Understanding the ACC TV rights -- including "RSN"

The ACC one of the more straightforward TV deals in the NCAA.  Basically, ESPN owns them all.  However, there are still more games available than timeslots on the various ESPN channels, so the Worldwide Leader in Sports shares some of the games.

Week 5 wrap up

Well, this season is finally getting some spice added.  We're also far enough into the season to see where bowl eligibility comes into play.  Eight Power 5 teams have the chance to become bowl eligible next week.

Saturday OTAs: Week 5

Sorry for missing last week, as I got a little busy.

Noon
ABC:  Texas at TCU

12:30 PM
ACC Network:  Louisville at NC State

3:30 PM
ABC:  Ohio State at Indiana OR Texas Tech at Baylor
CBS:  Alabama at Georgia

7:30 PM
FOX:  Arizona State at UCLA

8 PM
ABC:  Notre Dame at Clemson

Games to Watch -- Week 5

Hey, folks, stay safe and dry this weekend.  Hopefully the approaching storm won't affect too much viewing, other than making for some truly awesome games like the Texas A&M at Virginia Tech Thursday night matchup in 2003, played as the final remnants of a hurricane passed over Virginia.

Thursday, October 1
7:30 PM
Miami at Cincinnati, ESPN.  Always an intriguing nonconference game.

Saturday, October 3
Noon
Pitt at Virginia Tech, RSN.  I hate Pitt.  I hate that they joined the ACC.  That being said, the only time I've seen VT beat them was in Lane Stadium two years ago.  So, the Hokies have that going for them.  MIG

South Carolina at Missouri, SEC Network.  This game was usually pretty telling for the SEC East in years past, but this year, could be a toilet bowl.  MIG

Iowa State at Kansas, Fox Sports Net.  From our season preview:  "The Cyclones have nowhere to go but up, and Kansas could be their best shot at a conference win.  The Jayhawks only have a little room to fall, but they can at least hold steady by winning this one."  MIG

West Virginia at Oklahoma, FS1.  This game has been quietly building up to be a key chapter in the Big 12 saga this year.

Texas at TCU, ABC.  Another chance for Longhorn fans to get pitchforks against the officials.

12:30 PM
Louisville at NC State, ACC Network.  Louisville needs to start turning their season around, but NC State could still use this game to make a statement in the conference.

3:30 PM
Texas Tech at Baylor, ABC/ESPN2.  I expect a lot of points.

Alabama at Georgia, CBS.  A possible preview of the SEC Championship?

7 PM
Ole Miss at Florida, ESPN.  A win would be a statement for both teams.

8 PM
Notre Dame at Clemson, ABC.  I think we'll get a good look at both teams here, and find out if either one is a true contender.

2015 Season Thoughts: End of September

With September's college football games in the books, I thought I'd reflect my thoughts on where things stand at month's end.

Week 4 wrap up

Teams that play a nine-game conference schedule, or have a late season rival in another conference have all started playing, and we're already seeing the conference landscapes start to take shape in some surprising ways.

ACC Wheel of Destiny

Atlantic
No Atlantic teams played conference games in week 4, so this is all the same from last week.

Controls destiny:
Clemson (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Louisville.
Florida State (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Boston College.
Syracuse (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Wake Forest.
NC State has not started conference play.

Needs help:
Louisville (0-1) needs two Clemson losses.
Boston College (0-1) needs two FSU losses.
Wake Forest (0-1) needs two Syracuse losses.

Coastal
Controls destiny:
Duke (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Georgia Tech.
Miami, UNC, Pitt, Virginia Tech, and UVA have not started conference play.

Needs help:
Georgia Tech (0-1) needs two Duke losses.

SEC

East
Controls destiny:
Georgia (2-0) has tiebreakers over Vanderbilt and South Carolina.
Florida (2-0) has tiebreakers over Kentucky and Tennessee.

Needs help:
Kentucky (2-1) has tiebreakers over South Carolina and Missouri, but needs two Florida losses.
Tennessee (0-1) needs two Florida losses.
Missouri (0-1) needs two Kentucky losses.
Vanderbilt (0-2) needs three Georgia losses.  Their other loss was cross-divisional.
South Carolina (0-2) needs three Georgia losses and two Kentucky losses.

West
Controls destiny:
LSU (2-0) has tiebreakers over Auburn and Mississippi State.
Ole Miss (2-0) has a tiebreaker over Alabama.
Texas A&M (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Arkansas.

Needs help:
Mississippi State (1-1) has a tiebreaker over Auburn, but needs two LSU losses.
Alabama (0-1) needs two Ole Miss losses.
Arkansas (0-1) needs two Texas A&M losses.
Auburn (0-2) needs two LSU losses and a Mississippi State loss.

B1G
In the East, Penn State (1-0) controls their destiny with a tiebreaker over Rutgers, and Rutgers (0-1) needs two Penn State losses.  The West has not started conference play.  No change from last week.

Pac-12

North
Controls destiny:
Stanford (2-0) has a tiebreaker over Oregon State.
Cal (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Washington.
Oregon (0-1) only has a cross-divisional loss.
Washington State has not started playing yet.

Needs help:
Oregon State (0-1) needs two Stanford losses.
Washington (0-1) needs two Cal losses.

South
Controls destiny:
Utah (1-0) has a cross-divisional win.
UCLA (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Arizona.
USC (1-1) has a tiebreaker over Arizona State.
Colorado is still (0-0).  They have four OOC games, because they played at Hawaii in week 1.

Needs help:
Arizona (0-1) needs two UCLA losses.
Arizona State (0-1) needs a USC loss.

Big 12
Controls destiny:
TCU (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Texas Tech.
Oklahoma State (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Texas.
Baylor, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Kansas, and Kansas State have yet to start conference play.

Needs help:
Texas Tech (0-1) needs two TCU losses.
Texas (0-1) needs two Oklahoma State losses.

Games to Watch -- Week 4

This week is a bit lighter on intriguing games on the front end, but I imagine that there will be no shortage of drama as you're channel surfing on Saturday.

Friday, September 25
8 PM
Boise State at UVA, ESPN.  This is UVA's last chance to get a non-conference win against an FBS team.  A battle of blue and orange.

Saturday, September 26
Noon
LSU at Syracuse, ESPN.  One of the more intriguing SEC out of conference games.  At least LSU gets points for leaving their state on a home-and-home series.  MIG

Georgia Tech at Duke, ESPN2.  Could this be the first knockout round for the ACC Coastal?

12:30 PM
Indiana at Wake Forest, ACC Network.  The final ACC/B1G matchup, and it all comes down to the bottom feeders of both conferences.  Currently, the two conferences are tied 3-3.

3 PM
Maryland at West Virginia, FS1.  An interesting non-conference matchup between bordering states.  However, it's probably a low tier Big Ten/Big 12 matchup.  MIG

3:30 PM
Virginia Tech at ECU, ABC/ESPN2.  The Hokies are looking to revenge the loss they took at home last year, while also trying to make strides to see if their team is ready for the ACC challenges beginning next week.

Tennessee at Florida, CBS.  I think this game could be very telling for the SEC East.

7:30 PM
Mississippi State at Auburn, ESPN2.  Could this be the final nail in Auburn's coffin?

8 PM
UCLA at Arizona, ABC.  This could be a key Pac-12 game.

Week 3 wrap up

There haven't been a lot of conference games yet, but there's been enough to cause some separation. As usual, all records listed here are conference only.

ACC Wheel of Destiny

Atlantic
Controls destiny:
Clemson (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Louisville.
Florida State (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Boston College.
Syracuse (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Wake Forest.
NC State has not started conference play.

Needs help:
Louisville (0-1) needs two Clemson losses.
Boston College (0-1) needs two FSU losses.
Wake Forest (0-1) needs two Syracuse losses.

Coastal
No teams in the Coastal have started conference play.

SEC

East
Controls destiny:
Georgia (2-0) has tiebreakers over Vanderbilt and South Carolina.
Florida (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Kentucky.
Missouri and Tennessee have not started conference play.

Needs help:
Kentucky (1-1) has a tiebreaker over South Carolina, but needs two Florida losses.
Vanderbilt (0-1) needs two Georgia losses.
South Carolina (0-2) needs three Georgia losses and two Kentucky losses.

West
Controls destiny:
LSU (2-0) has tiebreakers over Auburn and Mississippi State.
Ole Miss (1-0) has a tiebreaker over Alabama.
Texas A&M and Arkansas have not started conference play.

Needs help:
Alabama (0-1) needs two Ole Miss losses.
Auburn and Mississippi State (both 0-1) each need two LSU losses.

B1G
In the East, Penn State (1-0) controls their destiny with a tiebreaker over Rutgers, and Rutgers (0-1) needs two Penn State losses.  The West has not started conference play.

Pac-12
The only conference game so far was a cross-divisional match where Stanford (1-0) beat USC (0-1).  Technically, everyone still controls their destiny.

The Big 12 has not started conference play.

Saturday OTAs: Week 3

Games you can watch the old school way if you have to.

Noon
ABC:  Air Force at Michigan State

12:30 PM
ACC Network:  Northwestern at Duke

3:30 PM
ABC:  Northern Illinois at Ohio State OR Nebraska at Miami
CBS:  Auburn at LSU

7:30 PM
FOX:  Cal at Texas

8 PM
ABC:  Stanford at USC

Thinking about a 16 team conference

One of the more contentious aspects of college football (especially now that we have the Playoff) is conference alignment and scheduling.  The biggest problem that the larger conferences face is that there are teams in their conference that they rarely see.