and David Pollack	Samantha Steele
ESPN and ESPN2 Friday	Carter Blackburn	Rod Gilmore	Jemele Hill
ABC Saturday Afternoon	Sean McDonough	Chris Spielman	Quint Kessenich
ABC Saturday Afternoon	Mike Patrick	Ed Cunningham	Jeannine Edwards
ABC Saturday Afternoon	Bob Wischusen	Danny Kanell	Maria Taylor
ESPN College Football (Saturday afternoon)	Dave Pasch	Brian Griese	Jenn Brown
ESPN2 College Football (Saturday afternoon)	Beth Mowins	Joey Galloway
ESPNU Saturday Afternoon	Tom Hart	John Congemi
ESPNU Saturday Afternoon	Anish Shrof	Dan Hawkins
ESPNU Thursday (HBCU)	Joe Davis	Jay Walker
ESPNU Late Saturday (HBCU)	Joe Davis	Jay Walker
ESPN Radio	Bill Rosinski	David Norrie	Joe Schad
SEC Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games)	Dave Neal	Andre Ware	Cara Capuano
BIG EAST Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games)	Eamon McAnaney	David Diaz-Infante	Paul Carcaterra

More later.

The 2012-13 ABC/ESPN NBA Schedule

The National Basketball Association released the 2012-13 schedule on Thursday. And with the release comes the national TV schedules from ESPN/ABC, TNT and NBA TV. We’ll post all of the press releases from the partners tonight and that includes the one I’m about to show you from ESPN/ABC.

ESPN will air 75 games over the span of the entire season. ABC will air another 15, but in those games, they’ll be among just eight teams, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, the two Los Angeles teams (Clippers and Lakers), Miami, New York and Oklahoma City. The Lakers, Heat, Knicks and Thunder will get the most appearances on ABC, between 5 and 6 among them.

ABC and ESPN will combine for five games on Christmas Day starting at noon ET. ABC gets an afternoon doubleheader with ESPN airing two games at night.

Here’s the press release.

ABC & ESPN 2012-13 NBA Schedule

Blockbuster Christmas Day includes Thunder/Heat Finals Rematch, Two Games at L.A.’s Staples Center

ESPN’s multiplatform coverage of the 2012-13 NBA season will include 90 games, highlighted by 15 exclusive ABC broadcasts and 75 national ESPN telecasts. The 90-game schedule features flexible scheduling, allowing fans to see the most compelling matchups. All ESPN games will also be available on ESPN Mobile TV and WatchESPN. ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes will also have coverage throughout the season. In addition, NBA Countdown will generally preview ABC and ESPN games or doubleheaders 30 minutes prior to game time.

ABC & ESPN Combine for Five Christmas Day Games

ABC and ESPN will combine to present a five-game Christmas Day blockbuster schedule, headlined by an ABC doubleheader featuring the Miami Heat and LeBron James hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kevin Durant in an NBA Finals rematch at 5:30 p.m. ET.  The doubleheader will begin with the New York Knicks and Carmelo Anthony visiting the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash at 3 p.m. in one of two ABC/ESPN games from the Staples Center on Christmas Day.

Christmas Day will tip off on ESPN when the Boston Celtics and Rajon Rondo visit the new-look Brooklyn Nets and Deron Williams – the first-ever Christmas Day game in Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center -  at 12 p.m. Additionally, ESPN will televise a prime-time doubleheader, starting with the Houston Rockets and Jeremy Lin visiting the Chicago Bulls and Joakim Noah at 8 p.m., followed by the Los Angeles Clippers and Chris Paul hosting the Denver Nuggets and Ty Lawson – the second game of the day emanating from the Staples Center.

Christmas Day

Time (ET)	Game	Network
12 p.m.	Boston Celtics at Brooklyn Nets	ESPN, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
2:30 p.m.	NBA Countdown	ABC
3 p.m.	New York Knicks at L.A. Lakers	ABC
5:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat	ABC
8 p.m.	Houston Rockets at Chicago Bulls	ESPN, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
10:30 p.m.	Denver Nuggets at L.A. Clippers	ESPN, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN

ESPN’s NBA Schedule to Tip-Off with Star-Studded Doubleheader Nov. 2

ESPN’s coverage of the 2012-13 NBA season will tip off with a doubleheader Friday, Nov. 2, when the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat – led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh – visit the New York Knicks and Carmelo Anthony at 8 p.m. In the nightcap, the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant will “host” the Los Angeles Clippers and Chris Paul at 10:30 p.m. Both games will be available across ESPN platforms with the NBA Countdown – one-hour edition – show previewing the action at 7 p.m.

ABC schedule highlights

• 15 exclusive broadcasts;
• Christmas Day blockbuster doubleheader: New York Knicks at Los Angeles Lakers at 3 p.m.; Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat at 5:30 p.m.;
• Multiple appearances by the NBA’s biggest superstars, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony;
• Six appearances by the Los Angeles Lakers, five appearances each by the Miami Heat, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder;
• The first-ever regular season ABC appearances by the Los Angeles Clippers (four games);
• Eastern Conference Finals rematch – Miami Heat at Boston Celtics –  featuring Ray Allen’s return to Boston on Jan. 27;
• Kobe vs. LeBron: Los Angeles Lakers at Miami Heat Feb. 10;
• Six doubleheaders – Dec. 25, Jan. 27, Feb. 10, March 3, March 10, April 7;
• NBA Countdown pregame show 30 minutes prior to every ABC game or doubleheader.

2012-13 ABC NBA Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game
Tue, Dec. 25	3 p.m.	New York Knicks at L.A. Lakers
	5:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat
Sun, Jan. 27	1 p.m.	Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
	3:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at L.A. Lakers
Sun, Feb. 10	1 p.m.	L.A. Clippers at New York Knicks
	3:30 p.m.	L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat
Sun, Feb. 24	1 p.m.	L.A. Lakers at Dallas Mavericks
Sun, March 3	1 p.m.	Miami Heat at New York Knicks
	3:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at L.A. Clippers
Sun, March 10	1 p.m.	Boston Celtics at Oklahoma City Thunder
	3:30 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at L.A. Lakers
Sun, March 17	3:30 p.m.	New York Knicks at L.A. Clippers
Sun, April 7	1 p.m.	New York Knicks at Oklahoma City Thunder
	3:30 p.m.	L.A. Lakers at L.A. Clippers
Sun, April 14	1 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat

ESPN schedule highlights

• 75 national telecasts;
• Three Christmas Day games, including Boston at Brooklyn at 12 p.m., plus a primetime doubleheader – Houston Rockets at Chicago Bulls at 8 p.m. and Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles. Clippers at 10:30 p.m.;
• ESPN’s opening night Fri, Nov 2: Miami Heat at New York Knicks at 8 p.m.; Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 p.m.;
• Multiple appearances by the NBA’s biggest superstars, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony;
• Six teams with 10 appearances (the maximum allowed): Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder;
• New-look Brooklyn Nets to appear nine times, including two games against the New York Knicks (Dec. 11, Dec. 19);
• Multiple appearances by the Boston Celtics (9), San Antonio Spurs (9) and Dallas Mavericks (7);
• Special Martin Luther King, Jr. Day game – Indiana Pacers at Memphis Grizzlies – Mon. Jan. 21;
• Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers Feb. 20, at 10:30 p.m.;
• Eastern Conference Finals rematch – Miami Heat at Boston Celtics – March 18 at 8 p.m.;
• 31 doubleheaders;
• NBA Countdown pregame show 30 minutes prior to most ESPN games or doubleheaders.

2012-13 ESPN NBA Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game
Fri, Nov. 2	8 p.m.	Miami Heat at New York Knicks
	10:30 p.m.	L.A. Clippers at L.A. Lakers
Wed, Nov. 7	8 p.m.	Philadelphia 76ers at New Orleans Hornets
	10:30 p.m.	San Antonio Spurs at L.A. Clippers
Fri, Nov. 9	10:30 p.m.	Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets
Wed, Nov.14	8 p.m.	Memphis Grizzlies at Oklahoma City Thunder
	10:30 p.m.	Miami Heat at L.A. Clippers
Fri, Nov.16	7 p.m.	Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons
	9:30 p.m.	New York Knicks at Memphis Grizzlies
Wed, Nov.21	7:30 p.m.	L.A. Clippers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Fri, Nov.30	10:30 p.m.	Denver Nuggets at L.A. Lakers
Wed, Dec. 5	8 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers
	10:30 p.m.	Dallas Mavericks at L.A. Clippers
Fri, Dec. 7	7 p.m.	Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers
	9:30 p.m.	L.A. Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Tue, Dec. 11	7 p.m.	New York Knicks at Brooklyn Nets
	9:30 p.m.	L.A. Clippers at Chicago Bulls
Wed, Dec. 12	8 p.m.	Dallas Mavericks at Boston Celtics
	10:30 p.m.	San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz
Fri, Dec. 14	8 p.m.	Golden State Warriors at Orlando Magic
	10:30 p.m.	Memphis Grizzlies at Denver Nuggets
Wed, Dec. 19	7 p.m.	Brooklyn Nets at New York Knicks
	9:30 p.m.	Milwaukee Bucks at Memphis Grizzlies
Tue, Dec. 25	12 p.m.	Boston Celtics at Brooklyn Nets
	8 p.m.	Houston Rockets at Chicago Bulls
	10:30 p.m.	Denver Nuggets at L.A. Clippers
Fri, Jan. 4	8 p.m.	Indiana Pacers at Boston Celtics
	10:30 p.m.	L.A. Lakers at L.A. Clippers
Wed, Jan. 9	8 p.m.	L.A. Lakers at San Antonio Spurs
	10:30 p.m.	Dallas Mavericks at L.A. Clippers
Fri, Jan. 11	8 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks
	10:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at L.A. Lakers
Wed, Jan. 16	8 p.m.	New Orleans Hornets at Boston Celtics
	10:30 p.m.	Miami Heat at Golden State Warriors
Fri, Jan. 18	7 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics
	9:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks
Mon, Jan. 21	1 p.m.	Indiana Pacers at Memphis Grizzlies
Fri, Jan. 25	8 p.m.	San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks
Sun, Jan. 27	6:30 p.m.	Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks
Wed, Jan. 30	8 p.m.	Miami Heat at Brooklyn Nets
	10:30 p.m.	L.A. Lakers at Phoenix Suns
Fri, Feb. 1	7 p.m.	Miami Heat at Indiana Pacers
	9:30 p.m.	L.A. Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves
Wed, Feb. 6	9 p.m.	San Antonio Spurs at Minnesota Timberwolves
Fri, Feb. 8	8 p.m.	L.A. Clippers at Miami Heat
	10:30 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at Utah Jazz
Sun, Feb. 10	8 p.m.	San Antonio Spurs at Brooklyn Nets
Wed, Feb. 20	8 p.m.	Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks
	10:30 p.m.	Boston Celtics at L.A. Lakers
Fri, Feb. 22	8 p.m.	Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder
	10:30 p.m.	San Antonio Spurs at Golden State Warriors
Sun, Feb. 24	7 p.m.	Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks
	9:30 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Thunder
Wed, Feb. 27	8 p.m.	Detroit Pistons at Washington Wizards
	10:30 p.m.	Denver Nuggets at Portland Trail Blazers
Fri, March 1	8 p.m.	Dallas Mavericks at Brooklyn Nets
	10:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets
Sun, March 3	8 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at Indiana Pacers
Wed, March 6	9 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at San Antonio Spurs
Fri, March 8	8 p.m.	Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat
	10:30 p.m.	Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors
Wed, March 13	8 p.m.	Utah Jazz at Oklahoma City Thunder
	10:30 p.m.	New York Knicks at Denver Nuggets
Mon, March 18	8 p.m.	Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
	10:30 p.m.	New York Knicks at Utah Jazz
Wed, March 20	8 p.m.	Brooklyn Nets at Dallas Mavericks
Wed, March 27	8 p.m.	Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls
	10:30 p.m.	Brooklyn Nets at Portland Trail Blazers
Wed, April 3	7 p.m.	New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks
Fri, April 5	8 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers
	10:30 p.m.	Memphis Grizzlies at L.A. Lakers
Wed, April 10	8 p.m.	Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics
	10:30 p.m.	San Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets
Wed, April 17	8 p.m.	Utah Jazz at Memphis Grizzlies
	10:30 p.m.	Golden State Warriors at Portland Trail Blazers

* ESPN’s NBA games are also available on ESPN Mobile TV and WatchESPN.

TNT’s schedule is next.

ESPN Set To Air Second Half of NASCAR Sprint Cup Season

ESPN/ABC will combine to air the final 17 races of the Sprint Cup season. As it’s been for the last few years, ESPN will carry 14 races with ABC taking three races, all on Saturday nights. Allen Bestwick will be the lap-by-lap announcer and be joined by Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth. For the pre-race and studio coverage, Nicole Briscoe returns as host and Brad Daugherty, Rusty Wallace and Ray Evernham will be analysts.

As it has in this NASCAR TV contract, ESPN will carry the final 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup races. ESPN’s season begins July 29 with the Brickyard 400 from Indianapolis. The Sprint Cup Chase starts on September 16 in Chicago and ends on November 18 in Miami.

We have the ESPN press release for you.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing Coming to ESPN for Second Half of Season

The Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, one of the premier events in NASCAR, will be the launching point for ESPN’s live, flag-to-flag telecasts of the final 17 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on Sunday, July 29.

ESPN’s multimedia platforms will surround the race telecasts on television, radio, online and on mobile devices. Of the 17 races, 14 will air on ESPN and WatchESPN and three Saturday night events will air on ABC, and ESPN’s flagship news and information program SportsCenter will follow the 14 ESPN race telecasts with additional post-race interviews, highlights and information.

Beginning Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway, the final 10 races will comprise the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR’s playoffs, culminating Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the crowning of the series champion.

For the 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, ESPN will again utilize NASCAR NonStop, a split-screen commercial format that brings more racing action to viewers. The format, which ESPN used for the first time in 2011, shows the advertisement on the left side of the screen and a continuation of racing action on the right side. ESPN’s scoring ticker continues to move across the top of the screen, allowing NASCAR fans to follow the running order of the race during the breaks. NASCAR NonStop takes effect at or near the halfway point of the race, with the first half of the race presented in the traditional commercial break format.

The race telecast from Indianapolis follows the one-hour NASCAR Countdown pre-race show at noon, with the race’s green flag at 1:19 p.m. ET. Also from Indianapolis, ESPN will televise the inaugural race at the famed track for the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Saturday, July 28, with NASCAR Countdown at 4 p.m. and the green flag at 4:49 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying for the Brickyard 400 airs earlier that day at 2 p.m. on ESPN, with NASCAR Sprint Cup practice at 10:30 a.m. on ESPN2.

The winner of the Brickyard 400 will visit ESPN’s Bristol, Ct., studios on Tuesday, July 31, to appear on multiple ESPN programs and platforms.

ESPN’s NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage team will include four former NASCAR Sprint Cup champions, led by analyst Dale Jarrett, the 1999 driving champion, who will work with two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree and lap-by-lap announcer Allen Bestwick in the booth. Rusty Wallace, the 1989 driving champion, and three-time champion crew chief Ray Evernham will be analysts for NASCAR Countdown with host Nicole Briscoe and analyst Brad Daugherty, a NASCAR team owner.

Pit reporters during ESPN’s 17-race NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro, Dr. Jerry Punch, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch while Marty Reid will be the lap-by-lap announcer for the remainder of ESPN’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race telecasts beginning with Indianapolis.

ESPN will use 74 high definition cameras in the Brickyard 400 telecast, including a new, Ultra Slo Mo handheld camera for analyzing pit stops. Bat Cam, a camera running on a cable over pit road and the frontstretch that can move at more than 80 mph, also will be utilized again at IMS. ESPN will have a helicopter camera for all 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup race telecasts.

Last year at Indianapolis, ESPN introduced the first-ever use of dual path transmission for onboard cameras, allowing the network for the first time to show two high definition views from onboard cameras in the same car simultaneously. The technology has been refined and is being expanded into ESPN’s NASCAR Nationwide Series telecasts starting at Indianapolis.

The NASCAR Countdown show for the Brickyard 400 will have a different look as it will move from the ESPN Pit Studio to a set located on an outside floor of the speedway’s iconic Pagoda. The grandstands, track and pits will provide a backdrop during the program.

Among the features that are planned for airing during ESPN’s Indianapolis telecasts:

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief Steve Letarte sit down together with ESPN’s Marty Smith to discuss the evolution of their relationship, how Earnhardt has changed as a driver since they joined forces this season and why their team is finally firing on all cylinders.

• ABC News journalist Katie Couric talks with Danica Patrick at Indianapolis Motor Speedway about her transition to NASCAR, how people perceive her as a person and possible sexism she might face on a daily basis at the racetrack.

• Jeff Gordon reunites with his former championship winning crew chief Ray Evernham to talk about his struggles in 2012 and if success for him is lurking at the Brickyard, a place where he has won four times in his career.

• Last year’s Brickyard 400 is relived through the eyes of race winner Paul Menard and his father, John. Collectively they tell the story of how emotional and meaningful the victory was to the Menard Family.

ESPN’s Multimedia Platforms Surround NASCAR

In addition to the live telecasts, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing will be covered on other ESPN multimedia outlets:

WatchESPN – All of ESPN’s NASCAR television content is also viewable digitally through WatchESPN and WatchESPN.com, the online-accessible authenticated version of ESPN. WatchESPN is available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN.com and the free WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider, and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE. NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series race telecasts airing on ESPN and ESPN2 can be seen on WatchESPN as can ESPN2’s daily news program NASCAR Now.

ESPN Deportes — ESPN’s Spanish-language television, radio and Internet in the U.S. will televise all 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races airing on ESPN networks on a delayed basis, starting with the Brickyard 400 at 4 a.m. on Monday, July 30. ESPN Deportes’ NASCAR commentator team will feature Andrés Agulla (play-by-play) and Alex Pombo (analysis). In addition to the telecasts of the races, ESPN Deportes will have segments for its edition of SportsCenter.

ESPN.com — ESPN.com will provide surround coverage from the Brickyard. Award-winning motorsports journalists Ed Hinton, Terry Blount, David Newton and John Oreovicz and ESPN.com motorsports editors K. Lee Davis and Joe Breeze will lead the reporting team, with additional contributions from NASCAR Insider Marty Smith as well as ESPN the Magazine’s Ryan McGee. Hinton, Blount, Newton, Oreovicz and other ESPN reporters and personalities maintain and regularly update blogs with their insights, perspectives and more. ESPN.com, along with Jayski.com, will feature extensive video, audio and editorial coverage of the 2012 NASCAR season, as well as providing multiple ESPN Fantasy games and content distributed to other emerging platforms such as Apple’s iTunes Store and Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE.

ESPN.com RaceCast, ESPN.com’s enhanced, live race-day applications features a live animated graphic display, track information, lap leaders, race leaders, driver information and live in-race chat with ESPN announcers, reporters and editors via Racing Live! NASCAR fans looking for an online gathering during the Indianpolis telecast have a place to go on ESPN.com. Racing Live! on ESPN.com is a live blog where fans can engage in debate and discussion on nearly any topic during the races. Fans can join ESPN.com’s NASCAR experts in dissecting every aspect of the race live at http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/. As part of ESPN.com’s integration with Jayski.com, veteran racing voice Mark Garrow continues as a frequent contributor, producing podcasts and hosting regular chats on ESPN.com.

espnW.com – espnW’s mission is to connect female fans with the sports they love and follow, and with Danica Patrick competing in her first full year of NASCAR racing, espnW.com has been following her all season with news, features and behind-the-scenes information. espnW.com provides an engaging environment where women are an integral part of the sports conversation, share their perspective on men’s and women’s sports and find the motivation and support for their athletic goals and interests.

ESPN Radio — Each weekend morning, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay starts its engines at 6 a.m. ET with host Pat Patterson anchored from the site of that weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay listeners get an hour of news, previews and analysis, as well as profiles and interviews with NASCAR’s biggest names and newsmakers and the involvement of listeners via calls and e-mails. The program airs 52 weeks a year.

ESPN International – ESPN International is one of the world’s leading syndicators of sports programming and its relationship with NASCAR is helping maximize coverage of NASCAR and providing a solid base of distribution. Through a combination of sales and network programming, the 38 NASCAR Sprint Cup races (including the Bud Shootout and Sprint All-Star Race) and 33 NASCAR Nationwide Series races are available to 134 countries and territories around the world. In addition, U.S. troops and their families serving around the world and Navy ships at sea can watch the season through American Forces Network.

ESPN Mobile – ESPN’s mobile platforms give fans on-the-go access to all the racing action, news and developments. Fans can find coverage on the ESPN mobile Web site — the leading mobile Web sports site and among the most-trafficked sites in the world – in a dedicated NASCAR section that includes special coverage around the biggest races, driver cards and more.  Additionally, fans can access real-time results on the ESPN ScoreCenter app and sign up to receive customizable alerts to follow their favorite drivers during the race.

ESPN Classic – ESPN Classic will air a marathon of previous Brickyard 400 races on July 26-27.

The marathon begins at 1 a.m. on Thursday, July 26, with the 1998 Brickyard 400, and the races continue on Friday, July 27, at midnight with the 1995 race, won by Dale Earnhardt, with the 2007 race airing at 1 a.m. The 2000 race airs at 4 a.m., followed at 7 a.m. by the 2010 edition and at 11 a.m. by the inaugural event in 1994 that was won by Jeff Gordon. The day concludes with the 2008, 2009 and 2011 races at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. ESPN Classic also will air NASCAR-related SportsCentury and Dick Schaap interview programs each morning Monday-Friday of race week.

2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE ON ESPN NETWORKS

July 29	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	ESPN	1 p.m.
Aug. 5	Pocono Raceway	ESPN	1 p.m.
Aug. 12	Watkins Glen International	ESPN	1 p.m.
Aug. 19	Michigan International Speedway	ESPN	1 p.m.
Aug. 25	Bristol Motor Speedway	ABC	7:30 p.m.
Sep. 2	Atlanta Motor Speedway	ESPN	7:30 p.m.
Sep. 8	Richmond International Raceway	ABC	7:30 p.m.
Sep. 16	Chicagoland Speedway	ESPN	2 p.m.
Sep. 23	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	ESPN	2 p.m.
Sep. 30	Dover International Speedway	ESPN	2 p.m.
Oct. 7	Talladega Superspeedway	ESPN	2 p.m.
Oct. 13	Charlotte Motor Speedway	ABC	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 21	Kansas Speedway	ESPN	2 p.m.
Oct. 28	Martinsville Speedway	ESPN	2 p.m.
Nov. 4	Texas Motor Speedway	ESPN	3 p.m.
Nov. 11	Phoenix International Raceway	ESPN	3 p.m.
Nov. 18	Homestead-Miami Speedway	ESPN	3 p.m.

That will conclude this post.

Preliminary 2012 SEC Football TV Schedule

This comes from the SEC’s website via CBSSports.com. This is the TV schedule for the SEC football season to date. We know the games through September 15 and a few other selections after that. But as we go further into the season, CBS and ESPN will make their selections and then the rest of the games will fall to the SEC Network, Fox Sports Net, CSS and other partners.