(05-08-2026 03:26 PM)thrill_house Wrote:  There are probably 3 matchups (Fresno-USC, Mizzou-KU, Illinois-UCLA) that fans should be upset about.

- One of Fresno's 2 road games (the other being at SJSU) that they could actually travel to with ease gets bumped to a Friday night slot
- Missouri's first trip to Lawrence (their closest neighbor) in 21 years gets bumped to a Friday night
- Illinois' first trip to Pasadena since the 2008 Rose Bowl gets bumped to a Friday night

Surprised that the best FOX could do for Black Friday is WVU-Utah. Then again, it's probably going head-to-head with Texas-A&M, which might be for a CFP spot.

That is probably one of the main reasons to schedule Fresno, since they travel well and fill up the coliseum. Not to mention this is Coach Matt Entz's first time to travel back to LA to play against Lincoln Riley, since he took on the HC job at FSU. Future BIG10 vs PAC12 rivalry could be brewing here, plus USCvsFSU play again in 2028.

(05-08-2026 02:03 AM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  

(05-07-2026 11:37 AM)thrill_house Wrote:  My mock had Michigan-OSU, Oklahoma-Michigan, and USC-PSU as the Top-3 for FOX.

USC-PSU is extremely valuable. The drop-off to the second game that weekend is noticeable (Indiana at Nebraska, Maryland at OSU). Unless there's some backroom agreement, I'm not passing that game up with one of my Top-3 picks if I'm in FOX's shoes.

I like OSU-USC at #4. It should be a no-brainer for CBS / NBC's top selection. It's potentially a Top-3 game, but likely ineligible for a noon ET start.

Indiana-Michigan at #8 is a fantastic get. There's absolutely no competition that week. I would not be surprised if CBS or NBC sniped that one. The only issue is that both schools could easily be coming off losses from the previous weekend.

I don't value OSU-Indiana or Oregon-OSU as the rest of the crowd, as there are multiple solid broadcasting options on the Saturdays that those games are played. If I'm picking for FOX, I'm more than happy broadcasting PSU-Michigan or MSU-Michigan and securing products on weeks with a limited inventory of quality matchups. I'll have a far better overall schedule of games if I play my cards that way.

Value based drafting. It wins fantasy football leagues.

Indiana-OSU pulled almost 19m in the B1G CCG a few short months ago. Nobody outside of a Michigan-OSU tussle pulls those kind of numbers in B1G country, ever. I don’t see how Fox could pass on the rematch, the potential for 10m ++ is just too great. Oregon-OSU is a 9-10m game, whats the 2nd best game that weekend pulling? We saw a lot of “solid broadcasting options” pull 4-5m in the past few years…games that you can circle before the season starts and say “ yeah, that one will be 10m” are few and far between, Fox would be foolish to pass any of those up.

Value plays are when you’re trying to decide between OSU-Nebraska or PSU-USC on the same weekend, and you don’t mind picking 2nd.

Edit: OU-Michigan is 10m waiting to happen, too, and it’s on an otherwise forgettable weekend, so that’s a perfectly reasonable choice at 2 or 3. I think the issue I’m having is that you’re overestimating USC, they’ve been a ratings anchor while Oregon does the heavy lifting out west for many years now, since before they joined the B1G. PSU-Oregon is 7m in an off year like last year and 9-10m if both are top 10, but PSU-USC is probably 2m lower in both best and worst case scenarios.

It’s quite ironic that Oregon and Washington have brought far better ratings, far more wins and far less drama to the B1G than USCLA.

PSU-Oregon was 3 vs 6 when played last year.

(05-08-2026 02:03 AM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  It’s quite ironic that Oregon and Washington have brought far better ratings, far more wins and far less drama to the B1G than USCLA.

What drama and wins are we talking about? I just got through watching UCLA baseball beat Oregon 11-1, to go to 25-0 in conference play. UCLA has won three national championships in 2025-2026. UCLA softball beat Wisconsin today 19-5 and will play Nebraska for the conference championship tomorrow.

I know that you are probably talking about football, but even at 3-9 last season, UCLA was a popular pick for national television. USC was on national TV nine times in 2025 in the regular season (FOX, NBC, CBS), Oregon eight times, UCLA seven times and Washington five times. UCLA did provide a bit of drama with their win over Penn State, a 25-point favorite.

In the current 2027 football team recruiting rankings from 247sports.com, USC is ranked #3 and UCLA #4 in the country. Oklahoma is #1 and Texas A&M #2. UCLA is going to be better in 2026 and in the future, and USC is going to have a good team in 2026 and beyond. All four former PAC schools have won at least one national championship in a sport since they joined the BIG. I just don't see Oregon and Washington with more wins and less drama than USC and UCLA.

(05-09-2026 12:29 AM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(05-08-2026 02:03 AM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  It’s quite ironic that Oregon and Washington have brought far better ratings, far more wins and far less drama to the B1G than USCLA.

What drama and wins are we talking about? I just got through watching UCLA baseball beat Oregon 11-1, to go to 25-0 in conference play. UCLA has won three national championships in 2025-2026. UCLA softball beat Wisconsin today 19-5 and will play Nebraska for the conference championship tomorrow.

I know that you are probably talking about football, but even at 3-9 last season, UCLA was a popular pick for national television. USC was on national TV nine times in 2025 in the regular season (FOX, NBC, CBS), Oregon eight times, UCLA seven times and Washington five times. UCLA did provide a bit of drama with their win over Penn State, a 25-point favorite.

In the current 2027 football team recruiting rankings from 247sports.com, USC is ranked #3 and UCLA #4 in the country. Oklahoma is #1 and Texas A&M #2. UCLA is going to be better in 2026 and in the future, and USC is going to have a good team in 2026 and beyond. All four former PAC schools have won at least one national championship in a sport since they joined the BIG. I just don't see Oregon and Washington with more wins and less drama than USC and UCLA.

Who gives a ****? Indiana was #69 in 247 talent composite rankings and became the first 16-0 team in college football history.

If you’re talking about baseball, softball, and 247 talent rankings, then the other person has already won without saying a word.

I'm sure that baseball burn would have hurt if UCLA was a member of the SEC, Sun Belt, ACC, maybe even the Big XII. But nobody in the Big Ten cares. Literally. The deck is entirely stacked against us in baseball so we don't show up for it.

(05-09-2026 12:42 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(05-09-2026 12:29 AM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(05-08-2026 02:03 AM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  It’s quite ironic that Oregon and Washington have brought far better ratings, far more wins and far less drama to the B1G than USCLA.

What drama and wins are we talking about? I just got through watching UCLA baseball beat Oregon 11-1, to go to 25-0 in conference play. UCLA has won three national championships in 2025-2026. UCLA softball beat Wisconsin today 19-5 and will play Nebraska for the conference championship tomorrow.

I know that you are probably talking about football, but even at 3-9 last season, UCLA was a popular pick for national television. USC was on national TV nine times in 2025 in the regular season (FOX, NBC, CBS), Oregon eight times, UCLA seven times and Washington five times. UCLA did provide a bit of drama with their win over Penn State, a 25-point favorite.

In the current 2027 football team recruiting rankings from 247sports.com, USC is ranked #3 and UCLA #4 in the country. Oklahoma is #1 and Texas A&M #2. UCLA is going to be better in 2026 and in the future, and USC is going to have a good team in 2026 and beyond. All four former PAC schools have won at least one national championship in a sport since they joined the BIG. I just don't see Oregon and Washington with more wins and less drama than USC and UCLA.

Who gives a ****? Indiana was #69 in 247 talent composite rankings and became the first 16-0 team in college football history.

If you’re talking about baseball, softball, and 247 talent rankings, then the other person has already won without saying a word.

This was not about Indiana. The Hoosiers had an overall ranking of 39th in 2025 (247sports), but that was a great coaching job. They did well in the transfer portal. Indiana had eight players drafted in 2026 NFL draft and seven were transfers, four from JMU. They did not inherit a bunch of talent. Usually, recruiting matters. It does not guarantee anything, as Texas A&M can attest to under Jimbo Fisher. For UCLA, it is important because they now have a head coach and staff that are focused on recruiting and developing players.

So, if they are better in football that season, that does it? Nothing else matters?

I don't know where this game was on FOX's "draft board" but it's official...



If one of Ohio State's "Big Three" games is on either CBS or NBC I think this is a bad move.

But we know one game that won't be on CBS or NBC. Of course it's...



It's worth noting they didn't say Oklahoma/Michigan was a Big Nooner but Michigan/Ohio State was. That doesn't mean Oklahoma/Michigan won't be.

FOX also officially announced they will air the 2026 Big Ten Championship. No time listed.



Unrelated to college football FOX also announced the Eagles at Cowboys on FOX on Thanksgiving.

Officially ABC's upfront is Tuesday. Maybe they'll announce some big games????

Update: Michigan's Twitter confirmed the Oklahoma game is a Big Nooner...

(05-11-2026 08:02 PM)schmolik Wrote:  I don't know where this game was on FOX's "draft board" but it's official...



If one of Ohio State's "Big Three" games is on either CBS or NBC I think this is a bad move.

But we know one game that won't be on CBS or NBC. Of course it's...



It's worth noting they didn't say Oklahoma/Michigan was a Big Nooner but Michigan/Ohio State was. That doesn't mean Oklahoma/Michigan won't be.

FOX also officially announced they will air the 2026 Big Ten Championship. No time listed.



Unrelated to college football FOX also announced the Eagles at Cowboys on FOX on Thanksgiving.

Officially ABC's upfront is Tuesday. Maybe they'll announce some big games????

Update: Michigan's Twitter confirmed the Oklahoma game is a Big Nooner...

Interesting. I wonder what their other top pick is? Has to be OSU-Indiana, right?

(05-11-2026 08:14 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  Interesting. I wonder what their other top pick is? Has to be OSU-Indiana, right?

I would pick Ohio State-Indiana over Oregon-Ohio State. I personally would've picked both over Oklahoma-Michigan.

If I were Disney, I'd announce tomorrow....

Sept. 12: Ohio State at Texas, SNF
Sept. 19: LSU at Mississippi, SNF
Oct. 10: Georgia at Alabama, SNF

Their priority will likely be an NFL game though, most likely the first Monday Night game....

Worth noting:

(05-12-2026 11:44 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

It helps that nobody is clamoring for SEC games on Fridays. You don't need to schedule a big game for Friday to avoid the SEC when you ARE the SEC, after all. For everybody else, however, this just makes Fridays that much more desirable. I can see the B1G in 2030 and the Big 12 in 2031 getting serious about Fridays in their next TV deal for example. Heck ESPN and/or Fox would be wise to start putting Big 12 and/or ACC gotw on Fridays starting in 2026. Could even do a doubleheader with a 6pm and 930pm slot, one of each, every week. Limited B1G competition, no SEC competition, and an audience ready to start the weekend of CFB early.

Lots from the Disney Upfront...

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-relea...y-upfront/







No announcements between Week 3 and Thanksgiving today.

I have a feeling Texas/Texas A&M will become a Black Friday night tradition. Florida at Florida State will be the middle game, most likely going up against the NFL game (assuming there is only one). Georgia Tech at Georgia should be on Saturday then.

Conference Championship Weekend? As expected, the Big 12 on Friday Night, the ACC on noon, and the AAC in prime time, all on ABC.

Also announced, the first two Gameday sites.

(05-12-2026 04:49 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Lots from the Disney Upfront...

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-relea...y-upfront/







No announcements between Week 3 and Thanksgiving today.

I have a feeling Texas/Texas A&M will become a Black Friday night tradition. Florida at Florida State will be the middle game, most likely going up against the NFL game (assuming there is only one). Georgia Tech at Georgia should be on Saturday then.

Conference Championship Weekend? As expected, the Big 12 on Friday Night, the ACC on noon, and the AAC in prime time, all on ABC.

Also announced, the first two Gameday sites.

Interesting that they took Georgia-GT off the middle Friday slot, that game got 8.7m last year even with a ton of overlap with the NFL game. With this move, we're looking at LSU-OU or Georgia-GT going h2h with The Game at noon on Saturday. Not ideal, considering that Florida-FSU only got 1.7m eyeballs and was dumped on ESPN2 last year.

(05-13-2026 05:29 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

I honestly don’t understand why more schools don’t play on the Labor Day weekend Sunday - it’s such great exposure with a wide open day for sports prior to the NFL season.

The point will be moot if/when the NFL expands to 18 games and very likely moves up the start of the season to Labor Day weekend.

(05-12-2026 11:50 AM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  

(05-12-2026 11:44 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

It helps that nobody is clamoring for SEC games on Fridays. You don't need to schedule a big game for Friday to avoid the SEC when you ARE the SEC, after all. For everybody else, however, this just makes Fridays that much more desirable. I can see the B1G in 2030 and the Big 12 in 2031 getting serious about Fridays in their next TV deal for example. Heck ESPN and/or Fox would be wise to start putting Big 12 and/or ACC gotw on Fridays starting in 2026. Could even do a doubleheader with a 6pm and 930pm slot, one of each, every week. Limited B1G competition, no SEC competition, and an audience ready to start the weekend of CFB early.

Eh - it’s because the SEC isn’t getting paid for Friday games. Once this current ESPN contract ends in the mid-2030s, it will be a different story. There will be other networks and streamers that will offer a whole bunch of money to the SEC for Friday games when that contract ends and then we will see the *real* approach. I mean, the Big Ten didn’t play on Friday nights at all until circa 2020 and didn’t even have prime time games past October until this latest TV contract and now look at them. What changed? The Big Ten got a crap ton of money for all of that inventory. Money may not be totally undefeated in college sports scheduling choices, but it’s pretty close.

All of college football should be maximizing Fridays - their biggest competition of the NFL is *legally* barred from competing with them for most of the season. When you have that type of *legally protected* advantage, it’s almost unconscionable not to take advantage of it. Believe me that the NFL is going after every other legally available time slot available to them. They have been squeezing in Friday night games when the calendar has allowed them to play one in September. They are starting Wednesday night games this year (with the season opener on Wednesday plus Thanksgiving Eve). They will almost certainly be taking over Labor Day weekend when they expand to 18 games and they are totally free from a legal perspective to schedule games every day from Wednesday through Monday on that weekend (as the Sports Broadcasting Act restrictions don’t start until the second Friday in September).

So, I totally respect Sankey’s position in the sense that the SEC shouldn’t be doing anything unless they’re getting paid more for it. There will eventually be a day, though, where the SEC can actually get paid more for Friday games (and the NFL will have implemented what I’ve stated above for several years at that point)… and money generally wins in all of these discussions.

(05-13-2026 08:52 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(05-12-2026 11:50 AM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  

(05-12-2026 11:44 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

It helps that nobody is clamoring for SEC games on Fridays. You don't need to schedule a big game for Friday to avoid the SEC when you ARE the SEC, after all. For everybody else, however, this just makes Fridays that much more desirable. I can see the B1G in 2030 and the Big 12 in 2031 getting serious about Fridays in their next TV deal for example. Heck ESPN and/or Fox would be wise to start putting Big 12 and/or ACC gotw on Fridays starting in 2026. Could even do a doubleheader with a 6pm and 930pm slot, one of each, every week. Limited B1G competition, no SEC competition, and an audience ready to start the weekend of CFB early.

Eh - it’s because the SEC isn’t getting paid for Friday games. Once this current ESPN contract ends in the mid-2030s, it will be a different story. There will be other networks and streamers that will offer a whole bunch of money to the SEC for Friday games when that contract ends and then we will see the *real* approach. I mean, the Big Ten didn’t play on Friday nights at all until circa 2020 and didn’t even have prime time games past October until this latest TV contract and now look at them. What changed? The Big Ten got a crap ton of money for all of that inventory. Money may not be totally undefeated in college sports scheduling choices, but it’s pretty close.

All of college football should be maximizing Fridays - their biggest competition of the NFL is *legally* barred from competing with them for most of the season. When you have that type of *legally protected* advantage, it’s almost unconscionable not to take advantage of it. Believe me that the NFL is going after every other legally available time slot available to them. They have been squeezing in Friday night games when the calendar has allowed them to play one in September. They are starting Wednesday night games this year (with the season opener on Wednesday plus Thanksgiving Eve). They will almost certainly be taking over Labor Day weekend when they expand to 18 games and they are totally free from a legal perspective to schedule games every day from Wednesday through Monday on that weekend (as the Sports Broadcasting Act restrictions don’t start until the second Friday in September).

So, I totally respect Sankey’s position in the sense that the SEC shouldn’t be doing anything unless they’re getting paid more for it. There will eventually be a day, though, where the SEC can actually get paid more for Friday games (and the NFL will have implemented what I’ve stated above for several years at that point)… and money generally wins in all of these discussions.

Oh, I agree, the Friday Night Lights and protecting HS football is more a justification for no Friday games than a rock solid pillar of the SEC, just like touting all the benefits of everything on one contract was more a justification after the fact than something we required in 2020. We don't need to extract every penny out of every contract, however, and there is value to teams in being able to bring in kids for official visits during the season. Visits which would be far less common if games were on Fridays, and there would certainly be a bunch of angry HS coaches out there if we were first rather than last to start playing on Fridays, so it behooves Sankey to make sure that if we do end up with a Friday night contract, it at least pays us really, really well.

If the SEC can get 5M viewers per game in three different slots on Saturdays they have less incentive to play games on Friday. The Big Ten isn't there yet. FOX also seems to want to play on Friday more than ABC does. ESPN wants to play on Friday but the top schools in the SEC will have less incentive to play on Friday to play on ESPN. Now if ABC agrees to air a weekly Friday night game the calculus of Friday night games changes. I've mentioned that the "Big Three" doesn't really want to play Friday night games, at least host them (Penn State agreed to play at Northwestern this year). I'll bet the number of SEC teams who don't want to play a Friday Night game (Black Friday excluded) is way higher than the Big Ten. When college football is a big business and 100,000 fans pack your stadium on a Saturday, a Friday night game is a fairly big loss. Friday night games work for the ACC and Big 12 and for a lot of Big 10 schools (and the fact that PURDUE is still hosting a Friday Night game tells you FOX isn't getting "first choice" either). Maybe if push comes to shove SEC schools might prefer Friday night to noon/11am on Saturday but never over "regular" Saturday slots and the top SEC schools will never or at most one or two times a year have to make that choice.

(05-14-2026 05:43 AM)schmolik Wrote:  If the SEC can get 5M viewers per game in three different slots on Saturdays they have less incentive to play games on Friday. The Big Ten isn't there yet. FOX also seems to want to play on Friday more than ABC does. ESPN wants to play on Friday but the top schools in the SEC will have less incentive to play on Friday to play on ESPN. Now if ABC agrees to air a weekly Friday night game the calculus of Friday night games changes. I've mentioned that the "Big Three" doesn't really want to play Friday night games, at least host them (Penn State agreed to play at Northwestern this year). I'll bet the number of SEC teams who don't want to play a Friday Night game (Black Friday excluded) is way higher than the Big Ten. When college football is a big business and 100,000 fans pack your stadium on a Saturday, a Friday night game is a fairly big loss. Friday night games work for the ACC and Big 12 and for a lot of Big 10 schools (and the fact that PURDUE is still hosting a Friday Night game tells you FOX isn't getting "first choice" either). Maybe if push comes to shove SEC schools might prefer Friday night to noon/11am on Saturday but never over "regular" Saturday slots and the top SEC schools will never or at most one or two times a year have to make that choice.

I mean - this isn’t rocket science.

Friday night games are a good release valve to give coverage to the entire conference as opposed to just the top handful of teams so that they’re not buried in the mass of games on Saturday. If you have the luxury of more than 3 games per week that would draw national interest, as the SEC often does, then that points to trying to find time slots beyond the 3 traditional Saturday windows so that you’re not cannibalizing each other.

Look at some of the games that got sent to SEC Network last year, such as Arkansas-LSU and Clemson-South Carolina. There are going to be even more quality games sent to SEC Network or SECN+ with the 9th conference game starting. To me, that shows the SEC should absolutely be getting a Friday night package under their new TV deal - the inventory is large enough that they’re getting games that would otherwise be on over-the-air television or ESPN in any other conference sent to SECN instead. That screams, “Get another TV window.”

Like I’ve said, this is simply a platitude from Sankey and I don’t blame him - the SEC can’t get more money for Friday night games as of now, so there’s no point in giving that way. That will eventually change when the current ESPN contract ends, though.