Matt's College Sports Media Blog

CFB TV Confirmations for 2026 Week 9 (10/29/2026 & 10/31/2026)

2026-10-19T08:27:04.782-04:00

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for Week 9 (10/29/26 & 10/31/2026) from the (mostly) twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to. Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their scheduled games held for a six day hold for the start time and/or the TV network. The list of available TV windows are based on media websites, TV listings and press releases. They can change based on the needs of the broadcaster or the conference.

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set.

Thursday 10/29 - network decisions to be made after Thursday 10/22 games

7:30pm ESPN:

7:30pm ESPN2:

Games To Be Slotted
Troy at James Madison

Florida Atlantic at North Texas

Saturday 10/31

12pm ABC or ESPN: Arizona at Texas Tech

12pm ABC or ESPN: Notre Dame vs. Navy

12pm FOX: Wisconsin at Iowa

12pm ESPN2: SMU at Syracuse

12pm CW: Boston College at Duke

12pm FS1: Illinois at Maryland

12pm ACCN: California at NC State

12pm ESPNU: UAB at South Florida

12:30pm BTN: Michigan at Rutgers

12:45pm SECN: Auburn at Ole Miss

1pm ESPN+: Marshall at Old Dominion

2pm TNT: Kansas State at Colorado

2pm ESPN+: Coastal Carolina at Georgia State

3pm ESPN+: Temple at East Carolina

3pm ESPN+: Louisiana Tech at South Alabama

3:15pm ACCN: Stanford at Louisville

3:30pm FOX: Arizona State at BYU

3:30pm CBS: Minnesota at Indiana

3:30pm FS1: Kansas at TCU

3:30pm Peacock/NBCSN: Northwestern at Oregon

3:30pm ESPN+: Alabama State vs. Alabama A&M

3:30pm ESPN+: Southern Miss at ULM

3:45pm ESPN/ESPN2: Utah at Cincinnati

3:45pm ESPN/ESPN2: Virginia at Wake Forest

4pm ESPNU: South Dakota at South Dakota State

4:15pm BTN: Purdue at Penn State

4:15pm BTN: Nevada at UCLA

4:15pm SECN: South Carolina at Oklahoma

6:30pm ESPN+: App State at Georgia Southern

7pm FS1: Oklahoma State at Iowa State

7pm ACCN: Clemson at Florida State

7:30pm NBC: Ohio State at USC

7:30pm ABC or ESPN: Miami (FL) at North Carolina

7:30pm ABC or ESPN: Mississippi State at Texas

7:30pm ESPN2: Georgia Tech at Pitt

7:45pm SECN: Missouri at Arkansas

8pm BTN: Washington at Nebraska

8pm ESPNU: Army West Point at Memphis

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Week 9 (10/29/2026-10/31/2026)

2026-10-18T07:17:54.759-04:00

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows.

I have done my best to list what TV windows are out there. Every listing service has a little different schedule for these networks. It is also possible that a window could be eliminated or the time of a window could shift slightly to accommodate a network's needs.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements and six day holds used in a separate post.

A few notes and considerations:

* I only have two telecast windows for FOX as this would be Game 7 of the World Series

* The mid-afternoon ABC window is confirmed for its SEC game

* Games set for time or TV, but not both

Notre Dame vs. Navy (12pm, ABC or ESPN)
Wisconsin at Iowa (TBA, between 12pm and 5pm)
Northwestern at Oregon (TBA, between 3pm and 8pm)
South Dakota at South Dakota State (TBA, ESPN linear)
Alabama State vs. Alabama A&M (3:30pm, ESPN linear or ESPN+)
SEC game slots

Early: Auburn at Ole Miss
Evening: Mississippi State at Texas
Afternoon or Evening: South Carolina at Oklahoma & Missouri at Arkansas

* I elected to not use the SECN early window since there was only one game available

* FOX can coexist with CBS or NBC for their Big Ten selections in limited cases, usually once per season. I think this is a great case for FOX to do that with Ohio State at USC, especially if the possibility exists for it to lead into Game 7 of the World Series. My order for the Big Ten was FOX, CBS and NBC.

* Saturday 10/17's chaos was an added wrench. This would have looked very different if several schools didn't lose.

* For the Big 12, I gave FOX top choice with Arizona State at BYU. Yep, I think they'll make the ask for the Cougars to host a 10am local time start and they'll agree. Their last 10am start was in 2023 when they hosted Oklahoma at that early start on ESPN. They also had an 11am local (1pm ET) start vs UCF last season on ESPN2.

Thursday

7:30pm ESPN: Troy at James Madison

7:30pm ESPN2: Florida Atlantic at North Texas

Saturday

12pm ABC: Auburn at Ole Miss

12pm FOX: Arizona State at BYU

12pm ESPN: Notre Dame vs. Navy
12pm ESPN2: Virginia at Wake Forest

12pm CW: Georgia Tech at Pitt

12pm FS1: Purdue at Penn State

12pm TNT: Kansas at TCU

12pm BTN: Michigan at Rutgers

12pm ACCN: Boston College at Duke

12pm ESPNU: Army West Point at Memphis

3:30pm FOX: Ohio State at USC

3:30pm CBS: Wisconsin at Iowa

3:30pm ESPN: Arizona at Texas Tech
3:30pm ESPN2: SMU at Syracuse

3:30pm FS1: Utah at Cincinnati

3:30pm BTN: Illinois at Maryland

3:30pm ESPNU: Alabama State vs. Alabama A&M

3:30pm ACCN: California at NC State

3:30pm Peacock/NBCSN: Washington at Nebraska

4:15pm SECN: South Carolina at Oklahoma

7pm ESPN: Mississippi State at Texas
7pm ESPN2: Clemson at Florida State

7pm FS1: Oklahoma State at Iowa State

7pm ESPNU: South Dakota at South Dakota State

7:15pm BTN: Northwestern at Oregon

7:30pm ABC: Miami (FL) at North Carolina

7:30pm NBC: Minnesota at Indiana

7:30pm ACCN: Stanford at Louisville

7:45pm SECN: Missouri at Arkansas

10:15pm ESPN: Kansas State at Colorado

11pm BTN: Nevada at UCLA

CFB TV Confirmations for 2026 Week 8 (10/24/2026) & American Black Friday (11/27/2026)

2026-10-12T08:10:51.033-04:00

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for Week 8 (10/24/26) from the (mostly) twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to. Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their scheduled games held for a six day hold for the start time and/or the TV network. The list of available TV windows are based on media websites, TV listings and press releases. They can change based on the needs of the broadcaster or the conference.

In addition to Week 8, it is expected that the American's Black Friday games will be selected. Unsure if they'll set times for them, but the games will air at 12pm and 3:30pm ET on 11/27/26 on ESPN.

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set.

Six Day Hold

12pm TNT, 12pm FS1, 3:30pm FOX, 3:30pm ESPN2, 7pm FS1, 10:15pm/10:30pm ESPN and one of 7pm ESPN or 7:30pm ESPN2

Kansas State at Arizona State - reserved for ESPN networks

Texas Tech at Cincinnati

Colorado at Oklahoma State

BYU at UCF

Baylor at Kansas

Houston at Utah

Iowa State at Arizona

3pm BTN, 3:30pm CBS and 3:30pm FS1

Iowa at Minnesota

Oregon at Illinois

Michigan State at UCLA

Satuday 10/24/2026

12pm FOX: Indiana at Michigan

12pm ABC or ESPN: Pitt at Miami (FL)
12pm ABC or ESPN: LSU at Auburn

12pm ESPN2: West Virginia at TCU

12pm CW: California at SMU

12pm ESPNU: Rice at Florida Atlantic

12pm CBSSN: Western Michigan at Toledo

12pm Peacock/NBCSN: Rutgers at Northwestern

1pm ESPN+: Akron at Kent State

1pm ESPN+: Miami (OH) at Central Michigan

3:30pm ABC: Texas A&M at Alabama

3:30pm ESPN or SECN: Oklahoma at Mississippi State

3:30pm ESPN or SECN: Tennessee at South Carolina

3:30pm ESPNU: Eastern Michigan at Ohio

3:30pm ACCN: Boston College at Georgia Tech

3:30pm ESPN+: Bowling Green at Buffalo

3:30pm ESPN+: Sacramento State at Ball State

4pm ESPN+: ULM at Troy

5pm ESPN+: Old Dominion at Louisiana Tech

5pm ESPN+: Louisiana at Southern Miss

7pm ESPN or 7:30pm ESPN2: Virginia Tech at Clemson

7pm ESPN+: Georgia State at Arkansas State

7:30pm ABC: Ole Miss at Texas

7:30pm NBC: USC at Wisconsin

7:30pm ACCN: Syracuse at North Carolina

7:30pm SECN: Vanderbilt at Kentucky

8pm ESPNU: UTSA at Tulane

Friday 11/27/2026

ESPN chose to air Temple at Memphis at Tulsa at UTSA on Friday 11/27. All other games stay on 11/28.

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Week 8 (10/24/2026) & American for Friday 11/27/26

2026-10-11T08:24:16.653-04:00

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements and six day holds used in a separate post.

A few notes and considerations:

* Why the need to make choices for Black Friday with the American? Four games were set for the possibility of moving from Saturday 11/28 to Friday 11/27 for a pair of openings on ESPN at 12pm & 3:30pm ET:

Tulsa at UTSA
Temple at Memphis
Florida Atlantic at East Carolina
Tulane at South Florida

* FOX doesn't have an evening game due to the World Series

* No early SECN window as only one game has been reserved for that time slot.

* ACCN also doesn't have a planned window at noon ET.

* CBSSN is open at noon. It should be used for a MAC selection.

* Games already set for time or TV network family, but not both:

Kansas State at Arizona State (TBA, ABC/ESPN networks)
Iowa at Minnesota (Between 3pm and 8pm, TBA)
Michigan State at UCLA (Between 3pm and 8pm, TBA)
LSU at Auburn (12pm, ABC or ESPN)
Other SEC game slots:

Afternoon: Tennessee at South Carolina
Evening: Vanderbilt at Kentucky
Afternoon or evening: Texas A&M at Alabama, Ole Miss at Texas, Oklahoma at Mississippi State

* In terms of Big Ten order, I went FOX, CBS and NBC. It would not surprise me to see a six day hold used by FOX to wait on Indiana-Michigan or USC-Wisconsin.

* For the Big 12, I gave ESPN the top choice, and then gave FOX two straight.

Saturday 10/24/26

12pm ABC: Pitt at Miami (FL)

12pm FOX: USC at Wisconsin

12pm ESPN: LSU at Auburn

12pm ESPN2: Texas Tech at Cincinnati

12pm CW: Boston College at Georgia Tech

12pm TNT: West Virginia at TCU

12pm FS1: Colorado at Oklahoma State

12pm ESPNU: Western Michigan at Toledo

12pm CBSSN: Eastern Michigan at Ohio

3pm BTN: Oregon at Illinois

3:30pm ABC: Texas A&M at Alabama

3:30pm FOX: BYU at UCF

3:30pm CBS: Indiana at Michigan

3:30pm ESPN: Oklahoma at Mississippi State

3:30pm ESPN2: Baylor at Kansas

3:30pm FS1: Rutgers at Northwestern

3:30pm ESPNU: UTSA at Tulane

3:30pm ACCN: Syracuse at North Carolina

3:30pm Peacock/NBCSN: Michigan State at UCLA

4:15pm SECN: Tennessee at South Carolina

7pm ESPN: Houston at Utah

7pm ESPN2: California at SMU

7pm FS1: Iowa State at Arizona

7pm ESPNU: Georgia State at Arkansas State

7:30pm ABC: Ole Miss at Texas

7:30pm NBC: Iowa at Minnesota

7:30pm ACCN: Virginia Tech at Clemson

7:45pm SECN: Vanderbilt at Kentucky

10:30pm ESPN: Kansas State at Arizona State

Streaming

Rice at Florida Atlantic

Akron at Kent State

Sacramento State at Ball State

Bowling Green at Buffalo

Miami (OH) at Central Michigan

Louisiana at Southern Miss

Old Dominion at Louisiana Tech

ULM at Troy

Friday 11/27/26

I think Tulsa at UTSA and Temple at Memphis will be moved to Black Friday. I think they will wait for the November selections to set start times for each game.

CFB TV Confirmations for 2026 Week 7 (10/15/2026-10/17/2026)

2026-10-05T08:13:10.151-04:00

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for Week 7 (10/15/26 - 10/17/26) from the (mostly) twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to. Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their scheduled games held for a six day hold for the start time and/or the TV network. The list of available TV windows are based on media websites, TV listings and press releases. They can change based on the needs of the broadcaster or the conference.

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set.

Thursday 10/15

7:30pm ESPN: East Carolina at UAB

7:30pm ESPN2: Georgia Southern at Old Dominion

Saturday 10/17

Big Ten Six Day Hold

Penn State at Michigan - 3:30pm, CBS or FS1

Nebraska at Oregon - 3:30pm CBS or FS1, 7:30pm NBC or 11pm FOX

Wisconsin at UCLA - 3:30pm CBS or FS1, 7:30pm NBC or 11pm FOX

12pm ABC or ESPN: Florida at Texas

12pm ABC or ESPN: Mississippi State at LSU

12pm ESPN2: Pitt at Boston College

12pm CW: Virginia at SMU

12pm TNT: Cincinnati at West Virginia

12pm FS1: Kansas at Kansas State

12pm ESPNU: Georgia State at James Madison

12pm ACCN: Charleston Southern at Clemson

12pm Peacock: Northwestern at Michigan State

12pm ESPN+: Ball State at Bowling Green

12:30pm BTN: Rutgers at Maryland

1pm ESPN+: Charlotte at Temple

1pm ESPN+: UMass at Buffalo

1:30pm ESPN+: Toledo at Eastern Michigan

3pm ESPN+: Florida A&M at Jackson State

3:30pm FOX: Arizona State at Texas Tech

3:30pm ESPN2: North Carolina at Duke

3:30pm ABC/ESPN/SECN: Auburn at Georgia

3:30pm ABC/ESPN/SECN: Missouri at Ole Miss

3:30pm ABC/ESPN/SECN: Alabama at Tennessee

3:30pm ACCN: Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech

3:30pm ESPN+: Akron at Miami (OH)

3:30pm ESPN+: Western Michigan at Central Michigan

4pm ESPNU: Illinois State at Southern Illinois

4:30pm ESPN+: Tulsa at Rice

5pm ESPN+: Troy at Louisiana

7pm ESPN: Florida State at Miami (FL)

7pm ESPN2: Arkansas at Vanderbilt

7pm FS1: TCU at Baylor

7pm ESPN+: Kent State at South Florida

7pm ESPN+: Arkansas State at Southern Miss

7:30pm ABC: Notre Dame at BYU

7:30pm FOX: Oklahoma State at Houston

7:30pm SECN: Kentucky at Oklahoma

7:30pm ACCN: Louisville at Syracuse

8pm ESPNU: Navy at UTSA

8pm ESPN+: Louisiana Tech at ULM

10pm ESPN+: Ohio at Sacramento State

10:30pm ESPN/ESPN2: Wake Forest at California

10:30pm ESPN/ESPN2: Utah at Colorado

10:30pm FS1: New Mexico at Hawai'i

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Week 7 (10/15/2026-10/17/2026)

2026-10-04T09:37:35.867-04:00

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements and six day holds used in a separate post.

A few notes and considerations:

* FOX's noon game was preselected (Ohio State at Indiana) per The Athletic.

* Games set for time or TV network family, but not both

New Mexico at Hawai'i (TBA, FOX Sports)
Illinois State at Southern Illinois (TBA, ESPN linear)
Florida A&M at Jackson State (3pm, ESPN linear or ESPN+)
Rutgers at Maryland (Between 12pm and 5pm, TBA)
SEC game time slots

Early: Mississippi State at LSU, Florida at Texas
Afternoon: Auburn at Georgia, Missouri at Ole Miss
Afternoon or Evening: Arkansas at Vanderbilt, Alabama at Tennessee, Kentucky at Oklahoma

* The BTN window is listed at 1pm, but it could move to 3pm if Oregon or UCLA ends up hosting on the network. Nebraska says their match will air at 5pm or 9pm ET. I'm thinking that the two women's volleyball matchups will be at 7pm & 9pm. This also assumes that the Peacock window remains at 12pm.

* After FOX taking Ohio State at Indiana, I'm assuming CBS will get 2nd choice, then NBC. I know that with the records, Penn State at Michigan doesn't look as compelling as it could based on the schools, but I expect that CBS will look for it ahead of Nebraska at Oregon and Wisconsin at UCLA.

* I deleted the early SEC window. Felt that both early window SEC games could be on ABC and ESPN, so I dropped the SECN window.

* The SEC timeslot locking does make it a little problematic to slot Florida State at Miami (FL) and Notre Dame at BYU. I went with the Alabama-Tennessee on ABC in primetime and because of that, based on how I slotted the SEC afternoon or evening flex games, I ended up with Florida State at Miami in the ESPN primetime slot and Notre Dame at BYU in the late evening.

* For the Big 12, I'm assuming the top choice this week was one of ESPN's four priority choices across the season for the conference and intended to use it on Notre Dame-BYU. Pick orders aren't always alternating for a given week, so if Notre Dame-BYU isn't in late night but on ABC or ESPN in primetime, they could have that game and Utah at Colorado as the late evening game. That would likely give FOX both Arizona State-Texas Tech & Oklahoma State-Houston.

* This day feels like a day where multiple conferences could be held up for six day holds.

Thursday 10/15

7:30pm ESPN: East Carolina at UAB

7:30pm ESPN2: Georgia Southern at Old Dominion

Saturday 10/17

12pm ABC: Florida at Texas

12pm ESPN: Mississippi State at LSU

12pm ESPN2: Pitt at Boston College

12pm CW: Louisville at Syracuse
12pm TNT: Kansas at Kansas State

12pm FS1: Cincinnati at West Virginia

12pm ESPNU: Illinois State at Southern Illinois

12pm ACCN: Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech

12pm Peacock: Rutgers at Maryland

1pm BTN: Northwestern at Michigan State

3pm ESPN+: Florida A&M at Jackson State

3:30pm ABC: Auburn at Georgia

3:30pm CBS: Penn State at Michigan

3:30pm FOX: Oklahoma State at Houston

3:30pm ESPN: Missouri at Ole Miss
3:30pm ESPN2: Virginia at SMU
3:30pm FS1: Wisconsin at UCLA

3:30pm ESPNU: Navy at UTSA

3:30pm ACCN: Wake Forest at California

4:15pm SECN: Arkansas at Vanderbilt

7pm ESPN: Florida State at Miami (FL)
7pm ESPN2: Arizona State at Texas Tech

7pm FS1: TCU at Baylor

7pm ESPNU: Georgia State at James Madison

7:30pm ABC: Alabama at Tennessee

7:30pm FOX: Utah at Colorado

7:30pm NBC: Nebraska at Oregon

7:30pm ACCN: North Carolina at Duke

7:45pm SECN: Kentucky at Oklahoma

10:15pm ESPN: Notre Dame at BYU

10:30pm FS1: New Mexico at Hawai'i

Streaming

Charleston Southern at Clemson

Charlotte at Temple

Tulsa at Rice

Kent State at South Florida
Ohio at Sacramento State

UMass at Buffalo

Ball State at Bowling Green

Western Michigan at Central Michigan

Akron at Miami (OH)

Toledo at Eastern Michigan
Arkansas State at Southern Miss

Louisiana Tech at ULM

Troy at Louisiana

CFB TV Confirmations for 2026 Week 6 (10/8/2026-10/10/2026)

2026-09-28T08:30:09.048-04:00

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for Week 6 (10/8/26 - 10/10/26) from the (mostly) twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to. Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their scheduled games held for a six day hold for the start time and/or the TV network. The list of available TV windows are based on media websites, TV listings and press releases. They can change based on the needs of the broadcaster or the conference.

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set.

Thursday 10/8

7:30pm ESPN: South Florida at UTSA

7:30pm ESPN2: South Alabama at Arkansas State

Saturday 10/10

12pm ABC: South Carolina at Florida OR Texas A&M at Missouri

12pm FOX: Indiana at Nebraska

12pm ESPN/ESPN2: North Carolina at Pitt

12pm ESPN/ESPN2: UCF at Oklahoma State

12pm CW: Wake Forest at NC State

12pm TNT: Arizona at West Virginia

12pm ESPN+: Sacramento State at Bowling Green

12:30pm BTN: Ball State at Northwestern

12:45pm SECN: South Carolina at Florida OR Texas A&M at Missouri

1pm ESPN+: Old Dominion at App State

2pm ESPN+: Miami (OH) at UMass

3:30pm ABC: Texas vs. Oklahoma

3:30pm FOX: Houston at Kansas State

3:30pm CBS: UCLA at Oregon

3:30pm ESPN: Ole Miss at Vanderbilt

3:30pm FS1: Illinois at Michigan State

3:30pm ESPN2/ACCN: Duke at Georgia Tech

3:30pm ESPN2/ACCN: Virginia Tech at California

3:30pm ESPN+: Charlotte at North Texas

3:30pm ESPN+: Eastern Michigan at Akron

3:30pm ESPN+: Buffalo at Toledo

3:30pm ESPN+: Central Michigan at Ohio

3:30pm ESPN+: Kent State at Western Michigan

3:45pm ESPNU: UConn at Temple

4pm ESPN+: Rice at East Carolina

4:15pm BTN: Maryland at Ohio State

4:15pm SECN: Tennessee at Arkansas

7pm ESPN: LSU at Kentucky

7pm ESPN2: UAB at Memphis OR James Madison at Georgia Southern

7pm FS1: Nevada at UTEP

7pm ESPN+: Coastal Carolina at Marshall

7:30pm ABC: Georgia at Alabama

7:30pm ESPNU: UAB at Memphis OR James Madison at Georgia Southern

7:30pm ACCN: Syracuse at Virginia

7:30pm ESPN+: Louisiana at Louisiana Tech

8pm BTN: Minnesota at Purdue

10:30pm ESPN: Kansas at Utah

10:30pm FS1: Hawai'i at Arizona State

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Week 6 (10/8/2026-10/10/2026)

2026-09-27T08:46:17.472-04:00

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements and six day holds used in a separate post.

A few notes and considerations:

* ACCN has cleared out its noon window and will only have two games

* FS1 has a horse racing block at noon with their first game at 3:30pm.

* SECN has times set that are close to the ABC window start times, which could indicate some "Command Center" or second screen experiences for the ABC games.
* FOX Sports has no MLB postseason planned for this date. At night, FOX is carrying a Big Ten women's volleyball match.

* NBC pre-selected USC at Penn State as their Big Ten night game. In order, I gave FOX and CBS the next two Big Ten selections. I also gave FOX the top Big 12 choice.

* ESPNU used its noon slot on an Ivy League game in the spring.

* Games set for time and TV, but not both

Nevada at UTEP (TBA, FOX Sports)
Illinois at Michigan State (between 12pm & 5pm)
Ball State at Northwestern (between 12pm & 5pm)
Maryland at Ohio State (between 3:30pm & 8pm)
Texas vs. Oklahoma (3:30pm, ABC or ESPN)
SEC game time slots

Early: Texas A&M at Missouri, South Carolina at Florida
Evening: Georgia at Alabama, LSU at Kentucky
Flex: Tennessee at Arkansas, Ole Miss at Vanderbilt

* I dropped the mid-afternoon SECN window. Figure that will be given to a Command Center simulcast of Texas-Oklahoma, which is why the TV windows are at different times than a usual SECN week. Certainly possible that the 7:30pm window instead will get SECN simulcast treatment instead of 3:30pm. Either way, I think one of the windows ends up as a simulcast.

* I think this is the week to use Ohio State's intraconference game BTN appearance. With it unavailable as an early start, I put it at night.

* TNT Sports' Big 12 sublicense states that 10 of its 13 games each season must be intraconference games, so that would make Hawai'i-Arizona State ineligible to be selected by them.

Thursday 10/8

7:30pm ESPN: South Florida at UTSA
7:30pm ESPN2: South Alabama at Arkansas State

Saturday 10/10

12pm ABC: South Carolina at Florida

12pm FOX: Indiana at Nebraska

12pm ESPN: North Carolina at Pitt

12pm ESPN2: UAB at Memphis

12pm TNT: UCF at Oklahoma State

12pm CW: Duke at Georgia Tech

12pm SECN: Texas A&M at Missouri

12:30pm BTN: Minnesota at Purdue

3:30pm ABC: Texas vs. Oklahoma

3:30pm FOX: Arizona at West Virginia

3:30pm CBS: UCLA at Oregon

3:30pm ESPN: Ole Miss at Vanderbilt
3:30pm ESPN2: Virginia Tech at California

3:30pm FS1: Illinois at Michigan State

3:30pm ESPNU: Miami (OH) at UMass

3:30pm ACCN: Wake Forest at NC State

4:15pm BTN: Ball State at Northwestern

7pm ESPN: LSU at Kentucky
7pm ESPN2: Houston at Kansas State

7pm FS1: Nevada at UTEP

7pm ESPNU: James Madison at Georgia Southern

7:30pm ABC: Georgia at Alabama

7:30pm SECN: Tennessee at Arkansas

7:30pm ACCN: Syracuse at Virginia

8pm BTN: Maryland at Ohio State

10:15pm ESPN: Kansas at Utah

10:30pm FS1: Hawai'i at Arizona State

Streaming

UConn at Temple

Charlotte at North Texas

Rice at East Carolina

Eastern Michigan at Akron

Sacramento State at Bowling Green

Buffalo at Toledo

Central Michigan at Ohio

Kent State at Western Michigan

Old Dominion at App State

Coastal Carolina at Marshall

Louisiana at Louisiana Tech

CFB TV Confirmations for 2026 Week 5 (10/3/2026)

2026-09-21T10:30:02.013-04:00

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for Week 4 (9/26/26) from the (mostly) twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to. Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their scheduled games held for a six day hold for the start time and/or the TV network. The list of available TV windows are based on media websites, TV listings and press releases. They can change based on the needs of the broadcaster or the conference.

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set.

Six day hold

Notre Dame at North Carolina - 12pm ABC or ESPN or 7:30pm ABC

Miami (FL) at Clemson - 12pm ABC or ESPN or 7:30pm ABC

Alabama at Mississippi State - 12pm ABC or ESPN or 12:45pm SECN

Vanderbilt at Georgia - 12pm ABC or ESPN or 12:45pm SECN

12pm FOX: Michigan at Minnesota

12pm ESPN2: UCF at Houston

12pm CW: Boston College at SMU

12pm TNT: West Virginia at Iowa State

12pm ESPNU: Middle Tennessee at Kansas

12pm ACCN: Stanford at Wake Forest

12:30pm BTN: Michigan State at Wisconsin

1pm ESPN+: Western Michigan at Buffalo

2pm ESPN+: Toledo at Ball State

3:30pm CBS: Ohio State at Iowa

3:30pm ABC or ESPN: Auburn at Tennessee

3:30pm ABC or ESPN: Florida at Missouri

3:30pm ESPN2 or ACCN: Louisville at NC State

3:30pm ESPN2 or ACCN: Virginia at Florida State

3:30pm ESPN+: Memphis at Charlotte

3:30pm ESPN+: Old Dominion at Georgia State

3:30pm ESPN+: Akron at Central Michigan

3:30pm ESPN+: Eastern Michigan at UMass

3:30pm ESPN+: Bowling Green at Miami (OH)

3:30pm ESPN+: Ohio at Kent State

3:45pm ESPNU: Marshall at James Madison

4pm FS1: Maryland at Nebraska

4:15pm BTN: Purdue at Illinois

4:15pm SECN: Kentucky at South Carolina

7pm ESPN/ESPN2: Arkansas at Texas A&M

7pm ESPN/ESPN2: BYU at TCU

7pm ESPN+: UTSA at Rice

7pm ESPN+: Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina

7pm ESPN+: ULM at South Alabama

7:30pm FOX: Texas Tech at Colorado

7:30pm NBC: Washington at USC

7:30pm ESPNU: Temple at South Florida

7:30pm ESPN+: Army West Point at Louisiana Tech

8pm BTN: Indiana at Rutgers

8pm ESPN+: Arkansas State at Louisiana

10:30pm ESPN: Baylor at Arizona State

11pm FOX: Cincinnati at Arizona

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Week 5 (10/3/2026)

2026-09-20T08:15:54.479-04:00

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements and six day holds used in a separate post.

A few notes and considerations:

* FOX and FS1 are expected to Game 1 from each from the National League Division Series. It appears one will be in the mid-afternoon on FOX with a night game on FS1.

* FS1 is carrying horse racing early in the afternoon, so they're intending to air only one game.

* FOX does have a late evening window at 11pm. Both the Big Ten and Big 12 are options for this window.

* The evening SEC Network window was selected late in the spring

* Games set for time or TV network family, but not both:

Indiana at Rutgers (8pm, TBA)
SEC game time slots

Early: Vanderbilt at Georgia, Alabama at Mississippi State
Flex: Florida at Missouri, Auburn at Tennessee, Arkansas at Texas A&M, Kentucky at South Carolina

* For the Big Ten, I used the following selection order: CBS, FOX, NBC. I gave ESPN the top Big 12 choice, then FOX the next two.
* I dropped the SECN window at 12:45pm ET. I struggled to fill ESPNU at the end, and neither Alabama at Mississippi State nor Vanderbilt at Georgia deserved SECN treatment. I'd assume SECN gets a simulcast of the ABC game with a "Command Center" presentation.

12pm ABC: Alabama at Mississippi State

12pm FOX: Michigan at Minnesota

12pm ESPN: Vanderbilt at Georgia

12pm ESPN2: UCF at Houston

12pm CW: Stanford at Wake Forest

12pm TNT: West Virginia at Iowa State

12pm ESPNU: Temple at South Florida

12pm ACCN: Louisville at NC State

12:30pm BTN: Michigan State at Wisconsin

3:30pm ABC: Florida at Missouri

3:30pm CBS: Ohio State at Iowa

3:30pm ESPN: Miami (FL) at Clemson

3:30pm ESPN2: Arkansas at Texas A&M

3:30pm ESPNU: Marshall at James Madison

3:30pm ACCN: Boston College at SMU

4pm FS1: Purdue at Illinois
4:15pm BTN: Maryland at Nebraska
4:15pm SECN: Kentucky at South Carolina

7pm ESPN: Auburn at Tennessee

7pm ESPN2: Cincinnati at Arizona

7pm ESPNU: Middle Tennessee at Kansas

7:30pm ABC: Notre Dame at North Carolina

7:30pm FOX: BYU at TCU

7:30pm NBC: Washington at USC

7:30pm ACCN: Virginia at Florida State

8pm BTN: Indiana at Rutgers

10:15pm ESPN: Texas Tech at Colorado

11pm FOX: Baylor at Arizona State

Streaming

UTSA at Rice

Memphis at Charlotte
Toledo at Ball State

Akron at Central Michigan

Western Michigan at Buffalo

Eastern Michigan at UMass

Ohio at Kent State

Bowling Green at Miami (OH)

Army West Point at Louisiana Tech

Arkansas State at Louisiana

Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina

Old Dominion at Georgia State

ULM at South Alabama

Sneak Peek at November ESPN Men's College Basketball Schedule

2026-09-14T21:51:19.758-04:00

ESPN's advance schedule is out for November and that means placeholders for college basketball are too for the month. Here's a sneak peak of what each network has in place (all times Eastern).

As always, schedule subject to change.

Games that might be airing on ESPN+, or being moved to ACCN, SECN or ESPNEWS aren't accounted anywhere, and there's some weirdness on the schedules around 11/23-11/27 where there's some missing games or TV windows that don't quite line up.

I have updated many of the known games' TV designations. Many of the "I think" predictions below are not on my site and won't be until confirmed.

ESPN

11/8: Arkansas vs. Virginia (from DC, confirmed for 1pm)

11/10: Champions Classic (7pm and 9pm)
11/15: American (1pm) & SEC (3pm) hoops

I think this is Louisville at Memphis & Marquette vs Missouri from Chicago.

11/17: ACC (7pm) along with four games from the Players Era 8 event

Pretty sure the 7pm game is Illinois at Duke

11/18: Two Players Era 8 games

11/19: Three Players Era 8 games

11/22: Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State (from Charleston, SC at 3:30pm)

11/24: Four games from the Players Era 16

11/25: One Players Era game (early morning), Marquette vs. Virginia from the Battle 4 Atlantis and the Maui Invitational Championship

11/26: One ESPN Events Invitational game followed by four Players Era 16 games

11/27: Dick Vitale Invitational (WVU vs. UNC) followed by two Players Era 16 games
11/28: Players Era 16 Championship
11/29: American (1pm)

One of the two American vs. Atlantic 10 challenge series games I believe (time may be off, see ESPN2).

ESPN2

11/2: SEC at 6pm

Miami vs. Florida from Tampa

11/5: SEC at 6pm

Wake Forest at Vandy?

11/8: American at 1pm

Possibly Richmond vs. Temple from the Palestra?

11/10: ACC at 6pm

Feels like Florida at Florida State

11/13: ACC at 7pm & SEC at 9pm

Georgia at North Carolina, followed by either Arizona at Auburn or Seton Hall at Alabama

11/15: Big 12 at 5pm

Texas vs. Baylor from San Antonio?

11/17: SEC at 9pm

Michigan State at Tennessee?

11/18: Two Players Era 8 games

11/19: One Players Era 8 game and WCC at 10:30pm

VCU at Santa Clara?

11/20: Three Charleston Classic games and WCC at 11pm

Might be Saint Louis at Saint Mary's

11/21: Washington State-Duke from the Acrisure Series (confirmed, 11pm)

11/22: Two Charleston Classic games and a Basketball Hall of Fame event game (???, maybe a mislabel)

11/23: Three Maui Invitational games and one ESPN Events Invitational game

11/24: One Players Era 16 game, two ESPN Events Invitational games, and the Maui Invitational semifinals

11/25: Two ESPN Events Invitational games, two Battle 4 Atlantis and two Maui Invitational games
11/26: Three Players Era 16 games, an ESPN Events Invitational game and the remaining Maui Invitational game (starts just after midnight on 11/26)

11/27: Three Players Era 16 games, a 5pm Big 12 game, an ESPN Events Invitational game and one Battle 4 Atlantis game

5pm Big 12 could be Villanova at Kansas

11/29: American (12pm)

One of the two American vs. Atlantic 10 challenge series games I believe (time could be off, see ESPN).

ESPNU

11/2: Big 12 6:30pm & ACC 8:30pm

Ohio State-BYU from Salt Lake City or Memphis-Iowa State from Sioux Falls, plus Florida A&M-Florida State from Orlando?

11/5: SEC at 8pm

Wake Forest at Vandy if it isn't on ESPN2?

11/6: SEC at 7pm & Big 12 at 9pm

James Madison at Kentucky followed by MTSU at Kansas?

11/8: ACC at 7:30pm

Penn State-Pitt from Philadelphia?

11/10: ACC at 10:30pm

??? unless Rice-Stanford moves from the prior day

11/13: ACC at 6pm

Georgetown at Clemson?

11/16: SEC at 8pm

Grambling State at Kentucky?

11/17: ACC at 5pm & 10pm

Villanova at Pitt early, UC Irvine at Stanford late?

11/20: ACC at 8pm

Marshall at North Carolina?

11/23: Two ESPN Events Invitational games, the 9pm Maui Invitational game and a game labeled "Main Event" which might be a mislabel

11/24: Two Maui Invitational games and two Players Era 16 games

11/25: One ESPN Events Invitational game and one Battle 4 Atlantis game

11/26: One Players Era 16 game

11/27: Three Players Era 16 games and two games labeled "Wooden Legacy". "Wooden Legacy" could be a mislabel.

CFB TV Confirmations for 2026 Week 4 (9/26/2026)

2026-09-14T08:03:20.326-04:00

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set.

12pm ABC: Texas at Tennessee

12pm FOX: Illinois at Ohio State

12pm ESPN/ESPN2: Colorado at Baylor

12pm ESPN/ESPN2 or ACCN: Wake Forest at Louisville

12pm ESPN/ESPN2 or ACCN: Virginia Tech at Boston College

12pm TNT: Sam Houston at Texas Tech

12pm ESPNU: Colorado State at UTSA

12pm CBSSN: San Diego State at Toledo

12pm ESPN+: UNLV at Akron

12pm ESPN+: Ball State at Kent State

1:30pm BTN: UCLA at Maryland

2pm Peacock/NBCSN: Notre Dame at Purdue

2pm ESPN+: Northern Illinois at Georgia State

3pm ACCN: Central Arkansas at Florida State

3:30pm CBS: Iowa at Michigan

3:30pm FOX: Utah at Iowa State

3:30pm ABC or ESPN: Oklahoma at Georgia

3:30pm ABC or ESPN: Ole Miss at Florida

3:30pm FS1: TCU at UCF

3:30pm ESPN+: UConn at Miami (OH)

3:30pm ESPN+: Gardner-Webb at Marshall

3:30pm ESPN2 or 4pm ESPNU: Boise State at Western Michigan

3:30pm ESPN2 or 4pm ESPNU: Houston at Georgia Southern

4:15pm SECN: Vanderbilt at Auburn

5pm BTN: Nebraska at Michigan State

5pm Peacock/NBCSN: Wisconsin at Penn State

5pm ESPN+: South Florida at Bowling Green

6pm ACCN: Delaware at Virginia

6pm ESPN+: James Madison at Old Dominion

6:30pm ESPN+: Louisiana at Charlotte

7pm ESPN: South Carolina at Alabama

7pm ESPN2: Kansas State at Cincinnati

7pm FS1: Oklahoma State at West Virginia

7pm ESPN+: Southern Miss at Tulane

7pm ESPN+: Kennesaw State at Arkansas State

7:30pm ABC: Texas A&M at LSU

7:30pm NBC: Oregon at USC

7:30pm ESPNU: App State at NC State

7:45pm SECN: Missouri at Mississippi State

8pm ESPN+: Florida Atlantic at ULM

9pm ACCN: Missouri State at SMU

9pm ESPN+: UMass at Sacramento State

10:30pm FS1: Air Force at Nevada

11pm FOX: Minnesota at Washington

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Week 4 (9/26/2026)

2026-09-13T10:29:56.464-04:00

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements and six day holds used in a separate post.

A few notes and considerations:

* Neither ESPN nor ESPN2 will have a late night selection as those games were picked back in May.

* CW also selected their ACC game for this week back in May.

* SEC Network had their early game selected in June as part of SEC time slotting.

* FOX has a late night window scheduled for 11pm ET after MLB at 7pm (maybe they'll move it up 30 minutes?).

* CBSSN might have a MAC game at either noon or 11pm ET.

* FS1 doesn't have a noon window due to a NASCAR Truck Series race.

* BTN has a pair of games at slight odd start times for them (1:30pm & 5pm ET), but that is to help lead in to a women's volleyball match at 9pm ET.

* Peacock will have a pair of games with both simulcast on NBCSN. Back in May, NBC Sports responded to a question from Awful Announcing about Notre Dame not having a home game exclusively on Peacock, saying that they would indeed carry a Notre Dame game exclusively on Peacock. While not a home game, Notre Dame at Purdue being set for Peacock would be the way to be accurate about that question.

* Games set for time or TV network family, but not both:

Air Force at Nevada (TBA, FOX Sports)
Texas at Tennessee (12pm, ABC or ESPN)
Southern at Jackson State (7pm, ESPN Networks)
Prairie View A&M vs. Grambling State (7pm, ESPN Networks)
SEC Game slots

Afternoon: Vanderbilt at Auburn
Evening: South Carolina at Alabama, Missouri at Mississippi State
Flex: Ole Miss at Florida, Oklahoma at Georgia, Texas A&M at LSU

* For the Big Ten, I have NBC picking 1st and 4th, which should allow Peacock to get the Notre Dame-Purdue game. NBC could be higher than that too. Supposedly NBC will have Oregon at USC per an interview Todd Blackledge did prior to the season. After NBC/Peacock, I went with FOX, CBS, NBC/Peacock and FOX.

* I gave FOX first pick for the Big 12.

12pm ABC: Texas at Tennessee

12pm FOX: Iowa at Michigan

12pm ESPN: Wake Forest at Louisville

12pm ESPN2: Sam Houston at Texas Tech

12pm TNT: TCU at UCF

12pm ESPNU: Boise State at Western Michigan

12pm ACCN: Delaware at Virginia

12pm CBSSN: San Diego State at Toledo

12pm Peacock/NBCSN: Nebraska at Michigan State

1:30pm BTN: Wisconsin at Penn State

3:30pm ABC: Oklahoma at Georgia

3:30pm CBS: Illinois at Ohio State

3:30pm FOX: Colorado at Baylor

3:30pm ESPN: Ole Miss at Florida

3:30pm ESPN2: Oklahoma State at West Virginia

3:30pm FS1: Kansas State at Cincinnati

3:30pm ACCN: App State at NC State

3:30pm Peacock/NBCSN: Notre Dame at Purdue

4pm ESPNU: Colorado State at UTSA

4:15pm SECN: Vanderbilt at Auburn

5pm BTN: UCLA at Maryland

7pm ESPN: South Carolina at Alabama

7pm ESPN2: Missouri State at SMU

7pm FS1: Utah at Iowa State

7:30pm ABC: Texas A&M at LSU

7:30pm NBC: Oregon at USC

7:30pm ESPNU: Houston at Georgia Southern

7:30pm ACCN: Virginia Tech at Boston College

7:45pm SECN: Missouri at Mississippi State

10:30pm FS1: Air Force at Nevada

11pm FOX: Minnesota at Washington

Streaming

Central Arkansas at Florida State

Southern Miss at Tulane

Louisiana at Charlotte
UNLV at Akron
UMass at Sacramento State

South Florida at Bowling Green

Ball State at Kent State

UConn at Miami (OH)
Kennesaw State at Arkansas State

James Madison at Old Dominion
Gardner-Webb at Marshall

Northern Illinois at Georgia State

Florida Atlantic at ULM

2026 Conference TV Requirements, Six Day Holds and Likely First Picks

2026-06-18T20:50:56.555-04:00

Instead of cluttering up the weekly picks for 2026, I'm going to keep track of selection specific information in this post like six day holds that have been used, the number of times I think a network has chosen first and the required appearances that a school needs to fill on conference networks like Big Ten Network.

Six Day Holds Used

ACC (3 remaining): 10/3

American (4 remaining):

Big Ten (2 remaining): 10/17, 10/24

Big 12 (3 remaining): 10/24

MW:

SEC:

Please note that this is my guess about who chose first in a given Saturday. This is not a confirmation from either the networks or conferences of who chose first.

Big Ten

Assumed top Saturday choice each week. Weeks 0-3 and 13 were known in advance of the early season selection release.

08/29	NBC: SJSU at USC
09/05	CBS: Boise State at Oregon
09/12	FOX: Oklahoma at Michigan
09/19	FOX: Kent St at Ohio State
09/26	NBC: Oregon at USC
10/03	CBS: Ohio State at Iowa
10/10	NBC: USC at Penn State
10/17	FOX: Ohio State at Indiana
10/24	FOX: Indiana at Michigan
10/31
11/07	CBS: Oregon at Ohio State
11/14
11/21
11/28	FOX: Michigan at Ohio State

Each school is supposed to appear on BTN twice each season with at least one appearance against another Big Ten school.

The following schools need one game vs. another Big Ten school to air on BTN to fulfill their network requirement: Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State, USC and Washington

127 regular season games are available to the Big Ten's rightsholders. NBC Sports has received an extra regular season selection as part of the transaction for selling the Big Ten Championship game to FOX. Whether that game is being spent on Peacock or NBC is unknown at the moment.

Here's the known selections used by each rightsholder, and I hope to know more about how many games each rightsholder should have later in the summer:

FOX/FS1	NBC	CBS	Peacock	BTN
31 of 45	10 of 14	10 of 14	8 of 11	31 of 43

Night games, and the maximum number you can play, is also important in the Big Ten. More for the schools not in the Pacific time zone. There is typically a limit of five night games during the season, and my understanding is that includes weeknight games. The maximum for five is generally no more than three home games and no more than two road games, with exceptions.

I'm considering any game starting after 6pm local time as a night game. This list might not be perfect either.

Illinois	3 total, 2 at home
Indiana	2 total, 1 at home
Iowa	2 total, 1 at home
Maryland	2 total, 2 at home
Michigan	1 total, 1 at home
Michigan State	2 total, 2 at home
Minnesota	4 total, 1 at home
Nebraska	4 total, 2 at home
Northwestern	4 total, 3 at home
Ohio State	0
Oregon	2 total, 2 at home
Penn State	2 total, 1 at home
Purdue	4 total, 3 at home
Rutgers	3 total, 3 at home
UCLA	2 total, 2 at home
USC	2 total, 2 at home
Washington	3 total, 2 at home
Wisconsin	4 total, 3 at home

Big 12

Assumed top Saturday choice each week.

08/29	ESPN: UNC vs. TCU
09/05	FOX: BC at Cincy
09/12	ESPN: Oregon at OK State
09/19	FS1: ASU vs. Kansas
09/26	ESPN: CU at Baylor
10/03	ESPN: BYU at TCU
10/10	ESPN: Kansas at Utah
10/17	ABC: Notre Dame at BYU
10/24	ESPN: Houston at Utah
10/31
11/07
11/14
11/21
11/28

ABC & ESPN Networks has the top four choices across the season. After that, FOX Sports and ESPN share selections.

Per Jon Wilner of Bay Area News Group and other reports,

* FOX Sports is capped somewhere around 35 games per season with at least seven games on FOX broadcast network. I believe their number for the Big 12 will be 34 this season base on FOX Sports sending out a count of 137 games. 137 subtracting two conference championship games, 88 Big Ten regular season games for FOX, FS1, and 12 regular season MW games = 35 Big 12 games.

* ESPN will carry (at least?) 27 games across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. Initially, games were not expected to air on ESPNU, but some will air there.

* TNT will carry 13 games. Ten games will be intraconference games.

* Remaining games will be on ESPN+, which appears to be 33 games at the most.

* Counts below exclude the conference championship game airing on ABC.

FOX	13
FS1	10
Total	23 of 35

ABC	1
ESPN	13
ESPN2	8
ESPNU / NEWS	7
TBD	0
Linear TV	29
ESPN+	15
Overall	44 of 60

TNT

8 of 13

American

The American has a minimum of 40 games per season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, excluding the conference championship game. At least 20 of the 40 are expected to be on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. Counts below exclude the conference championship game on ABC.

ABC	0
ESPN	9
ESPN2	6
ESPNU	10
ESPNEWS/Other	0
TBD	5
Total	30

Thoughts on Early Season CFB TV selections for 2026

2026-06-02T09:10:50.648-04:00

* SEC game slotting will be announced on 6/10 and as part of this, the remaining SEC+ games will be set. These should be the remaining games to be set for the streaming platform:

9/26: Tulsa at Arkansas
10/17: The Citadel at Texas A&M
11/21: Wofford at Ole Miss, Tennessee Tech at Mississippi State, Chattanooga at Alabama & Samford at Auburn

* I wasn't surprised that Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame was scheduled for primetime on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. What did catch me out was that the Apple Cup was moved to Sunday to precede the game as NBC previously planned to carry Braves-Phillies that afternoon.

I was surprised that Purdue at UCLA was put in the late evening slot on BTN on 9/19. When looking at places to juggle time and TV that day, if the desire was to have that game on BTN, it could have been flipped with Eastern Washington at Washington and the North Dakota at Nebraska game could have stayed at 7:15pm.

* Why was North Dakota State at Sacramento State given such a high profile slot as the ESPN "After Dark" slot? They can certainly lean into the storyline of two schools moving up to FBS and put a lot of focus on that. The reality is that the Big 12 and ACC weren't offering many games. For the two other games that are available matching up FBS school, both from the Big 12, other TV partners gobbled them up: Utah State at Utah on FOX and Northern Illinois at Arizona on TNT.

I don't know where TNT would have been picking on 9/19. I'd assume they were 5th at the max. If they were lower, then ESPN could have had the ability to choose NIU-Arizona. Either way, a nice pickup for the MAC to get on ESPN.

* The American getting two games on ESPN on Black Friday is surprising from the standpoint that ESPN has eight games from the Players Era 16 to fit in. Knowing that two arenas will be in use, ESPN2 will likely get the majority of games that afternoon and evening. ESPN will probably pick up a game or two from that event after football and likely one more men's basketball game, such as West Virginia vs. North Carolina in the Dick Vitale Invitational from Charlotte.

* The MAC's TV schedule release accounted for nine of their ten game windows on CBS Sports Network. CBS Sports PR didn't release a schedule of game windows for CBS nor CBSSN, but piecing together everyone else's TV schedule left the 12pm window open on both 9/26 and 10/24.

9/26 has plenty of quality non-conference games hosted by the MAC to choose from and seems like the better date, both for ESPN to take a game for ESPNU and for CBSSN:

UConn at Miami (OH)
San Diego State at Toledo

Boise State at Western Michigan

South Florida at Bowling Green

UNLV at Akron

* The Pac-12 didn't provide a lot of details on how TV would be set up for the final week of the season knowing that the matchups they set up were tentative, but we do know the following from their TV release and from one partner's release

USA and the CW will carry two games each
USA's games will air at 6pm and 9:30pm ET.
The CW games are TBD, but we do know that the Mountain West will not have a game on Saturday 11/28 on the CW. I'd expect the ACC to have a football game that week. Its possible that a basketball game could be mixed in too.

The conference also had five games noted as potentially moving to either a Thursday or Friday night, and I expected all of them to end up on one of those two nights, but ended up only moving two of those games off Saturday.

* I am not well versed on the programming schedule of The CW, but I didn't expect to see three games played on Friday nights (a fourth Friday game is the afternoon of Black Friday). Two of those are weeks where a Saturday window is taken up by a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race.

* With The CW taking an ACC game for week 0, at least one week during the season the CW will be skipping an ACC game. I'd assume a week to skip would be potentially in October (there's 3 weeks with 5-6 games on Saturday) or November 7th. With the MW and Pac-12, plus NASCAR through early November, taking up other programming hours on Saturdays, it doesn't feel as likely that they would skip two weeks and do two games in a given week.

* Kansas State at Arizona State game claimed in advance by ESPN for 10/24 had to be for a particular reason that I imagine will be more visible later in the season. The first thing I checked was to see if ESPN had no other options for the "After Dark" window, and they have two other options for the Big 12. FOX Sports might have the top two choice this particular week and both games that may interest them could be hosted by schools that could occupy the late evening window (Houston at Utah & Iowa State at Arizona).

* Seems like the Big Ten schools have loosened their grip on their homecoming games being pinned to a specific TV window or a narrow range of TV windows, like the noon and afternoon windows. Only one game, Indiana at Rutgers on 10/3, was pinned to a specific start time and that time is 8pm ET. Don't know if Rutgers did that by design to get their 3rd home game locked in as a night game so they wouldn't have to host any others at night.

If I recall correctly, there are some limits around the homecoming games being set aside for six day holds and TV partners, if a game is held, may have to put further limits or confirm a start time for the game.

A Few CFB Odds and Sods for CFB TV in 2026

2026-05-22T11:03:51.143-04:00

Early season and special date kickoff times and TV will be announced this coming Wednesday, May 27th. Last year they showed up at 12pm ET. Here's some other considerations beyond the those dates.

* Let's start with the SEC. We know each school is supposed to have one non-conference home game per season on the SEC+ streaming companion to SEC Network. I tried to take this into account for the guesses for Weeks 1-3. Here's my guesses for the season of the SEC+ games:

Week 1 (9/5)
Austin Peay at Vanderbilt, Youngstown State at Kentucky, Tennessee State at Georgia, North Alabama at Arkansas, Furman at Tennessee

Week 2 (9/12)

Towson at South Carolina, Campbell at Florida

Week 3 (9/19)

New Mexico at Oklahoma, Troy at Missouri, UTSA at Texas

Week 5 (10/3)

McNeese at LSU

Week 7 (10/17)
The Citadel at Texas A&M

Week 12 (11/21)

Wofford at Ole Miss, Tennessee Tech at Mississippi State, Samford at Auburn, Chattanooga at Alabama

Since 2021 when SEC+ streaming was added as an option, 71.2% of the games chosen for the platform have been the game vs. a FCS opponent. Certainly possible that I've overloaded the schedule with FCS games.

* The Big Ten allows their schools to put start time parameters around their homecoming games, if they so choose. Here's the known homecoming games for 2026:

TBA: UCLA, Washington (listed as a November weekend)

Week 4 (9/26)

Wisconsin at Penn State

Week 5 (10/3)

Purdue at Illinois, Maryland at Nebraska, Indiana at Rutgers, Washington at USC, Michigan State at Wisconsin

Week 6 (10/10)

Illinois at Michigan State, Ball State at Northwestern, Maryland at Ohio State

Week 7 (10/17)

Rutgers at Maryland, Penn State at Michigan

Week 8 (10/24)

Iowa at Minnesota

Week 9 (10/31)

Wisconsin at Iowa, Minnesota at Indiana, Northwestern at Oregon

Week 10 (11/7)

Maryland at Purdue

* Compared to the first two seasons of the Big Ten rights agreement, 2026 will be a more compressed season with one less week of TV windows, and really every conference will be dealing with this to some degree. Here's hoping we don't see any major weather rescheduling.

Think of it as a couple more places where BTN might have to double up on games or have a late evening TV window. CBS's agreement calls for 14-15 games, so its possible they'll have one less game. NBC's schedule calls for 14-16 games on the broadcast network and we know they'll have one extra regular season game by selling the Big Ten Championship game back to FOX.

* We know ESPN leans heavily into the SEC to fill the ABC football schedule. What games from the ACC. Big 12 and American could help fill out that schedule, excluding games not already set for ABC? I look at these five games:

SMU at Louisville (Week 3, September 19th) - Its a stretch, but both could end up as ranked coming into the week. I had this as on ACCN, but it might be worth a push.
Notre Dame at BYU & Miami (FL) at Florida State (Week 7, October 17th) - For the Big 12 game, might need to work on whether this ends up at 12pm ET / 10am local time.
Notre Dame vs. Navy from Foxborough, MA (Week 9, October 31st) - Would expect Florida vs. Georgia to occupy one ABC slot.
BYU at Utah (Week 10, November 7th) - Georgia at Ole Miss and Alabama at LSU will likely occupy the other two ABC. Could be another 10am local start.

EDIT: I ommitted Tennessee at Georgia Tech which I guessed would be an ABC game in Week 2. Forgot about that one probably because its a SEC school on the road. Its an ACC controlled game, but I was thinking of games where the SEC didn't have a school playing at all in the game.

A Breakdown of Weeknight College Football on TV for 2026

2026-05-03T10:45:19.263-04:00

Tuesdays and Wednesdays

CUSA, the MAC and the Sun Belt will comprise the football schedule these nights in October and November. I'll put the games or conference involved, with where I think it will end up. Its not rocket science since CBSSN has CUSA and MAC options where the Sun Belt is only ESPN.

Tue 10/6: Southern Miss at Troy

Wed 10/7: One CUSA on CBSSN & one on ESPN2/ESPNU

Tue 10/13: One CUSA on CBSSN & one on ESPN2/ESPNU

Wed 10/14: One CUSA on CBSSN & one on ESPN2/ESPNU

Tue 10/20: South Alabama at Marshall (likely ESPN2), one CUSA on CBSSN & one on ESPNU

Wed 10/21: One CUSA on CBSSN & one on ESPN2/ESPNU

Tues 10/27: One CUSA on CBSSN & one on ESPN2/ESPNU

Wed 10/28: One CUSA on CBSSN & one on ESPN2/ESPNU

Tue 11/3: One MAC on ESPN2/ESPNU and one on CBSSN

Wed 11/4: Two MAC on ESPN2/ESPNU and one on CBSSN

Tue 11/10: Two MAC on ESPN2/ESPNU and one on CBSSN

Wed 11/11: Two MAC on ESPN2/ESPNU and one on CBSSN

Tue 11/17: Two MAC on ESPN2/ESPNU and one on CBSSN

Wed 11/18: Two MAC on ESPN2/ESPNU

Thursdays

Thursdays used to be ESPN's premier weeknight game. Over the past decade with the NFL occupying Thursdays permanently throughout the season, its reasonable to assume that the prestige of Thursdays and Friday nights have flipped.

Here's what ESPN's Thursday night schedule looks to be. Expect ESPN2 to have games too with the occasional ESPNU game. I'd expect a few HBCU games on Thursday nights too, likely on ESPNU.

9/3: Colorado at Georgia Tech

9/10: Skip for US Open tennis (and NFL opening Thursday night)

9/17: Syracuse at Pitt

9/24: Liberty at Coastal Carolina

10/1: North Texas at Tulsa

10/8: One of South Florida at UTSA, South Alabama at Arkansas State and either Missouri State at WKU or Sam Houston at Liberty. I would expect games on ESPN2 and ESPNU too.

10/15: East Carolina at UAB & Georgia Southern at Old Dominion (one on ESPN2/ESPNU)

10/22: East Carolina at Memphis & James Madison at App State (one on ESPN2/ESPNU)

10/29: Florida Atlantic at North Texas & Troy at James Madison (one on ESPN2/ESPNU)

11/5: UTSA at Florida Atlantic & James Madison at Southern Miss (one on ESPN2/ESPNU)

11/12: Memphis at South Florida & Louisiana at ULM (one on ESPN2/ESPNU)

11/19: Rice at Temple (Arkansas State at Louisiana Tech might move to this date too and if it does, one on ESPN2/ESPNU)

11/26: TCU at Texas Tech (Thanksgiving)

It looks like CBSSN might televise a pair on Thursday night games in mid-October. One on 10/8 would be a CUSA game (either Missouri State at WKU or Sam Houston at Liberty) and the second could be on 10/15 if Colorado State at Texas State is moved.

Fridays

We know a decent portion of the Friday night football schedule, so what might it look like for ESPN, ESPN2, FOX Sports and CBS Sports Network?

Unless designated, main ESPN should air these games. All times Eastern and I've skipped Black Friday for all networks listed.

ESPN/ESPN2

For 10/23, 10/30 & 11/6, multiple ACC games were designated as "may move to Friday", so I picked one.

9/4: Miami (FL) at Stanford (9pm)

9/11: Rutgers at Boston College (7:30pm, ESPN2)

9/18: Miami (FL) at Wake Forest (7:30pm)

9/25: Army West Point at Temple (7pm), Navy at UAB (8pm, ESPN2) & Clemson at California (10:30pm)

10/2: Pitt at Virginia Tech (7:30pm)

10/9: Florida State at Louisville (7pm) & Iowa State at BYU (10:15pm)

10/16: App State at Coastal Carolina (6pm) & Memphis at Tulane (9:15pm)
10/23: Duke at Virginia (7:30pm) & Army West Point at Tulsa (8pm, ESPN2)

10/30: Tulane at Charlotte (7pm, ESPN2), SMU at Syracuse (7:30pm) & Kent State at Sacramento State (10:30pm, ESPN2)

11/6: South Florida at East Carolina (7pm, ESPN2) & Virginia Tech at SMU (7:30pm)

11/13: Florida State at Pitt (7pm) & Houston at Colorado (10:15pm)

11/20: Virginia Tech at Miami (FL) (7:30pm)

FOX/FS1

For FOX, I expect them to skip a few weeks on the broadcast network for other events like the World Series and other MLB playoffs.

Please note that I'm guessing which Big Ten games will move to Friday nights.

9/4: Toledo at Michigan State (7pm, FS1) & UNLV at Hawai'i (11pm, FS1)

9/11: Missouri at Kansas (8pm, FOX)
9/18: Houston at Texas Tech (8pm, FOX)

9/25: Northwestern at Indiana (8pm, FOX)

10/2: Penn State at Northwestern (8pm, FOX)

10/9: Minnesota at Purdue (8pm, FS1)

10/16: Rutgers at Maryland (8pm, FS1)

10/23: Completely skip or MW on FS1

10/30: Baylor at UCF (8pm, FS1)

11/6: UCLA at Minnesota (8pm, FOX)

11/13: Illinois at UCLA (9pm, FOX)

11/20: Iowa State at UCF (8pm, FOX)

CBSSN

I'm expecting the five Pac-12 games that were marked as possibilities for moving to Thursday & Friday to be moved. Also don't think they'll carry games every Friday.

Just about everything in here is a guess in terms of which games move.

9/4: Bryant at Army West Point

10/2: Liberty at Delaware & Fresno State at Washington State

10/9: Washington State at Utah State

10/16: Skip

10/23: Air Force at Wyoming

10/30: Oregon State at Fresno State

11/6: Skip for Veterans Classic

11/13: UNLV at New Mexico

11/20: San Diego State at Boise State

I'm less certain the Army game on 9/4 gets moved now that a 2nd Army road game has been set for a Friday night, but Army has regularly moved their Labor Day weekend opener to Friday to allow cadets a weekend away.

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Week 3

2026-03-17T08:51:52.403-04:00

* If a game isn't listed assume streaming such as ESPN+, SEC+, ACCNX, the MW app or local TV.

* Games in green are games that time and TV network have been set. Games in blue have been set for the TV network, but not yet the time. Games listed in italics are games I moved to a new date with no knowledge if that date change is actually happening.
* Using last year as a guide when Notre Dame plays at night, I deleted NBC's primetime Big Ten window in favor of a primetime Peacock exclusive. The Big Ten schedule this particular week is not a great one for the rightsholders.

Thursday
7:30pm ESPN: Syracuse at Pitt

Friday
7:30pm ESPN: Miami (FL) at Wake Forest

~~9pm~~ 8pm FOX: ~~Purdue at UCLA~~ Houston at Texas Tech

9pm BTN: Portland State at Oregon

Saturday
12pm ABC: Georgia at Arkansas

12pm FOX: Virginia Tech at Maryland
12pm ESPN: Arizona State vs. Kansas

12pm ESPN2: NC State at Vanderbilt

12pm FS1: Bowling Green at Iowa State

12pm CW: Maine at Boston College

12pm TNT: Arkansas State at TCU

12pm BTN: Kent State at Ohio State
12pm BTN: North Dakota at Nebraska

12pm ESPNU: Cincinnati vs. Miami (OH)

12pm ACCN: Stanford at Duke

12pm CBSSN: Wyoming at Central Michigan

12:45pm SECN: Kennesaw State at Tennessee

2pm USA: Montana at Oregon State

3:30pm ABC: Florida State at Alabama

3:30pm CBS: USC at Rutgers

3:30pm FOX: ~~Houston at Texas Tech~~ Utah State at Utah

3:30pm ESPN: West Virginia vs. Virginia

3:30pm FS1: Colorado at Northwestern

3:30pm BTN: UTEP at Michigan

3:30pm BTN: UNI at Iowa

3:30pm ACCN: North Carolina at Clemson

3:30pm CBSSN: South Dakota at Boise State

3:30pm Peacock: Eastern Michigan at Wisconsin

4pm ESPN2: Georgia State at UCF

4pm CW: Fresno State at San Jose State

4pm ESPNU: UConn at Southern Miss

4:15pm SECN: Mississippi State at South Carolina

6pm USA: North Texas at Texas State

7pm FOX: Buffalo at Penn State

7pm ESPN: Florida at Auburn

7pm FS1: Akron at Minnesota

7pm CBSSN: Georgia Southern at Jacksonville State

7:30pm ABC: LSU at Ole Miss

7:30pm NBC: Michigan State at Notre Dame

7:30pm CBS: BYU at Colorado State

7:30pm BTN: Southern Illinois at Illinois

~~7:30pm BTN: Portland State at Oregon~~

7:30pm ESPNU: FIU at Florida Atlantic

7:30pm ACCN: SMU at Louisville

7:30pm Peacock: WKU at Indiana

7:45pm SECN: Kentucky at Texas A&M

8pm ESPN2: Tulane at Kansas State

8pm CW: James Madison at San Diego State

10pm USA: Duquesne at Washington State

10:15pm ESPN: Northern Illinois at Arizona

10:30pm FOX: ~~Utah State at Utah~~ Purdue at UCLA

11pm BTN: Eastern Washington at Washington

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Week 2

2026-03-16T08:49:00.001-04:00

* If a game isn't listed assume streaming such as ESPN+, SEC+, ACCNX, the MW app or local TV.
* Games in green are games that time and TV network have been set. Games in blue have been set for the TV network, but not yet the time. Games listed in italics are games I moved to a new date with no knowledge if that date change is actually happening.

* Thursday night is traditionally the NFL's opening Thursday night.

* ESPN will carry the US Open men's semifinals on Friday night and the women's championship on Saturday afternoon.

* The CW has a primetime O'Reilly Series race on Saturday

Thursday

7pm ACCN: Florida A&M at Miami (FL)

Friday

7pm ACCN: Villanova at Louisville

7pm ESPNU: Norfolk State at Virginia

7:30pm ESPN2: Rutgers at Boston College

8pm FOX: Duke at Illinois Missouri at Kansas

8pm CBSSN: Tulsa at Sam Houston

Saturday

12pm ABC: Tennessee at Georgia Tech

12pm FOX: Oklahoma at Michigan

12pm ESPN: Oregon at Oklahoma State

12pm ESPN2: California at Syracuse

12pm CW: ~~Norfolk State at Virginia~~ ETSU at North Carolina

12pm FS1: Washington State at Kansas State

12pm TNT: UT Martin at West Virginia

12pm BTN: Eastern Michigan at Michigan State

12pm BTN: Howard at Indiana

12pm ESPNU: UNLV at North Texas

12pm ACCN: UCF at Pitt

12pm CBSSN: South Florida at Army West Point

12:45pm SECN: Charlotte at Ole Miss

3:30pm ABC: Alabama at Kentucky

3:30pm CBS: Utah State at Washington

3:30pm NBC: Rice at Notre Dame

3:30pm FOX: Arkansas at Utah

3:30pm CW: UTSA at Texas State

3:30pm FS1: Wake Forest at Purdue

3:30pm BTN: Western Illinois at Wisconsin

3:30pm ESPNU: Navy at Florida Atlantic

3:30pm ACCN: Old Dominion at Virginia Tech

3:30pm CBSSN: Memphis at Boise State

3:30pm Peacock: Mississippi State at Minnesota

4pm ESPN2: Penn State at Temple

4:15pm SECN: Southern Miss at Auburn

6pm USA: Southern Utah at Colorado State

7pm FOX: ~~Missouri at Kansas~~ Duke at Illinois

7pm ESPN: Arizona State at Texas A&M

7:30pm ABC: Ohio State at Texas

7:30pm NBC: Iowa State at Iowa

7:30pm CBS: Texas Tech at Oregon State

7:30pm BTN: Bowling Green at Nebraska

7:30pm ESPNU: Delaware at Vanderbilt

7:30pm ACCN: Georgia Southern at Clemson

7:30pm CBSSN: Maryland at UConn

7:45pm SECN: Louisiana Tech at LSU

7:30pm ESPN2: WKU at Georgia
10pm USA: Sacramento State at Fresno State

10pm CW: North Dakota State at Air Force

10:15pm ESPN: Arizona at BYU

10:30pm FOX: San Diego State at UCLA

11pm BTN: Louisiana at USC

11pm CBSSN: NM State at Hawai'i

CFB TV Guesses for 2026 Weeks 0 and 1

2026-03-05T07:38:00.006-05:00

NOTE: This has been edited with the announcement of the 2026 Mountain West football schedule. Edits will be in red.

* If a game isn't listed assume streaming such as ESPN+, SEC+, ACCNX, the MW app or local TV.
* Games in green are games that time and TV network have been set. Games in blue have been set for the TV network, but not yet the time. Games listed in italics are games I moved to a new date with no knowledge if that date change is actually happening.

Week 0 FBS

* FCS is going to start its season over Week 0. I'm only going to go through the games involving FBS schools with the exception of the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

* ABC should be carrying the Little League World Series semis on this day. I expect them to carry the MEAC/SWAC Challenge in primetime as they have the last couple years.

* FS1 will have LIV Golf in the early afternoon

* FOX will have IndyCar in the afternoon and MLB in the evening.

* Without the full MW schedule, its hard to say if any other networks would pick up a game.

12pm ESPN: North Carolina vs. TCU

3pm CBSSN: Sacramento State at Eastern Michigan

~~5pm~~ 3:30pm ESPN: Virginia vs. NC State

6pm ACCN: NM State at Florida State

6:30pm CBSSN: Jacksonville State at North Dakota State

7:30pm ABC: Howard vs. Alabama State

8pm BTN: San Jose State at USC

9:30pm ACCN: Hawai'i at Stanford

10pm CBSSN: Memphis at UNLV

Week 1

Thursday

6pm BTN: UMass at Rutgers

7pm ACCN: Akron at Wake Forest

~~7:30pm~~ 8pm ESPN: Colorado at Georgia Tech

8pm SECN: UAPB at Missouri

9pm BTN: Eastern Illinois at Minnesota

Friday

* UNLV at Hawai'i is not guaranteed to be a Week 1 game, but neither school is currently scheduled for this week. North Dakota State at UNLV or North Dakota State at Hawai'i could also be a late evening option depending on the Bison's non-conference plans. UNLV at Hawa'i is officially a Week One game.

6pm CBSSN: Bryant at Army West Point

~~7pm ESPN: Oklahoma State at Tulsa~~

7pm FS1: Toledo at Michigan State

9pm FOX: Fresno State at USC
~~10:30pm~~ 9pm ESPN: Miami (FL) at Stanford

11pm FS1: UNLV at Hawai'i

Saturday

* No ESPN2 all day due to US Open tennis.

* CW has a NASCAR race on Saturday evening.

* I'm expecting a portion of FS1 in mid-afternoon to be set aside for IndyCar qualifying, though it could be moved to FS2.

* FOX has a 7pm MLB window.

12pm ABC: ~~Baylor vs. Auburn~~ East Carolina at Alabama

12pm FOX: North Texas at Indiana

12pm ESPN: Missouri State at Texas A&M

12pm ESPNU: Arkansas State at Memphis

12pm FS1: Coastal Carolina at West Virginia

12pm TNT: Boston College at Cincinnati

12pm CW: Miami (OH) at Pitt

12pm BTN: Marshall at Penn State

12pm BTN: South Dakota State at Northwestern

12pm ACCN: New Hampshire at Syracuse

12pm CBSSN: Towson at Navy

12:45pm SECN: Kent State at South Carolina

~~12:45pm SECN: Tennessee State at Georgia~~

3:30pm ABC: ~~East Carolina at Alabama~~ Baylor vs. Auburn

3:30pm CBS: Ball State at Ohio State

3:30pm FOX: Oregon State at Houston

3:30pm ESPN: UTEP at Oklahoma

3:30pm ESPNU: Liberty at James Madison

3:30pm CW: Portland State at San Diego State

3:30pm BTN: UAB at Illinois

3:30pm BTN: Hampton at Maryland

3:30pm ACCN: Tulane at Duke

3:30pm CBSSN: Central Michigan at New Mexico

4pm USA: Idaho State at Utah State

4:15pm SECN: ULM at Mississippi State

6pm FS1: Washington State at Washington

7pm ESPN: Texas State at Texas

7pm CBSSN: Wyoming at Colorado State

7pm Peacock: Northern Illinois at Iowa

7:30pm ABC: Clemson at LSU

7:30pm NBC: Western Michigan at Michigan

7:30pm BTN: Ohio at Nebraska

7:30pm BTN: Indiana State at Purdue

7:30pm ESPNU: FIU at South Florida

~~7:30pm ESPNU: Kent State at South Carolina~~

7:30pm ACCN: VMI at Virginia Tech

7:45pm SECN: Florida Atlantic at Florida

~~9:30pm FS1: Fresno State at USC~~

10:30pm ESPN: UCLA at California

10:30pm CW: WKU at Nevada

11pm BTN: Boise State at Oregon

Sunday

* No mid-afternoon ABC due to the US Open

* NBC has MLB at 3pm ET.

* Louisville vs. Ole Miss from Nashville is currently either Friday or Saturday. I'm going to assume Sunday. Louisville vs. Ole Miss is officially a 7:30pm ET start on ABC on Sunday.

3pm ESPNU: South Carolina State vs. Florida A&M

7:30pm NBC: Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame

7:30pm ABC: Louisville vs. Ole Miss

Monday

~~8pm~~ 7:30pm ESPN: SMU at Florida State

The 2025 CFB TV Schedule Revealed: Which Conferences Dominated the Network Selections and Why?

2025-11-26T18:38:00.005-05:00

Everything's in. No more 12 day selections. No more 6 day hold angst.

I did some tracking around 6 day holds, who I thought had the top pick for a few of the conferences, and tracked some appearance related items in this article, and I'd appreciate it if you read it alongside this one.

* Broadcast television still brings home the bacon when it comes to how prestigious your program looks and your conference is showcased. In terms of the Big Four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX), here's how things break down by conference using the home team's conference as the conference of record. Also adding in Notre Dame since they do take up a chunk of broadcast network time. I've excluded any Army or Navy home games airing on CBS from the American's count since those schools' home games have been mostly set outside of the American's TV contracts, and conference championship games are also excluded.

No doubt that the SEC takes up a ton of real estate on ABC alone. I knew the Big 12 would have a good number because it gets several doubleheaders on FOX. The Big 12 getting a decent number of broadcast network games on FOX and a token number on ABC reminds me a bit of how the previous Pac-12 contract tended to work. ESPN and ESPN2 aired the majority of their set of Pac-12 games, while FOX and FS1 were a closer split.

The ACC number of 8 sticks out like a sore thumb since they're only a couple ahead of Notre Dame, who by contract gets nearly every home game on NBC. If you add the CW as a network, the gap closes to the Big 12 (21 for the ACC), but the games on the CW are usually towards the back end of the selection process and not meant to be showcase games for the conference. They do contribute a tangible number towards the ACC's success metrics pool, but they don't come close to what the ABC games provide.

* Which school showed up the most on the Big Four broadcast networks? Including the top 20 schools plus ties (21 schools total), Alabama gets the nod. The Big Ten (11) and SEC (7) naturally dominate this list (those whose conference appears on TV the most has more appearances to offer its members).

Notre Dame being near the top isn't a big surprise either. They get a head start at 6 games when you start with home games NBC, but ABC loves to show them as much as they can too with 3 road game appearances. I imagine that if Boston College or Stanford were mediocre, the Fighting Irish could have had the lead in this category.

The Big 12 contributes just 2 schools, but the conference has quality with respect to conference depth. Not pictured here are 4 schools who made 4 broadcast network appearances (BYU, Utah, Arizona State and Iowa State).

* One topic of discussion is how often FOX leans into certain Big Ten schools in the noon window, which is their highest rated window. And no one will be surprised by this result, which lists every school that made at least 2 appearances in the Saturday noon window on FOX.

No surprises. They lean hard into Ohio State and Michigan. Might have leaned into Penn State more if they had not had their midseason mess. Did take them a while to trust in Indiana though.

But overall, the schools that appeared on FOX the most came from the Big 12, though it must be understood that the Big 12 has more games on FOX (25) than the Big Ten does (20) when you include all games on the broadcast network on all days of the week. That said, Texas Tech had all of their FOX games on Saturdays (TCU had 1 Friday game). Here's everyone who had at least 3 appearances on FOX:

* Since FOX clearly favored getting Ohio State and Michigan as much as they could, who did CBS and NBC end up with most often for their Big Ten selections? We do know that they would have the full range of the conference's schools as nearly all of their games were at times acceptable to choosing a west coast school to host:

CBS is first, and them having Oregon as a regular choice should surprise no one. Everyone listed made at least 2 appearances on CBS.

NBC's choices are much more spread out. They did have 2 noon windows in addition to their mostly primetime schedule. I'll say that it interesting that Oregon only appeared on NBC once, NBC's marquee (at the time) game between Oregon and Penn State.

You might be asking yourself regarding Indiana who took them the most, and the answer is nobody. They had 2 appearances on each of the 6 platforms that carry the Big Ten (FOX, NBC, CBS, BTN, FS1 and Peacock).

* Yes, the ACC does miss out on a decent number of broadcast network opportunities as we mentioned earlier, but how do they do on ESPN, specifically Saturday on main ESPN once we get into the 12 day selection process that encompasses weeks 4 through 14? Not bad as they seem to be a priority to get on ESPN, regardless of the day of the week and in particular as the season progresses.

I wasn't completely surprised that 3 Power 4 conferences made up nearly all of the main ESPN Saturday selections once you get to the 12 day and 6 day selection weeks.

* ESPN2 is where more variability occurs. Its where you'll see Power 4 and Group of 5 conferences mix together on a Saturday. How does it look? A bit different:

A quick caveat: the Saturday FCS games from the Southland and Big Sky come from games that were preselected. They weren't placed as part of the 12 day process.

The American seems to get preference after the Big 12 and ACC where possible on Saturday, and that makes sense as they've been near the front all season with respect to the Group of 5 conference champion representative whether its been South Florida, Memphis, North Texas or Tulane, but the ACC and Big 12 continue at the top when it comes to Saturday selections.

CFB Six Day Guesses for 11/29/25

2025-11-21T20:17:00.001-05:00

* According to Jon Wilner of Bay Area News Group, CBS has preference on the pick for the Big Ten. Its now a bit clearer why they passed up Iowa-USC so they could keep UCLA-USC alive as a potential selection for themselves (NBC thanks them too).

* The Big 12 will have two games on FOX Sports, one on TNT and the remaining two on ESPN platforms.

* If ESPN were to go with UCF at BYU first, I could see that being the ABC game at noon ET (BYU will likely be just fine with a 10am local start), moving Texas Tech at WVU to FOX at 3:30pm and Miami (FL) at Pitt to ESPN at noon.

* Charlotte at Tulane is a mismatch, but Tulane appears to have pole position in the CFP committee's mind for the Group of 5 conference champion slot.

12pm ABC: Miami (FL) at Pitt

12pm ESPN: Texas Tech at West Virginia

12pm ESPN2: Wake Forest at Duke

12pm FS1: Cincinnati at TCU

12pm TNT: Colorado at Kansas State

3:30pm ABC: Vanderbilt at Tennessee

3:30pm CBS: Oregon at Washington

3:30pm FOX: UCF at BYU

3:30pm ESPN: LSU at Oklahoma

3:30pm ACCN: Virginia Tech at Virginia

4:30pm ESPN2: Florida State at Florida (time of game set only)

7pm ESPN: SMU at California

7:30pm NBC: UCLA at USC

7:30pm ESPNU: Charlotte at Tulane

8pm ESPN2: Houston at Baylor
TBA ESPN+: East Carolina at Florida Atlantic

CFB TV Confirmations for 2025 Week 14 (11/28/2025 & 11/29/25)

2025-11-17T08:22:00.017-05:00

This post will be updated as announcements come out for start times for Week 14 (11/28/25 & 11/29/25) from the (mostly) twelve day selection process that most TV networks adhere to. Most conferences have the possibility of having all or part of their scheduled games held for a six day hold for the start time and/or the TV network. The list of available TV windows are based on media websites, TV listings and press releases. They can change based on the needs of the broadcaster or the conference.

Here's what I guessed based on the available openings (they will prove to be incorrect), along with the games that have already been set.

I believe the Big Ten is the only conference out of six day holds to be used against it. I consider the 11/15 hold at 3:30pm between CBS and BTN a six day since CBS and BTN are different TV partners.

All times Eastern

Friday 11/28

12pm ABC: Ole Miss at Mississippi State

12pm ESPN: Utah at Kansas

12pm ESPNU: Ohio at Buffalo

12pm CBSSN: Kent State at Northern Illinois

Saturday 11/29

Six Day Holds

Options for ACC: 12pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2, 3:30pm ACCN, 7pm ESPN or evening ESPN2/ESPNU.

SMU at California - can't see this being available for 12pm options

Wake Forest at Duke

Virginia Tech at Virginia

Miami (FL) at Pitt

Options for American: 12pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN2, 7pm ESPN, evening ESPN2/ESPNU or ESPN+

East Carolina at Florida Atlantic

Charlotte at Tulane

Options for Big 12: 12pm FS1, 12pm TNT and 3:30pm FOX are confirmed. Two games will have the same options as the American

Houston at Baylor

UCF at BYU

Texas Tech at West Virginia

Colorado at Kansas State

Cincinnati at TCU

Oregon at Washington - 3:30pm CBS or 7:30pm NBC

UCLA at USC - 3:30pm CBS or 7:30pm NBC

12pm ESPNU: Iowa State at Oklahoma State

12pm SECN: Clemson at South Carolina

12pm ACCN: Kentucky at Louisville

12pm CBSSN: Ball State at Miami (OH)

12pm ESPN+: Toledo at Central Michigan

1pm ESPN+: UTEP at Delaware

1pm ESPN+: FIU at Sam Houston

1:30pm ESPN+: Georgia Southern at Marshall

2pm ESPN+: Louisiana Tech at Missouri State

2pm ESPN+: WKU at Jacksonville State

2pm ESPN+: Georgia State at Old Dominion

2:30pm ESPN+: Arkansas State at App State

3pm CW: Boston College at Syracuse

3pm ESPN+: UAB at Tulsa

3pm ESPN+: Middle Tennessee at NM State

3pm ESPN+: ULM at Louisiana

3pm ESPN+: South Alabama at Texas State

3:30pm ABC/ESPN: Vanderbilt at Tennessee

3:30pm ABC/ESPN: LSU at Oklahoma

3:30pm FS1: Wisconsin at Minnesota

3:30pm BTN: Penn State at Rutgers

3:30pm ESPN+: Troy at Southern Miss

3:30pm ESPN+: Army at UTSA

3:30pm/4:30pm ESPN2: Florida State at Florida

3:45pm ESPNU: James Madison at Coastal Carolina

4pm SECN: Missouri at Arkansas

7pm FS1: Maryland vs. Michigan State

7pm ESPN+: Rice at South Florida

7:30pm ABC: Alabama at Auburn

7:30pm FOX: Northwestern at Illinois

7:30pm ACCN: North Carolina at NC State

10:30pm ESPN: Notre Dame at Stanford

10:30pm FS1: Fresno State at San Jose State

CFB TV Guesses for 2025 Week 14 (11/28/2025 - 11/29/2025)

2025-11-16T09:48:00.006-05:00

Here are the games already set for television and/or webcast. Here are the known available telecast windows.

Instead of cluttering up these posts even more, I'll try to keep track of the unique conference TV arrangements and six day holds used in a separate post.

A few notes and considerations:

* For those wondering and not willing to click on the link a couple sentences up, the only conference that *should* be free from six day holds is the Big Ten as four holds have been used, unless they say that the 11/15 network choice at 3:30pm doesn't count. Everyone else could have the possibility of a hold.

* Games set for time or TV network family, but not both:

Clemson at South Carolina (12pm, ABC or ESPN)
Vanderbilt at Tennessee (Mid-afternoon, SEC TV networks)
Missouri at Arkansas (Evening, SEC TV networks)
Fresno State at San Jose State (TBA, FOX Sports)

* Based on 11/22 selections, Penn State at Rutgers will air on BTN. Since there's only a 3:30pm slot for BTN, the game goes there.

* My selection count for the Big 12, assuming a hard limit of 35 for FOX Sports, is going to be one over that limit while ESPN will be one short. Oh well. (EDIT: Read the edit below).
* For the Big Ten, after FOX's choice of Ohio State at Michigan, I have NBC choosing ahead of CBS.

* Last year, the SEC and ESPN made an exception and added an early SECN window for Louisville at Kentucky when the game was not supposed to be slotted as an early game.
* Could Notre Dame-Stanford be the late ESPN game? I can see swapping it out with SMU-California and doing some further massaging of the schedule.

* Putting Florida State-Florida on SECN is jarring, but, where can you put it?

Friday

12pm ABC: Ole Miss at Mississippi State

12pm ESPN: Utah at Kansas

12pm ESPNU: Ohio at Buffalo

12pm CBSSN: Kent State at Northern Illinois

EDIT: I initially forgot Northwestern at Illinois. I moved Maryland vs. Michigan State to 7pm FS1 since its not being played at Spartan Stadium, but in Detroit. I think the different location for Maryland-Michigan State gives it the plausibility for a night game even though MSU has hosted three night games at. Spartan Stadium. I then moved Houston at Baylor over to TNT at 12pm, Colorado State at Kansas State to 7:30pm ESPNU and Iowa State at Oklahoma State to ESPN+.

Saturday

12pm ABC: Miami (FL) at Pitt

12pm ESPN: Clemson at South Carolina

12pm ESPN2: Virginia Tech at Virginia

12pm FS1: Northwestern at Illinois

12pm TNT: Houston at Baylor

12pm ESPNU: Charlotte at Tulane

12pm CBSSN: Toledo at Central Michigan

12pm ACCN: North Carolina at NC State

3pm CW: Boston College at Syracuse

3:30pm ABC: LSU at Oklahoma

3:30pm FOX: UCF at BYU

3:30pm CBS: UCLA at USC

3:30pm ESPN: Vanderbilt at Tennessee

3:30pm FS1: Wisconsin at Minnesota

3:30pm BTN: Penn State at Rutgers

3:30pm ESPNU: WKU at Jacksonville State

3:30pm ACCN: Wake Forest at Duke

4pm ESPN2: James Madison at Coastal Carolina

4pm SECN: Florida State at Florida

7pm ESPN: Notre Dame at Stanford

7pm FS1: Maryland at Michigan State

7:30pm ABC: Alabama at Auburn

7:30pm FOX: Texas Tech at West Virginia

7:30pm NBC: Oregon at Washington

7:30pm ESPNU: Colorado at Kansas State

7:30pm SECN: Missouri at Arkansas

7:30pm ACCN: Kentucky at Louisville

8pm ESPN2: Cincinnati at TCU

10:30pm ESPN: SMU at California

10:30pm FS1: Fresno State at San Jose State

ESPN+

Army at UTSA
UAB at Tulsa

Rice at South Florida

East Carolina at Florida Atlantic

Iowa State at Oklahoma State

UTEP at Delaware

Louisiana Tech at Missouri State

Middle Tennessee at NM State

Ball State at Miami (OH)

Arkansas State at App State

Georgia Southern at Marshall

Georgia State at Old Dominion

ULM at Louisiana

Troy at Southern Miss

South Alabama at Texas State

CFB Six Day TV Guesses for 11/22/25

2025-11-15T08:10:00.001-05:00

Since we have a couple results from Friday night, here's a guess at the possible TV schedule for 11/22. I mentioned that there were 25 games to be slotted. In reality, its 27 games as two SEC games were set with start times that will fill, so two games will likely go to ESPN+.

Here were the constraints that were provided coming into these guesses:

* Missouri at Oklahoma is at noon on ABC or ESPN.

* Kentucky at Vanderbilt is at 3:30pm on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.

* Arkansas at Texas & Tennessee at Florida will air on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 at 3:30pm, 7pm or 7:30pm.

* Rutgers at Ohio State, Michigan at Maryland and Michigan State at Iowa will be at 12pm, 3:30pm or 4pm ET. They won't fill any of the evening slots,

* Colorado State at Boise State is a FOX Sports game.

For the Big Ten, I changed over my order. I have FOX going first, then NBC, CBS, NBC. Based on that order, I think FOX can still take a Big Ten game at noon after NBC's second choice.

I now think FOX is going first and taking USC at Oregon. I'm told that they get one chance a year to coexist with CBS or NBC so that they can air a Big Ten intraconference game hosted on the west coast.

12pm ABC: Missouri at Oklahoma

12pm FOX: Michigan at Maryland

12pm ESPN: BYU at Cincinnati

12pm ESPN2: Louisville at SMU

12pm FS1: TCU at Houston

12pm TNT: Kansas at Iowa State

12pm BTN: Michigan State at Iowa

3:30pm ABC: Kentucky at Vanderbilt

3:30pm CBS: Rutgers at Ohio State

3:30pm ESPN: Arkansas at Texas
3:30pm ESPN2: Miami (FL) at Virginia Tech
3:30pm FS1: Arizona State at Colorado
3:30pm BTN: Minnesota vs. Northwestern
3:30pm ACCN: Duke at North Carolina

3:30pm ESPNU: Tulane at Temple

4pm FOX: USC at Oregon

7pm NBC: Nebraska at Penn State
7pm ESPN: Pitt at Georgia Tech

7pm FS1: Colorado State at Boise State

7pm ESPNU: North Texas at Rice

7:30pm ABC: Tennessee at Florida

7:30pm ESPN2: Baylor at Arizona
7:30pm BTN: Illinois at Wisconsin

8pm FOX: Kansas State at Utah

10:30pm NBC: Washington at UCLA

ESPN+

South Florida at UAB

East Carolina at UTSA