Fang's Bites

The 2013 SEC on CBS Schedule

CBS has released its college football schedule for 2013 SEC season. Its 16 game season spanning 13 weeks begins on Saturday, September 14 with Alabama at Texas A&M. In addition to the SEC, CBS will air two service academy games including Air Force at Navy as well as Army vs. Navy.

Other announced SEC games include Georgia vs. Florida at Jacksonville, FL on November 2 and Arkansas at LSU on Friday, November 29 during Thanksgiving Weekend. CBS’ other SEC games will be announced six to 12 games in advance. There will be two SEC doubleheaders on October 19 and November 9.

Uncle Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson return as the main SEC on CBS announcing team.

Here’s the SEC on CBS press release.

The First SEC Network Trailer

With the SEC Network now official and ready to premiere in August 2014, ESPN and the SEC has put together this preview trailer of what to expect when the network launches. It’s quite good.

It all comes to fruition in August 2014 on a participating cable and satellite provider.

ESPN and the SEC Unveil the SEC Network

This from ESPN and the Southeastern Conference. The two entities have partnered to form the cable-based SEC Network which will begin operation in August 2014.

The new SEC Network will air more than 1,000 conference events including 45 football games, 100 men’s and 60 women’s college basketball games, 75 baseball, as well as softball and various Olympic sports like gymnastics, track & field and other events.

All 14 member schools will be showcased on the new network. At the outset, AT&T U-Verse has signed up to carry the SEC Network. Other cable and satellite carriage agreements will be announced later.

The SEC Network will be based out of the ESPN Regional Television offices in Charlotte, NC.

ESPN will operate the SEC Network for 20 years and as a result, the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s rights agreement with the SEC will extend to 2034. So ESPN will be associated with the SEC well into the 21st Century.

We have the press release below.

The Southeastern Conference and ESPN Announce new TV Network and Digital Platform

20-Year Agreement and Rights Extension through 2034; AT&T U-verse Will Distribute the Network at Launch

The Southeastern Conference and ESPN have signed a 20-year agreement through 2034 to create and operate a multiplatform network, which will launch in August 2014, it was announced today by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and ESPN President John Skipper. The new network and its accompanying digital platform will air SEC content 24/7 including more than 1,000 events in its first year.

The network will televise approximately 45 SEC football games, more than 100 men’s basketball games, 60 women’s basketball games, 75 baseball games, and events from across the SEC’s 21 sports annually. Programming will also include studio shows, original content such as SEC Storied, spring football games, signing day and pro days coverage. Hundreds of additional live events from various sports will be offered exclusively on the digital platform. The network and its digital extensions will connect with each SEC institution and create opportunities for each school to produce and develop content.

“The SEC Network will provide an unparalleled fan experience of top quality SEC content presented across the television network and its accompanying digital platforms,” stated Slive. “We will increase exposure of SEC athletics programs at all 14 member institutions, as we showcase the incredible student-athletes in our league. The agreement for a network streamlines and completes an overall media rights package that will continue the SEC’s leadership for the foreseeable future.”

Each weekend throughout the season, the new network will air multiple top-tier matchups from the strongest conference in college football. Since 2006, the SEC has claimed seven consecutive football national championships. In 2011-12, SEC teams won eight national championships: football (Alabama), men’s basketball (Kentucky), gymnastics (Alabama), men’s indoor track and field (Florida), women’s tennis (Florida), women’s golf (Alabama), men’s outdoor track and field (Florida), and softball (Alabama). Since 1990, the SEC has won 149 national team championships for an average of more than six per year.

Skipper said, “The SEC is unmatched in its success on the field and its popularity with fans nationwide. The new network’s top-quality SEC matchups across a range of sports will serve all sports enthusiasts including the most passionate, die-hard SEC fans. Also, it will serve the needs of our multichannel distributors and advertisers by providing extremely attractive programming options across all platforms.”

As part of the agreement, ESPN will now oversee the SEC’s official Corporate Sponsor Program. In addition, ESPN and the SEC also agreed to extend their existing media rights agreement through 2034. ESPN has televised the SEC since 1982. ESPN’s existing networks present more than 1,600 hours of SEC action each year. The new network will focus exclusively on the SEC and add another outlet to deliver sports fans more SEC content than ever.

AT&T U-verse^® has been secured as the network’s first national distributor. AT&T U-verse is the fastest growing TV provider in the U.S. and their subscribers will have access to an unprecedented amount of SEC content across all platforms. Subscribers receiving the live linear network via a multichannel subscription will also have access to the network on PCs, tablets, smartphones and select gaming devices like Xbox. Additional games and coverage will be available through an authenticated digital offering. Fans looking to learn more about how to get the SEC Network can visit GetSECNetwork.com for more information.

“We are pleased to be involved with the SEC and ESPN at the very beginning of this great alliance,” said Jeff Weber, President of Content and Advertising Sales, AT&T. “As the fastest growing and most advanced pay TV service, we want to bring our customers the highest value and most compelling product that we possibly can. Access to the SEC Network, across multiple platforms, will only increase the demand for U-verse.”

ESPN’s Justin Connolly, formerly senior vice president, ESPN affiliate sales and marketing, will oversee the network’s day-to-day operations. The network will originate from ESPN’s Charlotte, N.C., offices with additional staff located at the company’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters. Staff announcements and additional details will be made in the coming months.

There it is for you.

ESPN and SEC Postpone Press Conference

A press conference to unveil the new SEC Network to the South and the nation has been postponed for now. ESPN and the Southeastern Conference have jointly decided to postpone the event in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings today. The statement is as follows.

Joint statement from Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive and ESPN President John Skipper:

“In light of the tragedy in Boston today, we have decided to postpone Tuesday’s SEC/ESPN press conference in Atlanta. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by these horrible events.”

When the press conference is rescheduled, I’ll certainly let you know.

Some Quick Monday Sports Media Thoughts

Haven’t done a sports media thoughts post in a while. Figured you’re owed one. Let’s do this in bullet form, of course.

• ESPN’s 30 for 30 series has been good since it started, but Sunday’s “Survive and Advance” documentary on the 1983 North Carolina State NCAA Championship team elevated it to something very special. Directed by Jonathan Hock and executive produced by the team’s point guard, Derek Whittenburg, the documentary chronicled the miracle NC State team that entered the ACC Tournament with 10 losses and needed to beat Wake Forest, North Carolina and Virginia to get to the NCAA Tournament and did. And then continued its run to the Final Four where it beat Georgia to advance to the National Championship Game against Phi Slamma Jama, Houston.

  There were interviews with several members of the team including Thurl Bailey, Whittenburg, Terry Gannon who is now a broadcaster for ESPN and NBC, Cozell McQueen and others. The only ones missing were Jim Valvano who died of cancer in 1993 and Lorenzo Charles who scored the winning basket who died in a bus accident in 2011. Director Hock captured the feeling of the magical run. As usual in the 30 for 30 films, no narrator, just sound bites and archival footage, but it works extremely well in this case.

  While the team comes off very well, the star of the documentary is Gannon who is very funny and weaves some great tales. His best story was his telling of taking a charge from Houston’s Clyde Drexler in the National Championship Game.

  The 30 for 30′s have been very good, but “Survive and Advance” is truly the best of the series to date. It’s not just a very good sports documentary, but one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in any category. There are a lot of things where ESPN has fallen short, but 30 for 30 is the network’s star. It’s quality television and if you have an opportunity to watch the re-airs later this week, by all means do so. You won’t be sorry.

• College basketball’s Championship Week gave us the opportunity to see some great basketball in the conference tournaments. It also allowed us to hear Bill Walton throughout the Pac-12 Tournament. Now, I don’t have the Pac-12 Network as DirecTV continues to keep it off its lineup, but thanks to the ESPN Family of Networks, viewers were able to hear some gems from the Big Red. Yes, Walton can go off on tangents, but they are so entertaining that I watched all three games that I normally may not have viewed. It’s hard to imagine that Walton had retired a few years ago due to chronic back pain and even considered suicide. Thankfully, Walton reconsidered and underwent a procedure to correct the pain. His return to the airwaves is the viewer’s gain.

  Kudos go to Dave Pasch for being a very good straight man and for also being patient when Walton went on his rants.

  I gathered quotage from Thursday’s quarterfinals, Friday’s semifinals and Saturday’s final. It’s good reading. You’ll definitely get a laugh.

• CBS’ NCAA Tournament Selection Show returned for the 32nd consecutive year on Sunday. The network has the selections down to a science, first the number one overall seed, the picks for each region, reaction shots from selected schools, an interview with the Selection Committee Chairman and analysis. One addition this year was the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb.

  Already in a crowded studio with Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony and Seth Davis, Gottlieb shoehorned his opinions and overpowered Anthony and Davis to the point where they had to interrupt the ESPN retread. I understand Gottlieb is fulfilling a dream by calling NCAA Tournament games, but the studio is not his strength. Gottlieb’s performance on Sunday is on par with Joe Montana’s horrendous performance in the NFL on NBC studio back in 1995. While Gottlieb did not look like a deer caught in the headlights like Montana did, he did not come off well. He looked angry. He pointed at the American people and he tried to cram too many opinions while trying to stir things up with Davis. It was not good television. I am afraid of what will happen when Gottlieb joins the CBS/Turner studio for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight with Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

• Lastly, we expect an announcement on the SEC TV network next month. Conference commissioner Mike Slive told Yahoo’s Pat Forde that the league will make an official unveiling of the network sometime next month. The SEC already makes megabucks from CBS and ESPN in contracts that led other conferences to follow and lead to massive upheaval ending long standing rivalries. It’s expected that ESPN will partner in an SEC cable network similar to how Fox Sports partners with the Big Ten for its network.

  When the infrastructure is in place, the SEC will make a boatload of money and follow in the footsteps of the Big Ten Network in becoming a cash cow. And viewers who were getting used to watching the over the air SEC Network which replaced Raycom in syndicating third tier games, now will have to transition to seeing those events on cable.

  More upheaval is exactly what sports fan want.

We’re done. Enjoy your Monday.

ESPN’s 2013 Championship Week To Include 136 Men’s Basketball Games

We’re fast approaching the college basketball conference tournaments and some really fun games. Teams that are on the bubble hope to improve their NCAA Tournament selection chances, while those teams firmly assured of a birth hope to improve on their seeding or hope not to get knocked off a certain line.

With the networks of ESPN not having the rights to the NCAA Tournament, this is the next best thing to having the Big Dance. ESPN has the rights to most of the major conference tournaments including the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

And the announcing assignments for the “BCS” conferences are as follows:

ACC Tournament (Greensboro, NC): Dan Shulman on 7 games working with Sean Farnham on four games, Doris Burke on one semifinal and Dick Vitale on a semifinal game and the Championship. Dave O’Brien and Doris work the other four games. Sideline reporters will be Allison Williams on four games, Jeannine Williams on 7.

Big East Tournament (New York, NY): Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery and Andy Katz call eight games including the semifinals and Championship. Mike Patrick and Len Elmore work the other five tournament games.

Big Ten Tournament (Chicago, IL): Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich and Samantha Ponder will work four tournament games. CBS has the rights to the semifinals and finals.

Big 12 Tournament (Kansas City, MO): Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe work five games including the semifinals and Championship.

Pac-12 Tournament (Las Vegas, NV): Dave Pasch and Bill Walton call one quarterfinal, one semifinal and the Championship. Samantha Ponder joins Pasch and Walton for the Championship.

SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN): Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes and Shannon Spake will call seven tournament games including the semifinals and Championship on ABC.

Let’s look at what ESPN is saying about Championship Week.

Championship Week: 136 Overall Men’s Games

Includes Pac-12 Title Game for First Time as Part of Crowning of 23 Champions

ESPN’s 2013 Championship Week will showcase 136 men’s college basketball conference tournament games across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 from Wednesday, March 6 to Sunday, March 17. ESPN3 will simulcast 37 of the matchups that are available in the local markets via syndication. Coverage highlights:

• For the first time, ESPN will televise Pac-12 Tournament games, covering a quarterfinal, semifinal and the Championship. In addition to ESPN’s telecast, ESPN Deportes will televise the Pac-12 title game. As part of a 12-year agreement with the conference, ESPN will televise one conference quarterfinal and semifinal game, and the championship every other year.
• The networks will combine to offer coverage of 23 Division I conference title games and action from 25 conferences overall.
• This season will mark ESPN’s 28th, ESPN2’s 19th and ESPNU’s eighth year of comprehensive coverage. ESPN will televise 20 games, ESPN2 24, ESPNU 19 and ABC three games, while ESPN3 will offer a platform record 29 exclusive contests.
• ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 will combine to provide action of multiple men’s games from several top conferences, including all 13 of the BIG EAST games; all 11 of the SEC and ACC; all nine from the Big 12 and four from the Big Ten.

ESPN3 will tip off Championship Week with coverage of the Atlantic Sun Conference Quarterfinals with two games each on Wednesday, March 6 and Thursday, March 7. The matchups will tip off at 2:30 and 8:30 p.m. ET on both days. Championship Week will conclude on Sunday, March 17 with the ACC (ESPN) and SEC (ABC) title games at 1 p.m. Additional platform coverage:

• ESPN Buzzer Beater will provide live cut-ins, highlights and up-to-the-minute commentary from numerous Championship Week games from across the ESPN networks on Thursday, March 14 and Friday, March 15.
• The entire Championship Week coverage will also be available via WatchESPN, which delivers live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line on computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox to fans who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription. The WatchESPN app is available free to download for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire devices in the App Store, Google Play Store and Amazon Appstore for Android. It is also accessible online at WatchESPN.com and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members.
• ESPN 3D will offer coverage of all 11 ACC tournament matchups.
• ESPN International will offer extensive coverage, reaching 152 countries and territories on ESPN America – Great Britain (41 games), ESPN America – Europe (33  games), ESPN America -Middle East (32 games), ESPN2 Caribbean (22  games), ESPN Pac Rim (3 games), ESPN2 Australia (25 games), ESPN Atlantic (14 games), ESPN Middle East (20 games) and ESPN Brazil HD (9 games).

Week Concludes with Extensive Day-Long Coverage
The final day of Championship Week – Selection Sunday, March 17 – will begin at noon with College Basketball Live on ESPN, followed by the ACC Championship (on ESPN) and SEC Championship (on ABC), both at 1 p.m. Extensive coverage of the men’s NCAA Championship selection will include a three-hour Bracketology at 3 p.m. and a two-hour edition at 7 p.m., both on ESPN. ESPN will also offer selection coverage during SportsCenter at 6 p.m.ESPNU will televise the seventh annual NIT Selection Show at 9 p.m. and a three-hour Tournament Countdown edition of The Experts at 9:30 p.m.

Debut of Documentary Survive And Advance
ESPN’s Selection Sunday coverage on March 17 will conclude with the ESPN Films 30 for 30 documentary Survive And Advance, focusing on NC State’s 1983 season, at 9 p.m. When the 1982-83 college basketball season began, Jim Valvano and his NC State Wolfpack faced high expectations with equally high aspirations. But with ten losses for the season, the Wolfpack’s only hope of making the NCAA Tournament was to win the ACC Tournament and earn the conference’s automatic berth. Nine straight improbable tournament wins later over the likes of Sampson, Jordan, Olajuwon and Drexler, NC State had “survived and advanced” its way to a national championship. In Survive and Advance, director Jonathan Hock takes a poignant look through the eyes of senior captain Dereck Whittenburg at a dream fulfilled and explores what at times has been a tragic and heartbreaking aftermath in the 30 years since.

Commentator Notes

• BIG EAST: Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery and Andy Katz will pair up to call eight  BIG EAST games, including the semifinals and championship. Mike Patrick and Len Elmore will work the remaining five games.
• ACC: Dan Shulman will call seven of the ACC games, including the semifinals and championship. He will work four games with analyst Sean Farnham, a semifinal with Doris Burke and a semifinal and championship with Dick Vitale. Dave O’Brien, Burke and reporter Allison Williams will pair up on four games. Jeannine Edwards will report on seven including the semifinals and championship.
• Pac-12: Dave Pasch and Bill Walton will call all three of ESPN’s Pac-12 telecasts with reporter Samantha Ponder joining them on the championship.
• Big 12 & SEC: Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes and Shannon Spake will call seven SEC games including semifinals and title game on ABC, while Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe will work five Big 12 telecasts.
• Big Ten: Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich and Samantha Ponder will call the four Big Ten telecasts.

ESPN.com
ESPN.com’s Championship Week index page will feature news, analysis, information and results for every conference tournament as well as previews, in-depth expert examination and key storylines for select conferences. ESPN.com’s Bubble Watch with writer Eamonn Brennan will give fans an in-depth look at teams on the bubble and the latest developments on NCAA tournament selection status. In addition, writers will file stories from several tournament sites, including the ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Mountain West, Pac-12 and SEC. ESPN.com’s Bracketologist Joe Lunardi will also update and adjust his Bracketology projections and outlook daily.

ESPN Radio: Greenberg & Greenberg Tips Off Championship Week
ESPN Radio’s Championship Week coverage will begin with the inaugural Greenberg & Greenberg in the Morning show on Friday, March 8 (6-10 a.m. ET simulcast on ESPN2). Mike & Mike in the Morning co-host Mike Greenberg will be joined by former Virginia Tech men’s head basketball coach Seth Greenberg for a hoops-heavy four-hour broadcast.

The Network’s play-by-play coverage will include the Big 12 Semifinals and Championship (March 15-16) for the fourth straight season, and every game of the ACC Tournament (March 14-17) for the second year.

Studio coverage will feature the SportsCenter Tonight Selection Sunday Special with Bram Weinstein and Dan Dakich on Sunday, March 17 from 6:30 p.m. (immediately after Knicks-Clippers NBA broadcast) to 10 p.m. featuring analysis of the brackets and interviews with tournament bound coaches and players.

Additionally, regularly scheduled ESPN Radio programming will include previews and reviews of key games, analysis by ESPN experts, and interviews with coaches and players preparing for the NCAA Tournament.

And after a jump break, I’ll provide the entire ESPN Family of Networks Championship Week schedule. Get ready to scroll.

(continue reading…)

Various Wednesday Links

I’ll do a few links for you this evening.

I’ll start with a strange story that surfaced today from a University of Maryland journalism class during which ESPN Vice President and Executive Editor John Walsh made some rather strange statements about Deadspin’s John Koblin over the Lynn Hoppes plagiarism situation. Deadspin has raised issues of Hoppes lifting material from Wikipedia. In the journalism class, student Mark Sanchez asked Walsh about Hoppes and the plagiarism. Walsh then made puzzling statements that Koblin was angry that Hoppes stole his girlfriend. This is quite interesting except that Koblin is gay. The whole thing came out on Twitter in this very interesting thread. John Koblin later talked with Walsh who denied making the statements. One of the strangest stories I’ve ever seen this year or any other year.

A story that broke Wednesday night, Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports that CBS/Turner might get permission to use ESPN’s Dick Vitale on the NCAA Tournament and team him with Charles Barkley.

ESPN has gained the rights to air the NBA in the UK and Ireland.

Jason Howerton at The Blaze writes that Bob Costas and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly had a discussion on guns.

Dave Scott from ESPN’s Front Row public relations blog notes that Sean McDonough is recovering from surgery to correct  a rare ear condition.

Tom Van Riper of Forbes says former ESPN’er Brian Kenny brings a big network feel to MLB Network.

Reuters has a Disney executive crowing about ESPN ad sales being ahead of last year’s pace.

David Goetzl from MediaPost notes that SodaStream will advertise in Super Bowl XLVII on CBS.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age looks at the companies buying time in the Super Bowl.

Ed Sherman from The Sherman Report talks with former Fox Sports Vice Chairman Ed Goren about a career that spans many decades back to his days with CBS.

Ed also has former New York Times writer Robert Lipsyte discussing Bob Costas’ halftime commentary on Sunday Night Football.

Dee McVicker from Radio World says ESPN has been studying consumers’ cross-platform habits.

SportsRantz notes that Cumulus Media has purchased radio stations that ensures that CBS Sports Radio will be heard on FM in the nation’s top three markets.

Matthew Kitchen of Esquire talks with ESPN’s Samantha Steele.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has video of a Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic anchor mocked LeBron James after the Washington Wizards defeated the Miami Heat last night.

Sports Media Watch says the SEC Championship Game on CBS did really well in the ratings.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says WBZ-TV’s Steve Burton went out on a limb to say the NHL Lockout could be resolved.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News talks about Fox’s spending spree reaching to Cleveland.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl New York notes that the Jets are staying with ESPN Radio NY for years to come.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Week 14 NFL TV Schedule.

Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says TV rights fees help teams spend on free agents.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner delves into a Sports Business Journal report stating that Fox Sports was interested in buying MASN.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with former Astros analyst Jim Deshaies about leaving for the Chicago Cubs.

The Chronicle prints a press release stating that ESPN’er Steve Bunin is joining Comcast SportsNet Houston.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman has the weekend TV ratings for Oklahoma City.

Jay Miller at Crain’s Cleveland Business speculates about the sale of Sports Time Ohio to Fox Sports. Your humble blogger is quoted in the story. (subscription might be required)

Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch says the extra cash from STO’s sale may not help the Dolan family which owns the Cleveland MLB team.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN’s Samantha Steele is now engaged.

Chris Kue of the Chicago Tribune has Jim Deshaies looking forward to being the new Cubs analyst.

Lewis Lazare at the Chicago Business Journal says Comcast SportsNet Chicago has hired a new news director.

Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune writes that the Raiders are shooting down any rumors of ESPN’s Jon Gruden coaching the team once again.

Jeff Blair from the Toronto Globe and Mail talks about the late Blue Jays voice Tom Cheek being bestowed a Baseball Hall of Fame honor posthumously.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski speculates on how many games would be played if the NHL Lockout ever gets resolved.

I think that will end our linkage for the night.

SEC Championship is The Most-Watched College Football Game of 2012

Surpassing the ratings for Notre Dame-USC from the previous Saturday, last weekend’s SEC Championship on CBS hit the ratings motherlode.

It received a 9.8 rating with a very good 20 share up 34% from last year’s SEC Championship between LSU and Florida. Viewership averaged 16.2 million viewers up 26% from last year’s viewership of 12.016 million.

We have the blurb from CBS Sports.

COVERAGE OF 2012 SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME DELIVERS HIGHEST-RATED AND MOST-WATCHED COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME OF 2012 REGULAR-SEASON

CBS Sports’ national coverage of the SEC Championship game on Saturday, Dec, 1 (4:00-8:00 PM, ET), which saw Alabama defeat Georgia, 32-28, delivered a 9.8/20 preliminary national average household rating/share, up 34% from last year (7.3/15; LSU-Georgia).

The 9.8/20 for Alabama-Georgia is the highest rating for a college football game during the 2012 regular season (Notre Dame at USC – 9.4/16; 11/24/12; ABC).

The 2012 SEC Championship averaged 16.2 million viewers, also making it the most-watched college football game of the 2012 regular-season(Notre Dame at USC; 16.1 million; 11/24/12; ABC).

The Alabama-Georgia game rating peaked at 12.6/23 and 21.8 million viewers from 7:30-8:00 PM, ET.

And let’s add this blurb from CBS which states that the SEC on CBS package is the most watched in college football for the fourth straight year, outpacing ABC. The SEC on CBS averaged a 3.3/9 for the 2012 season. That was better than ABC’s 3.2/7 which finished 2nd. Here’s the blurb.

“SEC ON CBS” SCORES HIGHEST RATING OF ANY COLLEGE FOOTBALL TELEVISION PACKAGE FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

CBS Sports’ national coverage of the SEC ON CBS for the 2012 season is the highest-rated regular-season college football package on any network for the fourth consecutive season, averaging a preliminary national household rating/share of 3.9/9.

The SEC ON CBS season average of a 3.9/9 topped second place ABC’s season average of 3.2/7 for college football.

CBS Sports’ coverage of the SEC ON CBS was highlighted by three of the top five highest-rated and most-watched college football telecasts of the 2012 season:

• #1 – No. 2-ranked Alabama beating No. 3-ranked Georgia (9.8/20; 16.2 million viewers; 12/1/12)
• #3 – No. 1-ranked Alabama beating No. 5-ranked LSU (6.8/12; 11.4 million viewers; 11/3/12)
• #4 – No. 15-ranked Texas A&M beating No. 1-ranked Alabama (6.1/13; 9.6 million viewers; 11/10/12).

That will do it.

Some Really Quick Monday Links

As I’m helping to watch my nephew today, I have a very short window to get links in before he wakes up so let’s get this done before I get delayed.

The big story is the Jevon Belcher-Kasandra Perkins tragedy over the weekend. Many of the links deal with how CBS’ The NFL Today dealt with the story. I have my own take in case you missed it.

I’ll do as many links as I can.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch takes CBS to task for its decision not to lead its show with the Belcher-Perkins story.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today says the Belcher story forced the Sunday NFL pregame shows to change course.

At The Sherman Report, Ed Sherman says CBS made the wrong decision not to lead with the story.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has Twitter reaction as The NFL Today hit the airwaves yesterday.

SportsRantz says CBS chose to start its show with product placement for a GPS company and that itself sent the wrong message.

Back to Ed Sherman, he looks at Bob Costas’ commentary on guns during last night’s Sunday Night Football game.

Sean Newell of Deadspin goes off on Costas for his commentary.

Greg Hall says the Belcher murder-suicide put the Kansas City media in the national spotlight.

Laura Bauer and Glen E. Rice of the Kansas City Star profile Kasandra Perkins, the young mother shot nine times by Belcher.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports that Fox Sports is close to purchasing the rights for the Cleveland MLB team and thus forcing the shutdown of current rightsholder SportsTime Ohio (STO).

Fox’s Charles Davis clarifies some comments he and Gus Johnson made during Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game.

Joe Flint and Meg James of the Los Angeles Times says rising sports rights fees will come back to hit cable and satellite customers in the wallet.

Michael Shamburger of The Big Lead has video of the Best of Uncle Verne Lundquist from Saturday’s SEC Championship on CBS.

Classic Sports TV and Media looks back at Dick Vitale’s first broadcast on ESPN in 1979.

That’s all for now. If I can squeeze in some more links, I will. And I’ll do my best to post any breaking news as long as my nephew is still napping,

CBS Airs The SEC Championship

Today is Championship Saturday in college football. Four conference championships will be played today. CBS has one of them with the SEC Championship in Atlanta.

The winner between Alabama and Georgia will play Notre Dame in the next-to-last BCS National Championship Game on January 7.

Uncle Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson will be at the Georgia Dome to call and report on the action.

CBS’ College Football Today crew of Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman, Archie Manning and Mr. College Football, Tony Barnhart will be on hand for the pregame, halftime and postgame studio shows.

Let’s take a look at what CBS is saying about the game.

THE “SEC ON CBS” FEATURES NO. 2-ALABAMA VS. NO. 3-GEORGIA FOR SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

“COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY” STUDIO CREW LIVE FROM ATLANTA
GAME TO BE STREAMED ON CBSSPORTS.COM AND CBS SPORTS MOBILE; CBS SPORTS NETWORK PROVIDES POST-GAME COVERAGE

CBS Sports presents the SEC Championship game Saturday, Dec. 1 (4:00 PM, ET) featuring the Western Division Champion and *No. 2-ranked Alabama taking on the Eastern Division Champion and *No. 3-ranked Georgia at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.

Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson, CBS Sports’ lead college football announce team, call the action with Tracy Wolfson reporting from the sidelines. Craig Silver, the Network’s coordinating producer of college football, produces and Steve Milton directs.

CBS COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY (3:00-3:30 PM, ET) with host Tim Brando and analysts  Spencer Tillman, Archie Manning and Tony Barnhart. The show previews the SEC Championship and includes a feature on Georgia’s All-American linebacker Jarvis Jones, who talks about overcoming the tragic murder of his brother in 2005. In addition, there will be a feature on Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron, focusing on the winning and losing fourth quarter drives he led against LSU and Texas A&M, respectively. CBS Sports’ Joseph E. Zapulla and Mark Burghart produce the features.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, CBS Sports’ pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show will be broadcast live from the field of the Georgia Dome beginning at 3:30 PM, ET featuring Brando along with Tillman, Manning and Barnhart. Vin DeVito produces and Linda Malino directs. Harold Bryantis Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

Following the game, CBS Sports Network will air SEC TONIGHT, providing immediate highlights and analysis of Alabama-Georgia, as well as post-game interviews and coverage from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Brent Stover hosts along with analysts Houston Nutt, Randy Cross and Bruce Feldman. Brian Jones reports from Atlanta. INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL: CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY SPECIAL (12:00-12:30 AM, ET) provides an in-depth recap of all the day’s Championship action around college football.

As it has done for the entire 2012 SEC ON CBS football schedule, CBSSports.com will provide live streaming coverage of the SEC Championship. The game is available exclusively on CBSSports.com, CBS Sports Mobile and also can be accessed through a link on the websites of all CBS affiliates.

(*BCS Rankings as of 11/25/12)

EXCERPTS FROM CBS SPORTS’ SEC CHAMPIONSHIP CONFERENCE CALL ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27

(ON GEORGIA)

Gary Danielson:

When Georgia has quarterback play, Mark Richt’s team has a chance to compete against anybody. He has his defense together and with a quarterback, he has a chance to win. We don’t know how real Georgia is. They had a terrible slump in the middle of the season when even their own players called the team out. That seemed to ignite them. They played a very good defensive football game against Florida, but their quarterback had a really tough first half and he almost tossed a game away that they should have won pretty easily. But since then, when the rest of the country was playing really tough football games, Georgia played Old Miss, Auburn, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech. They haven’t been tested. So, they’re basically coming from the October 27 game into the Championship game, and we don’t know if they’ve gotten any better or where they stand. We know they have great potential and they are loaded athletically on defense.

(ON ALABAMA)

Danielson:

Alabam never was unbeatable. They’ve proven that. But you better be good enough to take advantage of what they give you. Saban makes you play NFL-style football against them. Your quarterback has to complete passes. When you do it like Zach Mettenberger or Johnny Manziel did, they’re vulnerable. But if you don’t have a quarterback that can do it, then forget it. You have no chance.

(KEY TO THE GAME)

Danielson:
Georgia needs to find a way to get Jarvis Jones to impact the game without matching him up against the strength of Alabama, which is their two tackles. Of course Jones will make plays, but that’s not his best position to rush against. There are weaker parts of Alabama to rush, so I’m fascinated to see what Georgia will try to make Jones become an impact. The other part of the game is the weakness both teams are facing against each other. Alabama is not a great pass rush team. There is no Dont’a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw or Marcell Dareus who individually can rush the pass. They have to do it as a group. But the worst thing Georgia does is pass protect. So who wins that left-handed dribble contest will probably be the story of the game.

That’s it.

Cranking Out The Friday Megalinks

Wasn’t able to do any posts yesterday as I was away for most of the day. Tough to get anything done when you’re out of range for any internet or even 3G. First World Problems.

Anyway, time for some Friday megalinks. Been doing well with the links, except for Thursday, but let’s continue doing them today.

No Weekend Viewing Picks yet. When they’re done, I’ll insert them here.

Let’s get cracking on the linkage.

National

We begin with Michael Hiestand of USA Today who talks with CBS’ Gary Danielson about the SEC Championship.

Ed Sherman with The Sherman Report has AOL’s David Whitley’s response to criticisms about his column about 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s tattoos.

Ed has CBS’ Verne Lundquist discussing SEC fatigue.

Ed has Gary Danielson’s preview of the SEC Championship.

And Ed analyzes the local ratings for the NFL.

Michael David Smith at Pro Football Talk has Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein baffled at the NFL’s censoring of an interview featuring Bradley Cooper over a movie Weinstein produced that referenced gambling and adds that some team owners actually liked the flick.

Lesley Goldberg of the Hollywood Reporter notes that U.S. Olympic diving gold medalist David Boudia will join a new ABC celebrity diving show as a judge. Yes, Greg Louganis will also be a judge.

Will Ashworth of Investor Place wonders if now is the time for Disney to sell ESPN.

Jordan Rabinowitz of SportsGrid has video of San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich shooting down TNT’s Charles Barkley during an in-game interview against the Miami Heat.

Matt Yoder from Awful Announcing says this weekend is a big test for Fox College Football.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth notes that CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Network need to step up their games.

Sports Media Watch talks about the ratings for Notre Dame-USC.

Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com says Notre Dame’s resurgence is good news for its TV rights.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell feels NBA Communist Sympathizer David Stern is wrong for threatening to sanction the San Antonio Spurs for sending their major players home last night.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says traditional media is clashing with new rules surrounding live tweeting of games.

From earlier in the week, John Koblin of Deadspin writes about ESPN admonishing its staff for crediting a story to SportsbyBrooks.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe says some big name announcers got their start at Boston College’s student radio station.

Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant writes that the Big East Conference has to recover from its latest blows while negotiating a new TV contract.

Charles McGrath of the New York Times profiles WFAN’s Steve Somers who’s been schmoozing s-p-o-r-t-s for 25 years on the nation’s first all-sports radio station.

Newsday’s Neil Best says SNY’s New York Jets postgame show does not pull any punches.

Neil has the Jets’ Tim Tebow being fine with the New York media.

Neil has an ESPN executive embracing debate.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick hates the Knicks’ style of play.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has New York’s Capital Region’s Week 13 NFL TV schedule.

Pete says ESPN executives are doing backflips over Notre Dame playing in the BCS National Championship Game.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says next week’s Army-Navy game will be aired nationally on radio.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that Louisville made the right sales pitch to get invited to join the ACC.

South

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman notes that three local college football teams all get national telecasts at the same time on Saturday.

Midwest

Lynn Henning of the Detroit News says while the Tigers may not have a rights fee as high as major market teams, they are still happy with their relationship with Fox Sports.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recaps a GQ article that profiles some of the NFL replacement referees.

Danny Ecker at Crain’s Chicago Business discusses Groupon’s new relationship with MLB.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Missouri football and basketball games will remain on a Gateway City radio station for several years.

Dan wonders where a local sports radio talk show host will surface after losing his job for making racial comments.

Greg Palermo of the Creve Coeur (MO) Patch says a local sports radio host said goodbye to his listeners today.

West

The Idaho Statesman says ESPN Radio has picked up a new affiliate in Boise.

John Maffei of the North County Times is frustrated that most local fans can’t watch this weekend’s high school football championship games.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Star says tonight’s Pac-12 Championship on Fox gives UCLA and Stanford a chance to wipe their slate clean for the postseason.

Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times catches up with Dodgers voice Vin Scully as he turns 85.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the Dodgers are about to hit the motherlode whether it’s with Fox or another company.

Tom has some items that didn’t make his newspaper media column.

And that’s going to do it for now.

College Football Viewing Picks For Week 14, 12/01/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from the SEC Championship, Atlanta, GA — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
This Week in SEC Football — CBS Sports Network, 1 p.m.
College Football Countdown — ABC, 3 p.m.
College Football Championship Saturday — CBS, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 3 p.m.
College Football Today — CBS, 3:30 p.m.
Big Ten Football Championship Pregame — Big Ten Network, 6:30 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 7 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7:30 p.m.
College Football Saturday — Fox, 7:30 p.m.
Big Ten Football Championship Game — Big Ten Network, 11:30 p.m.
Inside College Football: Championship Saturday Special — CBS Sports Network, midnight
College Football Final — ESPN2, midnight

ACC Championship, Charlotte, NC
Florida State vs. Georgia Tech — ESPN, 8 p.m. (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)

Big Ten Championship, Indianapolis, IN
Nebraska vs. Wisconsin — Fox, 8 p.m. (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria/Petros Papadakis)

Conference USA Championship
Central Florida at Tulsa — ESPN2/ESPN 3D, noon (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown)

SEC Championship, Atlanta, GA
Alabama vs. Georgia — CBS, 4 p.m. (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson)

noon
Oklahoma at TCU — ESPN (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Shannon Spake)

Oklahoma State at Baylor — FX (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Darius Walker)

2:30 p.m.
Kansas at West Virginia — Fox Sports Net (national)/Root Sports (Northwest/Pittsburgh/Rocky Mountain)/WLVI/WMCN/KICU/Fox College Sports Central (Steve Physioc/Brian Baldinger/Jim Knox)

Nicholls State at Oregon State — Pac-12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Glenn Parker/Ryan Nece)

3:30 p.m.
Boise State at Nevada — ABC (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)
Cincinnati at UConn — ABC (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell/Maria Taylor)

7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at South Florida — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Quint Kessenich)

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

Going For Some Tuesday Links

Let’s bring you some linkage. Two days in a row! This is something!

Shameless plug department: I wrote Some Long Overdue Tuesday Sports Media Thoughts earlier this morning and make sure you give it a gander. Many thanks.

Sam Gustin of Time writes that News Corp.’s purchase of a minority stake in YES could help Fox challenge ESPN down the road.

Alicia Jessop at Forbes notes how the NFL successfully marketed to women to the point where they are now 44% of the league’s fan base.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports on the potential megadeal between Fox and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In part two of his interview with SiriusXM’s Dino Costa, Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report goes into the relationship the Mad Dog radio host has with his boss, Chris Russo.

Salvej Schou of Entertainment Weekly says a Hollywood movie executive is angry at NFL Network for censoring at the last minute, a Rich Eisen interview with actor Bradley Cooper.

John Koblin of Deadspin speaks with some media professionals on the plagiarism issues plaguing ESPN.com and writer Lynne Hoppes.

Media Rantz looks at the impending launch of Fox Sports 1.

Les Carpenter of Yahoo! has a profile on former New Orleans Saints quarterback turned popular sports radio talk show host, Bobby Hebert.

Carl Marcucci of Radio & Television Business Report writes about CBS Sports Radio’s new morning show.

Newscast Studio looks at CBS Sports Network’s new college football studio.

Fox Soccer may have lost the English Premier League rights in the US, but Fox Sports in Australia has retained the rights to all of the EPL’s games Down Under.

The New York Post’s Kirsten Fleming talks with NBC’s Michelle Beadle.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says NBC Sports Network has added a college hockey game to its schedule.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that there’s no change to the NFL schedules in the next few weeks.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says CBS Sports Network will be re-airing a host of Army-Navy football games next week.

Dave Hughes in Press Box notes that Baltimore’s CBS-owned sports radio station will drop all ESPN Radio programming in favor of CBS Sports Radio in January.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says TNT is once again comparing the Wizards to the hapless Harlem Globetrotters whipping team, the Washington Generals.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle looks at the local weekend ratings for Thanksgiving weekend.

Scott Wright at The Oklahoman says Fox Sports will air three high school championship games on its Oklahoma Plus channel.

The Detroit Free Press summarizes an ESPN The Magazine interview with controversial Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh.

Sports Media Watch notes that Fox Sports drew close to the rear in the college football ratings for Week 13.

SMW says an Iron Bowl blowout did not help the SEC on CBS’ ratings.

And SMW looks at college football TV ratings on ESPN, ABC and NBC.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing delves into the Fox/Dodgers deal.

Joe Favorito likes how the Green Bay Packers have embraced Movember.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs says the future is very bright for sports broadcasting.

That is going to wrap up our links for today.

SEC/Big East Challenge Highlights ESPN’s College Basketball Games This Weekend

With college football winding down, college basketball is revving up. Starting on Thursday, the ESPN Family of Networks will be all over the SEC/Big East Challenge that lasts through Saturday.

In addition, there will be plenty of interconference games involving the ACC, A-10, the Big Ten, Big 12, Ivy League, Pac-12 and other leagues.

We have the schedule of games involving all ESPN platforms and announcing assignments. Take a look at what’s in store for college basketball on the ESPN Family below. It’s all in black and white for you.

Check it out.

Men’s College Hoops: Schedule Includes 12 SEC/BIG EAST Challenge Games Thursday-Saturday

ESPN’s upcoming men’s college basketball schedule of 25 games from Thursday, Nov. 29, to Sunday, Dec. 2, is highlighted by all 12 games of the 2nd annual SEC/BIG EAST Challenge. The three-day event includes three top-eight teams: defending national champion No. 8 Kentucky at Notre Dame, last season’s BIG EAST regular-season champion No. 6 Syracuse at Arkansas and Marquette at No. 7 Florida in a showdown of each conference’s 2012 second place finishers. The BIG EAST won the inaugural Challenge eight games to four.

In addition, ESPNU will televise four games involving at least one ranked team Saturday, Dec. 1: No. 3 Michigan at Bradley at 4 p.m., No. 14 North Carolina against UAB at 6 p.m., No. 9 Arizona at Texas Tech at 8 p.m. and No. 23 San Diego State vs. UCLA in the Wooden Classic at 10 p.m.

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Thu, Nov 29	7 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: No. 8 Kentucky at Notre Dame Dan Shulman & Dick Vitale	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	New Hampshire at Connecticut Bob Picozzi & Tim Welsh	ESPN3 & BIG EAST Network
	7:30 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: South Carolina at St. John’s Mike Crispino & Kara Lawson	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: Marquette at No. 7 Florida Dave Pasch & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2
	9:30 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: Seton Hall at LSU Tom Hart & Bob Valvano	ESPNU
Fri, Nov 30	6:30 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: Tennessee at No. 20 Georgetown TBD & Bob Knight	ESPN
	7 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: Georgia at South Florida Rich Hollenberg & Carolyn Peck	ESPNU
	8:30 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: No. 6 Syracuse at Arkansas Dave O’Brien & Jimmy Dykes	ESPN
	9 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: DePaul at Auburn Doug Bell & Stephen Howard	ESPNU
Sat, Dec 1	Noon	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: Mississippi State at Providence Mike Crispino & Kara Lawson	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	NJIT at St. John’s	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: Rutgers at Ole Miss Joe Davis & Joe Dean	ESPNU
	2 p.m.	Pennsylvania at Penn State Dave Leno & Nate Ross	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	No. 15 Oklahoma State at Virginia Tech Booker Corrigan & Cory Alexander	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: Alabama at No. 17 Cincinnati Jon Sciambi & LaPhonso Ellis	ESPN2
	3 p.m.	St. Joseph’s at No. 11 Creighton Cory Provus & Mac McCausland	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	No. 3 Michigan at Bradley Jim Barbar & Bruce Pearl	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	SEC/BIG EAST Challenge: Villanova at Vanderbilt Bob Picozzi & Len Elmore	ESPN2
	6 p.m.	UAB at No. 14 North Carolina Clay Matvick & Jay Williams	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Detroit at Pittsburgh Tim Neverett & Mark Adams	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 9 Arizona at Texas Tech Roxy Bernstein & Stephen Bardo	ESPNU
	10 p.m.	Wooden Classic: No. 23 San Diego State vs. UCLA (Anaheim) Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	ESPNU
	TBD	UT Arlington at Texas Kevin Dunn, Reid Gettys & Kat Kelly	Longhorn Network
Sun, Dec 2	Noon	Clemson at South Carolina Dari Nowkhah & Dino Gaudio	ESPNU
	2 p.m.	Mercer at Florida State	ESPN3

That is it for this post.

Another Ratings Increase For The SEC on CBS

While Saturday’s game between Ole Miss and LSU didn’t have the appeal of Alabama-LSU or Texas A&M-Alabama for CBS the two previous weeks, it still did better from the equivalent game from the year before.

CBS says a barnburner that saw LSU come from behind and defeat Mississippi, 41-35 garnered an overnight rating of 2.4 with a 5 share, up 50% from last year’s Mississippi State-LSU game.

“SEC ON CBS” RATINGS DON’T MISS WITH LSU WIN OVER OLE MISS

CBS Sports’ coverage of the SEC ON CBS on Saturday, Nov. 17, which saw No. 7-ranked LSU defeat Ole Miss, 41-35, earned an average overnight household rating/share of 2.4/5, up 50% from last season’s 1.6/3 (Mississippi St.-No. 7 LSU).

And one more press release post and we’re done until the Football Night in America quotage later tonight.

Alabama-Texas A&M Scores Big for CBS

Just received this from CBS. Yesterday’s Alabama loss to Texas A&M brought in the viewers for the SEC on CBS. The game received a 6.6 overnight rating with a 14 share, up a whopping 136% from last year’s game.

The rating only trails Alabama-LSU for the highest-rated college football game of the season. Last night’s rating peaked at 9.8/19.

Here’s the blurb from CBS Sports.

“SEC ON CBS” RATINGS ROLL AGAIN WITH TEXAS A&M’S UPSET OVER ALABAMA

CBS Sports’ coverage of the SEC ON CBS on Saturday, Nov. 10, which saw No. 1-ranked Alabama upset by No. 15-ranked Texas A&M, 29-24, earned an average overnight household rating/share of 6.6/14, up 136% from last season’s 2.8/6 (No. 20 Auburn- No. 15 Georgia). The game was the second highest-rated on any network-to-date in the metered markets for a college football game in the 2012 season, trailing only CBS’s primetime game between No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 5 LSU (7.0/13; 11/3/12).

Last night’s game rating peaked at 9.8/19 (7:00-7:15 PM, ET),

The NFL Today quotage is next.

ESPN Unveils Its College Basketball Announcing Teams For 2012-13 Season

Let’s take a look at the announcers ESPN will utilize for college basketball this season.

Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale remain the top team as they’ll major ACC and Saturday primetime games together. Dave O’Brien gets an upgrade as he’ll call ACC games with Vitale, Jay Bilas or Doris Burke.

Brent Musburger returns to call Big 12 games on Big Monday, but he’ll have a new partner in Fran Fraschilla who returns to calling Big Monday on ESPN.

Musburger’s partner of last year, Bob Knight will be assigned to SEC games on Thursday nights with Rece Davis.

With ESPN picking up Pac-12 games this season, Bill Walton returns to the Mothership to be the analyst on Wednesday and Thursday night games with Dave Pasch.

Returning teams include Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery on Big East games on Big Monday, Mike Patrick and Len Elmore move to the Big East on Saturdays after calling the ACC for years and Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes on the SEC.

Ok, here’s the ESPN press release.

ESPN 2012-13 Men’s College Basketball Commentators
Vitale, Bilas & More Return; Walton Joins; Fraschilla & Knight on New Nights

ESPN’s 2012-13 men’s college basketball telecasts – more than 1,450 games tipping off with 350 nonconference contests beginning Friday, Nov. 9 – will feature a deep bench of knowledgeable and experienced commentators.

Dick Vitale, in his 34th season with ESPN, will continue to provide analysis on top games throughout the season, primarily with Dan Shulman. During conference play, Shulman and Vitale will work the weekly Saturday Primetime series and select ACC Wednesday Night Hoops telecasts, including North Carolina at Duke on February 13.

Jay Bilas, entering his 18th season with ESPN, will also work top matchups throughout the season, beginning in Germany for ESPN’s telecast of Michigan State vs. Connecticut in the Armed Forces Classic from the Ramstein Air Base on Friday, Nov. 9, at 5:30 p.m. ET. During conference action, Bilas will again team with Sean McDonough and analyst Bill Raftery, who joined ESPN in 1980, on the weekly Big Monday BIG EAST package of games and work contests from various conferences.

Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton – a three-time NCAA Player of the Year (1972, 1973, 1974) at UCLA – will rejoin ESPN as a college basketball analyst, primarily working Wednesday and Thursday Pac-12 telecasts with commentator Dave Pasch. Walton, who guided UCLA to national titles in 1972 and 1973 and to an NCAA record 88-game winning streak, served as a key NBA analyst for ESPN from 2002 to 2009.

Top analysts Fran Fraschilla and Bob Knight will take on new assignments during conference play. Fraschilla will serve as the analyst on the Big Monday Big 12 series, partnering with Brent Musburger. Fraschilla previously worked Big Monday Big 12 games from 2004 through 2009. Knight will work Thursday Night Showcase SEC matchups with Rece Davis. Knight and Davis have worked several games together and shared the set on studio programming, including College GameDay.

Additional highlights:

• Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes will return to work SEC telecasts as part of ESPN’s Super Tuesday series and through the finals of the SEC Tournament. Mark Jones will call play-by-play with Dykes on Saturday SEC games.
• Mike Tirico, one of ESPN’s most versatile commentators and the voice of Monday Night Football, and ESPN analyst Dan Dakich will return for their second season together on the weekly Big Ten Super Tuesday game.
• The Thursday Night Showcase Big Ten telecasts will feature a new announcer team of Joe Tessitore and Sean Farnham.
• Dave O’Brien, who previously worked Big Ten games, will call Thursday and Saturday ACC games. Doris Burke will serve as the analyst with O’Brien on Saturday telecasts.

Commentators appearing in regular weekly ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU time slots plus Saturdays throughout the conference action (conference assignments can vary):

Various Days

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst
ESPN or ESPN2	Select Games	Dan Shulman	Dick Vitale

Big Monday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
ESPN	BIG EAST	Sean McDonough	Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery
ESPN	Big 12	Brent Musburger	Fran Fraschilla	Holly Rowe

Super Tuesday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
ESPN	Big Ten	Mike Tirico	Dan Dakich	Samantha Steele
ESPN	SEC	Brad Nessler	Jimmy Dykes	Shannon Spake
ESPNU	ACC	Tom Hart	Len Elmore
ESPNU	SEC	Dari Nowkhah	Dino Gaudio

Wednesday Night Hoops

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst
ESPN or ESPN2	ACC	Dan Shulman or Dave O’Brien	Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas or Doris Burke
ESPN or ESPN2	BIG EAST	Mike Patrick	LaPhonso Ellis
ESPN or ESPN2	Big 12	Bob Wischusen	Stephen Bardo
ESPN or ESPN2	Pac 12	Dave Pasch	Bill Walton
ESPNU	Big 12	Mitch Holthus	Matt Doherty
ESPNU	BIG EAST	Adam Amin	Tim Welsh

Thursday Night Showcase

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
ESPN or ESPN2	ACC	Dave O’Brien	Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas or Doris Burke	Jeannine Edwards
ESPN or ESPN2	Big Ten	Joe Tessitore	Sean Farnham
ESPN or ESPN2	SEC	Rece Davis	Bob Knight
ESPN or ESPN2	Pac 12	Dave Pasch	Bill Walton
ESPN or ESPN2	BIG EAST	John Saunders	Various analysts
ESPN2	West Coast	Dave Flemming	TBD
ESPNU	Pac-12	Roxy Bernstein	Miles Simon

Friday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst
ESPNU	MAAC	Doug Sherman	Tim O’Toole
ESPNU	Horizon	Jim Barbar	Malcolm Huckaby

Saturday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporters
ESPN	Saturday Primetime	Dan Shulman	Dick Vitale	Samantha Steele
ESPN	BIG EAST	Mike Patrick	Len Elmore
ESPN	Big Ten	Bob Wischusen	Dan Dakich
ESPN	Big 12	Jon Sciambi	Fran Fraschilla
ESPN	ACC	Dave O’Brien	Doris Burke
ESPN	SEC	Mark Jones	Jimmy Dykes
ESPNU	BIG EAST	Beth Mowins	Tim Welsh
ESPNU	SEC	Tom Hart	Matt Doherty
ESPNU	Pac-12	Dave Flemming	Sean Farnham

Sunday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
ESPNU	ACC Sunday Night Basketball	Carter Blackburn	Jay Williams	Allison Williams
ESPNU	Missouri Valley	Mitch Holthus	Mark Adams

In addition to regular assignments on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, ESPN Regional Television will produce and syndicate an extensive schedule of games from the SEC, BIG EAST and Big 12:

SEC Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
Wednesday and Saturday	Clay Matvick, Dave Baker, Dave Neal or Dave Lamont	Joe Dean, Kara Lawson, Barry Booker, Jon Sundvold or Kyle Macy

Big 12 Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
Saturday and select weekdays	Dave Armstrong, Mitch Holthus or Brad Sham	Reid Gettys, Stephen Howard, Bryndon Manzer, Chris Piper or Rich Zvosec

BIG EAST Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
Saturday and select Sundays	Anish Shroff	Bob Wenzel

That is all.

CBS Selects Texas A&M-Alabama For This Saturday’s SEC Late Game

CBS has a SEC doubleheader this Saturday, November 10. It will air the previously selected Arkansas at South Carolina game at noon ET. Tim Brando will call the game with analyst Steve Beuerlein. Turner Sports’ Marty Snider will be the sideline reporter.

Then for 3:30 p.m., CBS used one of six day option selections for Texas A&M-Alabama. The usual crew of Uncle Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson will be on hand at the fabled Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

We have the CBS press blurb.

THIS JUST IN…

…from CBS Sports

CBS Sports announces the second game of its SEC ON CBS doubleheader football game for Saturday, Nov. 10 (3:30-7:00 PM, ET) features *No. 15-ranked Texas A&M taking on No. 1-ranked Alabama.  Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson along with reporter Tracy Wolfson announce from Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The previously announced first game of the day features Arkansas against No. 9-ranked South Carolina at 12:00 NOON, ET. Tim Brando, Steve Beuerlein and reporter Marty Snider call the action from William-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.

* BCS Rankings as of 10/28/12

We’re done.

Alabama-LSU in Primetime Scores For CBS

CBS Sports tells us that its primetime presentation of Saturday’s Alabama-LSU game hit a 7.0 overnight rating with a 13 share, the highest college football overnight rating for the 2012 season. It tops a 5.9/11 for last Saturday’s Notre Dame-Oklahoma game.

The game peaked at a 9.3 rating late.

“SEC ON CBS” RATINGS ROLL WITH ALABAMA’S WIN OVER LSU

CBS Sports’ coverage of the SEC ON CBS on Saturday, Nov. 3, which saw No. 1-ranked Alabama defeat No. 5-ranked LSU, 21-17, in prime time, earned an average overnight household rating/share of 7.0/13, the highest rating on any network-to-date in the metered markets for a college football game in the 2012 season. The previous high-to-date in 2012 was a 5.9/11 (Notre Dame-Oklahoma; 10/27; ABC)

Last night’s game rating peaked at 9.3/17 (11:00-11:30 PM, ET) and 9.3/18 (11:30-12:00 MIDNIGHT).

That is all.

Alabama-LSU Back in Primetime on CBS

Just as it was last year, the game between SEC rivals Alabama and LSU will be in primetime on CBS. LSU won last year’s game in a battle of field goals in Tuscaloosa. This year’s game in Baton Rouge will be on a 8 p.m. ET on the Tiffany Network.

It completes a doubleheader of games on CBS this Saturday. At 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS will air Mississippi at Georgia with College Football Today host Tim Brando calling the game with Steve Beuerlein with Turner’s Marty Snider roaming the sidelines.

For the nightcap, Uncle Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson will have the call. Tracy “The Wolf” Wolfson will be the field reporter.

Both games will be streamed online.

We have the press release from CBS Sports.

“THE SEC ON CBS” FEATURES NO. 1-RANKED ALABAMA TAKING ON NO. 5-RANKED LSU ON SATURDAY, NOV. 3 IN PRIME TIME

No. 6-Ranked Georgia Plays Ole Miss at 3:30 PM, ET
Audibles with CBS Sports’ Lead College Football Analyst Gary Danielson

CBS Sports’ coverage of the SEC ON CBS is highlighted on Saturday, Nov. 3 (8:00 PM, ET) with a national broadcast of *No. 1-ranked Alabama taking on No. 5-ranked LSU in prime time.

The CBS Television Network’s lead college football announce team of Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson call the action live from Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. Tracy Wolfson serves as lead reporter. Craig Silver, the Network’s coordinating producer of college football, produces and Steve Milton directs.

The day kicks-off with No. 6-ranked Georgia taking on Ole Miss at 3:30 PM, ET from Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. Tim Brando, analyst Steve Beuerlein and reporter Marty Snider handle the call.

Coverage begins with CBS COLLEGE FOOTBALL SPECIAL (2:30-3:00 PM, ET)  followed by COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, the Network’s pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show at 3:00 PM, ET. Adam Zucker hosts, along with analysts Spencer Tillman and Tony Barnhart. Vin DeVito produces and Linda Malino directs. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

In addition, CBS Sports will stream the Alabama-LSU and Georgia-Ole Miss games, as well as the entire 2012 SEC ON CBS football schedule live on CBSSports.com. The games are available exclusively on CBSSports.com, CBS Sports Mobile and also can be accessed through a link on the websites of all CBS affiliates. New this season as part of CBSSports.com’s SEC coverage are live pre-game, half-time and post-game shows.

*BCS Rankings as of 10/28/12

* * * * *

Audibles with CBS Sports’ Lead College Football Analyst Gary Danielson

(ON LSU)
I don’t think it’s about LSU having a bye week or making adjustments, the Tigers just have to play better. They are better than what they’ve shown this year and are not playing up to their potential. They remind me of Georgia going into last week’s game against Florida. LSU will be motivated to play their best game.

(ON TIGER STADIUM AT NIGHT)
I don’t think Tiger Stadium will be a factor in the game. I think it’s a false crutch LSU believes to have in their advantage. Alabama is a battle tested team that has played in numerous big games.

(ON ALABAMA AND AJ McCARRON)
In the first game last year, whether because of poor field position or because of nerves, AJ McCarron did not play well. He had a couple mental mistakes, a couple sacks where he could have thrown the ball away and a couple passes he could have completed that would have been big plays. I think that game helped him in the long run and there was even a big difference between game one and game two last year. LSU is facing an even better quarterback this game than in the National Championship game when he carved them up.

(ON KEYS TO THE GAME)
LSU’s defensive line has to get something more than an outside pass rush from Barkevious Mingo and Sam Montgomery. The inside guys must get penetration. In the first game last year, they penetrated the line of scrimmage and run game much better than the National Championship game. They just looked alive on the field. In the second game, they were kept off-balance by some good play-calling from Alabama. Can those defensive tackles and linebackers get back to being a disruptive force like they were in the first game?

That’s all.

CBS Announces SEC Selections For 11/3 Plus Ratings Note

We have the official selections for the SEC on CBS for this Saturday, November 3. Earlier, CBS chose Alabama-LSU in primetime to be called by Uncle Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson with Tracy Wolfson on the sidelines. The game will air at 8 p.m.

Earlier in the day, CBS has chosen Mississippi at Georgia for 3:30 p.m. this Saturday. And SEC on CBS host Tim Brando will call the game. CBS also taps Turner’s Marty Snider to be on the sidelines.

Here’s the preview.

THIS JUST IN…

…from CBS Sports

CBS Sports has announced its afternoon SEC ON CBS football game for Saturday, Nov. 3 (3:30-7:00 PM, ET) will feature *No. 10-ranked Georgia taking on Ole Miss. Tim Brando, Steve Beuerlein and reporter Marty Snider will call the action from Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga.

Following Georgia-Ole Miss, CBS Sports will broadcast *No. 1-ranked Alabama vs. *No. 6-ranked LSU in prime time at 8:00 PM, ET. Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson along with reporter Tracy Wolfson announce from Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

* BCS Rankings as of 10/21/12

And CBS notes Sunday’s annual Florida-Georgia World’s Largest Cocktail Party game received a good overnight rating, up 21% from last year’s game, plus almost equaling the highest overnight for this season.

CBS Sports’ coverage of the SEC ON CBS on Saturday, Oct. 27, which saw No. 10 Georgia defeat No. 2 Florida, earned an average overnight household rating/share of 4.7/10, up 21% from last year’s 3.9/9 (Georgia-Florida). Yesterday’s 4.7/10 tied with a 4.7/11 as CBS Sports’ highest rating-to-date in the 2012 college football season (No. 4 LSU-No. 10 Florida; 10/06/12). The 4.7/10 in 2012 also was the highest rating for Georgia-Florida on CBS since a 4.8/11 on October 31, 2009.

That’s it.

CBS Scores in Both SEC and NFL Packages This Weekend

CBS Sports had a very good fall weekend. Airing the SEC on Saturday and a NFL doubleheader on Sunday, the Tiffany Network saw rating increases in all of its windows, 3:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday and 4:25 p.m. Sunday.

For the SEC on CBS, the network had LSU-Florida in which the Gators pulled off the upset of the Tigers in Gainesville. CBS saw a 4.7 overnight rating with an 11 share, up 42% from last year’s Florida-LSU game.

For the early NFL window on Sunday, CBS saw overnight numbers of 9.3/19 which is 2% higher than last year.

And in the late NFL national window featuring three games with Denver-New England as its featured contest, CBS received a 15.7/29. It marks the first time this season that CBS saw ratings increases across the board for its NFL coverage.

We have the press release.

CBS SPORTS SCORES HIGHEST NFL AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL RATINGS OF WEEKEND

THE NFL ON CBS Highlighted by Denver-New England Earns 15.7/29 and SEC ON CBS with LSU-Florida Earns 4.7/11, Up 42%

CBS Sports’ coverage of THE NFL ON CBS on Sunday, Oct. 7 and the SEC ON CBS on Saturday, Oct. 6 earned the highest NFL and college football ratings of the weekend in the metered markets on any network.

THE NFL ON CBS, highlighted by Tom Brady’s New England Patriots defeating Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos in the late game of CBS’s doubleheader weekend earned an overnight household rating/share of 15.7/29, up 1% from last year’s 15.6/30 (New York Jets-New England; late window high coverage game).

CBS Sports’ coverage of the SEC ON CBS, which saw No. 11-seeded Florida upset No. 3-seeded LSU, earned an overnight household rating/share of 4.7/11, up 42% from last year’s 3.3/8 (Florida-LSU). This 4.7/11 is the highest rating for a regular-season SEC ON CBS game in the Saturday 3:30 PM, ET window since a 5.4/11 (Georgia vs. Auburn; 11/13/10).

THE NFL ON CBS’ early regional coverage of Cleveland-New York Giants, Baltimore-Kansas City and Miami-Cincinnati scored an overnight HH rating/share of 9.3/19, up 2% from last year’s 9.1/20 (Tennessee-Pittsburgh, Oakland-Houston, Kansas City-Indianapolis, Cincinnati-Jacksonville).

That is it.

CBS/CBS Sports Network College Football Games For Saturday

Let’s look at the games that will be aired on the CBS family of networks.

Another week of the SEC on CBS and it will be Uncle Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy “The Wolf” Wolfson at Athens, GA calling Tennessee at Georgia in between the hedges.

For CBS Sports Network, it’s a tripleheader including Louisville at Southern Missouri in primetime.

Here’s what CBS is saying about its weekly SEC game.

“THE SEC ON CBS” FEATURES NO. 5-RANKED GEORGIA TAKING ON TENNESSEE ON SATURDAY, SEPT. 29

Audibles with CBS Sports’ Lead College Football Analyst Gary Danielson

CBS Sports’ coverage of SEC College Football continues on Saturday, Sept. 29 (3:30 PM, ET) with national coverage of *No. 5-ranked Georgia taking on Tennessee.

The CBS Television Network’s lead college football announce team of Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson call the action live from Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. Tracy Wolfson serves as lead reporter. Craig Silver, the Network’s coordinating producer of college football, produces and Steve Milton directs.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, the Network’s pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show, starts the day on CBS Sports (3:00 PM, ET) with host Tim Brando along with analyst Spencer Tillman. COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY keeps viewers updated on all the games throughout the afternoon with scores and highlights. Vin DeVito produces and Linda Malino directs.

After CBS Sports’ live SEC game coverage each Saturday throughout the season, CBS SPORTS NETWORK takes over with SEC TONIGHT (7:00-8:00 PM, ET), providing a recap of all the news, scores and highlights from around the SEC.

In addition, CBS Sports will stream the Tennessee-Georgia game, as well as the entire 2012 SEC ON CBS football schedule live on CBSSports.com. The games are available exclusively on CBSSports.com, CBS Sports Mobile and also can be accessed through a link on the websites of all CBS affiliates. New this season as part of CBSSports.com’s SEC coverage are live pre-game, half-time and post-game shows.

*AP Poll as of 9/24/12

AUDIBLES with CBS Sports’ Lead College Football Analyst Gary Danielson

(On Tennessee):
Tennessee stood toe-to-toe with Florida for the good part of three quarters, and then they got punched in the mouth one time with a big play. After that they seemed to go out of their comfort zone and panicked. They need to learn from that. I believe they are going to be more comfortable on the road than at Neyland Stadium. They feel the pressure at home trying to please their big crowd. Tyler Bray is good enough with those receivers that he can make Georgia play very honest on defense. This should be Tennessee’s best effort of the year. If this one goes down or gets embarrassing, they’ve got trouble ahead.

(On Georgia’s Defense):
The way Todd Grantham has built his defense, they are very close to the two elite defenses in the league in Alabama and LSU.  The Bulldogs are one of the top five defenses anywhere in college football.  They are very gifted and have interchangeable parts at five or six different positions

(Keys to the game):
There are enough skilled athletes on Georgia’s defense that it’s going to give Tennessee pause. I’m curious to see if Tennessee will have the discipline to run the ball when it’s not working. If they can’t run the ball, Georgia’s front seven rush will give them a lot of problems. Tennessee will devote a lot of time and effort to make sure they get first downs and not get into a shootout. Look for them to try and establish tight end Mychal Rivera to move the chains. If this does become a high-scoring game, look for it to be a lot of late scoring.

And this is what CBS Sports Network has to tell us about its tripleheader today.

NO. 19-RANKED LOUISVILLE VISITS SOUTHERN MISS IN PRIMETIME TO HIGHLIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL ACTION ON CBS SPORTS NETWORK

CBS Sports Network airs a college football tripleheader on Saturday, Sept. 29, highlighted by a primetime matchup between *No. 19-ranked Louisville and Southern Miss (8:00 PM, ET).  James Bates, Aaron Taylor and reporter Lauren Gardner call the action from M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Saturday’s action kicks off with a service academy doubleheader, beginning at 12:00 NOON, ET as Stony Brook visits Army at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. Ben Holden and Randy Cross announce, along with guest sideline reporter Cadet Linc Bradham.

San Jose State at Navy follows (3:30 PM, ET) from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. Grant Boone, Todd Christensen and reporter Sheehan Stanwick Burch handle the call.

Saturday’s studio programming features SEC TONIGHT (7:00 PM, ET) as host Brent Stover and analysts Brian Jones and Houston Nutt provide post-game coverage of CBS Sports’ “SEC Game of the Week” and discuss the rest of the day’s SEC action. INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL, the Network’s pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show, returns at 11:30 PM, ET to wrap up the day with news and highlights from across the country.

Ross Molloy is Vice President, Remote Production, CBS Sports Network.

For more information, including a full programming schedule and how to get CBS Sports Network, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.

*AP Poll as of 9/23/12

NEWS AND NOTES FROM CBS SPORTS NETWORK’S INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL

(AARON TAYLOR ON MICHIGAN STATE-OHIO STATE):
I’ve gone back and forth on this game looking for an advantage every different way. Both of these teams have issues on each side of the ball. In the end, I went with the best defense. Playing at home, Michigan State is 16-1 in their last 17 ball games. I think they get the turnovers corrected and I think the trend for Ohio State is down and their first true road test costs them.

To watch the entire segment, click here: http://cbsprt.co/PINCik.

(RANDY CROSS ON STANFORD-WASHINGTON):
I love what David Shaw is doing at Stanford, but I think Steve Sarkisian and the Huskies, when you get them in this type of situation, this is when they’re at their best. And they do have, in my mind, one of the best pure talents in the country in Keith Price playing quarterback.

To watch the entire segment, click here: http://cbsprt.co/QFLHu0.

(BRIAN JONES ON BAYLOR-WEST VIRGINIA):
Phil Bennett’s defense down at Baylor has been woeful stopping the run. Last week the (Louisiana Monroe) Warhawks had 262 yards rushing. There’s no way you’re going to win with that type of statistic. Unless you’re playing West Virginia. Because at the beginning of the season I said their biggest question was their running game. 25 carries for 25 yards all of last week. I know their starter wasn’t in there, but that’s all you can muster is 25 yards? So Baylor has a good chance of going up there and knocking off No. 9.

And one more college football press release coming up.

CBS’ College Football Today Quotage for Week 4

This is the first time I have received quotage for CBS’ College Football Today. And I’m gladly posting it here.

Today, CBS’ Spencer Tillman and Mr. College Football, Tony Barnhart debated whether injury reports should be released as they are in the National Football League and host Tim Brando led a discussion on player safety.

Let’s take a look at what was said on CBS today.

NEWS, NOTES & QUOTES FROM CBS SPORTS’ “COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY” WITH TIM BRANDO, SPENCER TILLMAN AND TONY BARNHART

During CBS Sports’ pre-game show COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, host Tim Brando and analysts Spencer Tillman and Tony Barnhart discussed whether college football should report injuries similar to the NFL.

Below are excerpts from the show as well as a link to the video on cbsssports.com: cbsprt.co/OQnrUp.

Brando: “Should the college game now finally adopt a policy similar to that of the NFL in which injuries are declared?”
Tillman:  “There are three constituencies ?? the parents, the teams and the Networks who broadcast the game, and of course, the people who are calling the game…they’re the only ones who need to know.”
Barnhart: “Spencer, I love you like a brother, but you’re flat wrong about this. This is an idea whose time has come to college football. The ACC has been doing injury reports, NFL style injury reports for over four years, and the world has not come to an end. I talk to Tom O’Brien, the head coach at N.C. State, every Thursday at the end of practice. An hour, hour and a half later, the trainers release the injury report. Four categories just like the NFL… This dog and pony show about hiding injuries has got to end.”
Tillman:  “Tony, who does it benefit? It doesn’t benefit anyone else except one constituency out there and that would be the folks who are laying a sawbuck or two on this game.”Brando:  “We watched Tracy Wolfson getting flat lied to. We put Gary Danielson in a position to speculate whether he (Tyler Wilson) would play or not play. I believe Tyler Wilson went off after that game because he knew he had been used as a pawn in the process.”
Tillman:  The coach is not leading effectively in John L. Smith, it has nothing to do with networks that pay big time money to paint pictures and tell stories. They should know, the parents should know and that’s it.
Barnhart: You talk about wanting to protect the kids. This is not about protecting the kids. This is about protecting the coach. The coaches mislead and lie about injury information.
Tillman:  “That’s gamesmanship. They have no vested interest. They’re the only ones who are supposed to know.
Brando: “Power and control. I know that’s the issue here. Coaches don’t want to give it up.”

(On Player Safety and Concussions)
Barnhart: “Everybody’s talking a big game about player safety and concussions and lawsuits and all that. Well, guess what? The SEC is doing something about it. The other leagues need to step up.”
Brando: “We need one voice. We need one exacting of punishment, and it needs to be across the board in what is now the new BCS playoff. Just give us a czar, please.”

I’ll be happy to post the quotage as long as CBS provides it.

Going For Some Monday Linkage

Doing some linkage for you on this return to the work week.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand notes the NHL Lockout will hurt any ratings momentum NBC Sports Network had from the summer.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report talks with The Professor, new-found Slayer fan, John Clayton of ESPN.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans, writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, is concerned about the increasing amount of partnerships between the sports TV networks and colleges.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter says hockey fans are wondering if they’ll be watching the NHL when the season supposedly starts next month.

Allison Keene of the Reporter reviews Fox’s new documentary series, “Being: Liverpool.”

In Examiner.com, Evan Weiner explores how politicians play a role in sports labor disputes.

The SEC has announced its TV schedule for September 29.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at “Being: Liverpool.”

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette explains why the Pittsburgh-New York Jets game was not joined at the beginning of the contest in the Capital Region.

Ken notes that the ESPN Family of Networks will air five Siena men’s basketball games.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Marist gets multiple appearances on ESPN’s networks.

The Buffalo News reports that the Bills are about to play more games in Toronto over the next five seasons.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun continues to hate CBS’ Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com talks about a new Baltimore Ravens beat writer.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner notes SportsCenter’s influence.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times talks with Fox Sports’ Joe Buck.

Coley Harvey of the Orlando Sentinel says ESPN’s College GameDay is heading to the Sunshine State this week.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says a Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic mainstay will be uprooting and heading to Houston.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman catches up with Screamin’ Gus Johnson.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has Fox’s Terry Bradshaw giving some advice to quarterbacks Jay Cutler and Aaron Rodgers.

Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel notes the launch of new show hosted by four wives of Green Bay Packers players.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says the Broncos are veterans of Monday Night Football.

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

Tom has five things he learned from the weekend.

Sports Media Watch says the overnight numbers for CBS’ NFL doubleheader were down from a year ago.

SMW says Fox’s numbers were down for its NFL regional coverage as well.

Those are the links for today.

Picking Out Some Sunday Links For You

Let’s do some Sunday linkage on this first NFL regular season Sunday of 2012.

We’ll begin with Pat Eaton-Robb of the Associated Press with an interesting story on how Connecticut is fast becoming home of major sports media companies.

Candace Jackson of the Wall Street talks about her visit to Rich Eisen and his wife, Suzy Shuster’s home in beautiful Beverly Hills.

Jon Gold from CBSSports.com has statements from Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott on getting the conference’s networks on Dish Network.

Also from CBSSports.com, Dennis Dodd says the SEC expects to have new TV deals in place including the super secret SEC Network, not the one run by ESPN.

Media Rantz solves the mystery of what happened to NFL Network’s Kara Henderson.

Liana Baker of Reuters reports that an NHL lockout could hurt ratings momentum for NBC Sports Network.

John Gaudiosi of Forbes.com tells us that Sony Playstation 3 gamers get a discounted price for  DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel says Dish Network has beaten DirecTV to the punch and made a deal with Pac 12 Networks in time for yesterday’s college football games.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter writes that movie director James Cameron will be assisting UK’s Sky Sports in producing a 3-D production of this month’s Ryder Cup.

Tim Nudd of Adweek looks at ESPN’s very funny SportsCenter promo featuring John Clayton that has already gone viral.

Anthony Crupi from Adweek notes that NBC broke even on the 2012 Olympics.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has your NFL Broadcasting Guide for the 2012 season.

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times, writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center has a theory as to why some NFL teams fail to sell out their games.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report has former ESPN’er Charley Steiner recalling two of the funniest “This is SportsCenter” ads ever.

Ed also has some videos from the early days of Monday Night Football. Make that very early days.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell wonders if CBS is selling Super Bowl ads on the cheap.

Evan Weiner of Examiner.com says the late Art Modell deserves better from Cleveland fans. I hate to tell you, Evan, but as a Browns fan, Modell made his bed and has to lie in it.

On the other hand, Newsday’s Bob Glauber says he can’t reconcile Modell’s pulling the Browns from Cleveland with the other parts of his legacy.

Rachel Margolis at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog says College GameDay heads to Tennessee for Week 3.

Drew Drawbaugh of Engadget reports that Google Fiber subscribers will get access to NFL Network and NFL RedZone starting tomorrow.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says former Celtic and Chicago Bull Brian Scalabrine will join Comcast SportsNet New England as an analyst.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says two former American Basketball Association team owners who get to collect part of the NBA’s TV revenue in perpetuity, want even more and are suing to get it.

Tanzina Vega of the Times says ESPN Deportes Radio NY will be broadcasting Jets games in Spanish this season.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has NFL Commish Roger Goodell disappointed that the league doesn’t have a deal with Time Warner Cable to carry NFL Network.

David Zurawik from the Baltimore Sun says ratings for the Grand Prix of Baltimore fell by almost 60% from the year before. However, last year’s race was on ABC while this year’s edition was on NBC Sports Network.

David speaks with Amber Theoharis who has left MASN for NFL Network and will replace the aforementioned Kara Henderson.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Sports college football analyst Charles Davis.

Coley Harvey at the Orlando Sentinel asks if ESPN’s College GameDay will pay a visit to Tallahassee later this month.

Jimmy Burch in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that the new Big 12 deal with ESPN and Fox will allow for more national broadcasts.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle has the college football media guide for this season.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman says yesterday’s PPV production of the Florida A&M-Oklahoma game was network quality.

Tim Feran of the Columbus (OH) Dispatch says NFL Network and Time Warner Cable are no closer to an agreement than when the channel debuted.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News wonders how long DirecTV can hold out not carrying the Pac 12 Networks.

Tom says Fox tapped the right man to lead its World Cup coverage.

Sports Media Watch notes that last week’s PGA Deutsche Bank Championship hit a five year ratings high.

Dann Stupp and John Morgan of MMA Junkie write that NBC Sports Network will hire some familiar names for an upcoming World Series of Fighting telecast.

And that will do it. The NFL pregame show quotage is coming up next.

Let’s Do Some Wednesday Linkage

Time for the links on this Wednesday. Let’s check out what we have.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter talks with NBC’s Bob Costas about the Olympics, Jerry Sandusky and being short. That’s right.

Daniel Kaplan from the Sports Business Journal writes that the NFL will not sign a telecommunications partner this season and will see how the Wi-Fi experience goes at five stadiums before deciding.

Owen Gibson of the London (UK) Guardian reports that BBC has scored the rights to the Olympics through 2020.

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson blogs about the Beeb keeping the UK rights to the Olympics.

I have the BBC press release on the new Olympics contract.

Jeff Labrecque of Entertainment Weekly says ESPNU will have its own late night entertainment/talk show premiering in late August.

Also from EW, Dan Snierson says disgraced former Cincinnati Reds star Pete Rose will get his own TLC reality show. The question is, who doesn’t have a TLC reality show?

Brian Moran at Broadcasting & Cable says World Team Tennis will get live national coverage this weekend on Tennis Channel and the Comcast SportsNet regional affiliates.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life writes that ratings for the Home Run Derby were up while the All-Star Game took a hit.

The SportsCasters

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report wonders why SI passed on printing an excerpt of Posnanski’s book.

Ed notices that the promotional video for the Paterno book has been removed from YouTube.

Ed talks with an ESPN executive on the network now using its own cameras instead of relying on the BBC to cover the Open Championship.

Reinhardt Krause of Investor’s Business Daily look at how cable providers are finding ways to drive up sports rights fees.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center talks with Real Sports’ Frank Deford about his updated piece on marching band hazing at historically black colleges.

SportsGrid’s Eric Goldschein has video of Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully scolding the team for its failure to execute a rundown play.

Patrick Burns at Deadspin says the Joe Paterno story dominated ESPN’s news coverage last week.

Deadspin’s John Koblin notes that Sports Illustrated is beginning to use the photo sharing site, Instagram.

The London (UK) Mirror provides 100 bizarre facts about the Olympics.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN’s Paul Azinger about the Open Championship.

Brandon Marcello of the Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger says the SEC Storied documentary series will produce a film on a former Mississippi State football coach.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that with the Thunder’s Kevin Durant, USA basketball vs. Brazil on ESPN drew very well locally.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer wonders what exactly will the new TLC Pete Rose reality show be about?

John says a local internet service provider will add ESPN3 in August.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times looks at ESPN paying the Rose Bowl $80 million per year starting in 2015.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a preview of tonight’s “The Franchise” episode on Showtime which will show the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton going under the knife.

Joe Flint of the Times has Comcast appealing to the government to butt out of its programming decisions i.e., Tennis Channel.

Sports Media Watch notes that TNT’s NASCAR season finale saw increased ratings.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

Chinwe Nwadike at Chinwe’s Corner wonders why some in the media are angry at Fox’s Erin Andrews.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says the WWE has established a social media hub for investors.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has a screengrab of the Longhorn Network taking one final shot at Texas A&M before it leaves the Big 12 for good.

Jason Boog at Galleycat says an NBC Sports producer has published a children’s book on the Olympics.

That will do it for today.

Let’s Break Out Some Monday Linkage

Here’s the Monday linkage wrapped in a nice bow for you.

From Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and Michael Smith, they report that ESPN will pay an average of $80 million per year to air the Rose Bowl. That more than doubles the current contract which pays $30 million.

Liz Mullen of SBJ says a noted movie studio is forming a sports talent agency further melding Hollywood and athletics.

Also from Sports Business Journal, Chris Botta notes that Brooklyn is ready and waiting if the New York Islanders can’t find a new home on Long Island

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Bill Walton returns to national TV through ESPN as he’ll become the network’s analyst for Pac-12 basketball games.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that the early sign up numbers for NBC’s Olympic apps are encouraging.

Mike says NBCUniversal is looking to make the 2012 London Games a truly digital experience.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report talks with NBC’s Bob Costas about turning 60.

Talkers Magazine, the so-called Bible of Talk Radio, lists its 2012 Heavy 100 of Sports Talk. I agree with Mike Francesa and Dan Patrick in the Top 3, the rest I have issues with including a few in the New England area, plus why is Joe Morgan on the list? And there are only two women.

Lisa O’Carroll of the London (UK) Guardian says Britain’s oldest and largest black newspaper has been denied credentials to the Olympics Stadium for the track & field events.

George Winslow from Broadcasting & Cable notes that it’s expected that social media will be heavily used for the Olympics.

Matt Rudnitsky of SportsGrid notes that ESPN’s Captain Blowhard and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban are engaging in the next Great Twitter feud.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs wonders how NFL Network’s new morning show can sustain fresh content over a four hour period every day.

Kirk Minihane of WEEI.com tackles the question over whether the Boston Red Sox should fire advisor Bill James over his comments on ESPN Radio about Joe Paterno and the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

If it’s Monday, then it must mean that the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is in a bad mood about something.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that Syracuse has negotiated an early exit to the ACC from the Big East Conference.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that ESPN is starting its weekday coverage of the Open Championship earlier than previously announced.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes writing in Press Box talks about the friendship that has developed between MASN’s Washington Nationals studio team of the great Johnny Holliday and Ray Knight.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog noticed that Democratic gargoyle strategist James Carville wore a Nats t-shirt on MSNBC over the weekend.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times has a look back at the weekend in sports television.

Mike Herndon of the Mobile (AL) Press-Register writes about the SEC releasing its early-season football TV schedule.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle looks back at the ten years since the failed US Olympic bids for the 2012 Games.

David imagines what if Houston had been awarded the 2012 Olympics.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post says the Penn State scandal has been the talk of the town.

Matthew T. Hall at the San Diego Union-Tribune wants to organize a fan protest on the lack of movement on getting Padres games on local TV.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News has your weekly sports calendar.

Sports Media Watch looks at Bill Walton making his return to ESPN.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media suggests how the NHL Network can stop the inexorable amount of game reruns during the summer.

Cork Gaines from the Business Insider’s Sports Page says MLB Advanced Media gave a hollow apology for a system-wide outage preventing fans from watching MLB.TV online Friday.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says truTV has given the go to a Shaquille O’Neal-fronted viral video show.

This is where we’ll end the links for today.

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.

That will do it.

ESPN Announces SEC Football Selections For 1st 3 Weeks of the 2012 Season

The SEC Football schedule is out and for the South, this is like Christmas Day when you get to finally open the presents. Fans of the 14 member schools have been looking forward to this since the end of the last college football season. ESPN has selected its games for the first three weeks of the 2012 season and the network has selected 33 games to air on its various networks and platforms including the Mothership, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and the SEC Network.

In addition, those games not selected either by CBS and ESPN have gone to the other conference partners, Fox Sports Net, CSS and local pay per view. Matt’s College Sports has that schedule through September 15.

For ESPN, it begins its SEC schedule on August 30 with South Carolina at Vanderbilt in primetime. On September 8, ESPN will have an SEC conference tripleheader starting at noon with Auburn at Mississippi State, then at 3:30 p.m. the network airs Florida at Texas A&M (that being the Aggies’ first SEC Conference game) and at 7 p.m., it will be Washington taking on LSU in the Bayou.

We have the SEC on ESPN schedule through September 15 below.

ESPN Outlets Cover 33 SEC College Football Games in First Three Weeks of Season

ESPN has selected the Southeastern Conference college football games for coverage across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and the SEC Network during the first three weeks of the 2012 season. Overall, 33 games involving SEC teams will be carried from the season opener on Thursday, Aug. 30 (South Carolina at Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN) to Saturday, Sept. 15. Additional selections will be determined as the season progresses. Highlights:

• The first three weeks will include multiple games involving all six of the SEC teams ranked in the College Football Live preseason top 25 poll, highlighted by five of the top nine.
• On Saturday, Sept. 8, ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the first conference games of new members Texas A&M and Missouri: No. 25 Florida at Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and No. 6 Georgia at Missouri at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN2.
• Additional conference showdowns in the first three weeks include No. 8 South Carolina at Vanderbilt (Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. on ESPN); Auburn at Mississippi State (Saturday, Sept. 8, at noon on ESPN); and No. 25 Florida at Tennessee (Saturday, Sept. 15, at 6 p.m. on ESPN).
• ESPN will offer an SEC tripleheader on Saturday, Sept. 8 beginning with Auburn at Mississippi State at noon followed by No. 25 Florida at Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m. and Washington at No. 2 LSU at 7 p.m.
• The first three games for No. 2 LSU and first two for No. 3 Alabama, the competing teams in last season’s BCS National Championship Game, won by Alabama 21-0:
• No. 2 LSU against North Texas (Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPNU), against Washington (Saturday, Sept. 8, 7 p.m. on ESPN) and against Idaho (Saturday, Sept. 15 on ESPN3).
• No. 3 Alabama against No. 10 Michigan in the Cowboys Classic from Arlington (Saturday, Sept. 1, at 8 p.m. on ABC) and against Western Kentucky (Saturday, Sept. 8, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN3 and the SEC Network).

2012 SEC Schedule for August 30 through September 15
(additional selections will be announced):

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Thu, Aug 30	7 p.m.	No. 8 South Carolina at Vanderbilt *	ESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Texas A&M vs. Louisiana Tech (Shreveport, La.) *	ESPNU
Fri, Aug 31	7:30 p.m.	Kickoff Game: NC State vs. Tennessee (Atlanta) *	ESPNU
Sat, Sep 1	Noon	Buffalo at No. 6 Georgia	ESPN3 *** & SEC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Bowling Green at No. 25 Florida	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Kickoff Game: No. 18 Clemson vs. Auburn (Atlanta) *	ESPN
	7 p.m.	North Texas at No. 2 LSU	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Jackson State at Mississippi State	ESPN3 *** & RSN
	7 p.m.	Central Arkansas at Mississippi	ESPN3 *** & PPV
	8 p.m.	Cowboys Classic: No. 10 Michigan vs. No. 3 Alabama (Arlington) *	ABC
	TBA	Jacksonville State at No. 9 Arkansas	ESPN3 *** & PPV
	TBA	Southeastern Louisiana at Missouri	ESPN3 *** & PPV
Sun, Sep 2	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky at Louisville *	ESPN
Sat, Sep 8	Noon	Auburn at Mississippi State	ESPN
	Noon	East Carolina at No. 8 South Carolina	ESPN3 *** & SEC Network
	3:30 p.m.	No. 25 Florida at Texas A&M	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky at No. 3 Alabama	ESPN3 *** & SEC Network
	4 p.m.	Georgia State at Tennessee	ESPN3 *** & PPV
	7 p.m.	Washington at No. 2 LSU	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe at No. 9 Arkansas (Little Rock, Ark.)	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	UTEP at Mississippi	ESPN3 *** & RSN
	7:30 p.m.	Kent State at Kentucky	ESPN3 *** & RSN
	7:45 p.m.	No. 6 Georgia at Missouri	ESPN2
Sat, Sep 15	Noon	Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn	ESPN3 *** & SEC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Vanderbilt	ESPN3 *** & RSN
	6 p.m.	No. 25 Florida at Tennessee	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Arizona State at Missouri	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Kentucky	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Mississippi State at Troy *	ESPN3 **
	7 p.m.	UAB at No. 8 South Carolina	ESPN3 *** & RSN
	7:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at No. 6 Georgia	ESPN3 *** & RSN
	8 p.m.	Idaho at No. 2 LSU	ESPN3 *** & PPV
	9:15 p.m.	No. 22 Texas at Mississippi	ESPN

* Previously announced
** ESPN3 Exclusive
*** Local blackout may apply

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