I should have posted this one last week when it came out. But in case you haven't heard, Virginia Tech added the great powerhouse of Austin Peay State University to their 2012 schedule.
...
Who? Read on to find out.
Just based off of the announcement, I learned that APSU is in the Ohio Valley Conference. I have to assume that's an FCS conference. A not so quick search on Wikipedia confirms that (I can't find a page on the football program, and have to search the conference to find out if the school is part of it). I also assumed that perhaps the school is in Ohio, but that assumption was wrong. APSU (while sounding like a Texas school because of "Austin") is actually in Tennessee (named for a former governor). In fact, none of the Ohio Valley Conference is actually in Ohio.
Why is VT playing APSU, and why do they need to add a team to the schedule at this relatively late date?
It's Chick-fil-a's fault. VT was invited to play Alabama in the 2013 Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game. To fit the game in the schedule, VT moved the East Carolina game. Since that game was part of a multi-year deal, and would have affected the home-and-home series, the 2012 and 2013 games were both moved (it appears to 2016 and 2017). That leaves a spot in Tech's 2012 schedule, which they needed to fill with a team that would be willing to only play one game, and play it in Blacksburg. That left very few options.
So, in 2013, ESPN comes out ahead. The VT-ECU game would have been broadcast under the provisions of the CUSA TV contracts, which would probably put it on a FOX or CBS station. Not only is the VT-Alabama game scheduled for an ESPN network, but it will be a huge primetime matchup during the first week.
In the meantime during the 2012 season, ESPN will be ranting about Tech's weak schedule, thanks to Austin Peay State University, without mentioning that they are the ones responsible for the schedule change.
No comments:
Post a Comment