Final Nov. 7 Speculation:

Big Ten:
FOX: Michigan State at Michigan, Big Nooner, UCLA at Minnesota, 7:30pm
CBS: Oregon at Ohio State, 3:30pm, Air Force at Army, 7:30pm (already scheduled)
NBC: No Big Ten Game (Miami at Notre Dame, 7:30pm, already scheduled)

I'm guessing there will be six day holds for the Big Ten behind Oregon-Ohio State (Despite Oregon's collapse you have to take OSU). Penn State-Washington could sneak into the FOX prime time window assuming there is one.

(Update: Moved Iowa-Northwestern to BTN. Neither Iowa nor Northwestern have played a BTN game this season).

ABC: BYU at Utah, noon, Georgia at Mississippi, 3:30pm, Alabama at LSU, SNF

Mississippi's loss most likely locks in Alabama-LSU into prime time assuming they're not trying to keep it away from Miami-Notre Dame. BYU lost but Utah won. The Holy War probably still warrants an ABC slot. Utah's AD complained about hosting three 8:15pm games (graveyard shift) this year so if they're asked to do early they may just take it.

ESPN: Texas at Missouri, noon, Oklahoma at Florida, 3:30pm, Kentucky at Tennessee, 7pm, Colorado at Arizona State, 10:30pm

Good chance for an ESPN SEC tripleheader. The SEC hasn't controlled all three ESPN Saturday windows in the same day this year. I think Oklahoma-Florida and Kentucky-Tennessee are pretty good bets for ESPN and SECN has three remaining games left, the only question is whether Texas-Missouri is on ABC or ESPN.

Assuming BYU-Utah goes to ESPN/ABC?, the next best Big 12 game for FOX would be Cincinnati at Houston.

(10-24-2026 08:48 AM)schmolik Wrote:  I found a tweet saying LSU got more night games than others. This goes all the way back to 2001.



The old SEC contract had the CBS 3:30pm slot being the top slot each week so it prevented the idea of "prime time's the best". LSU getting the most night games has definitely been a long trend.

But it's interesting to see who's on the bottom and it's pretty significantly ahead (or behind) the others. Georgia! Is that a choice for them to not play home games at Sanford Stadium? For many years they were in the SEC East who doesn't play Alabama so I can see the SEC West Division schools playing Alabama more often and getting more night games as a result. Georgia hasn't played Florida in Athens since 1995 so no Georgia-Florida games are included in this list.

When it came to Alabama games, Alabama-LSU was fairly often CBS's annual prime time game. I believe most Iron Bowls were not prime time but were 3:30pm ET kickoffs. Meanwhile Mississippi State only appeared on CBS 15 times so my guess is many Alabama-Mississippi State games in Starkville were not on CBS but there's a good chance a lot of them were on ESPN in prime time. Mississippi appeared 27 times (by comparison Texas A&M appeared 24 times after joining the SEC in 2012) so there's a decent chance a lot of Alabama-Mississippi games in Oxford were night ESPN games as well.

Since ABC took over SEC rights, Georgia has hosted just four night games out of 18 total home games to date: 2024 Tennessee and Georgia Tech and 2025 Alabama and Texas. In 2026 Georgia has yet to play a night home game this season. They're the ONLY SEC team that hasn't played a night home game this season. Now a lot of SEC teams play a home night game vs. a cupcake. SECN+ games are usually flexible since you don't have to fit ESPN or even SECN's schedule. Georgia's SECN+ game was opening week vs. Tennessee State. I'd have to believe if UGa wanted to play that game at night they would have. They played at 3pm ET.

I wish I had more insight on Georgia, but we've only played them once since joining the SEC and only 3 times total since Eisenhower's first term. Georgia has never played a game at Kyle Field.

(10-24-2026 08:54 AM)The Beaver Wrote:  

(10-19-2026 06:34 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(10-19-2026 03:26 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Happy Halloween!

Big Ten:



The Big Nooner? Wisconsin at Iowa! I'm gonna go out on a limb and say FOX didn't have first pick this week.

SEC:



Auburn-Mississippi relegated to SECN after Auburn's huge win over Georgia last Saturday? SECN must have wanted the game. Makes no sense.

Big 12:



So instead of Auburn-Mississippi, ABC/ESPN will air Arizona/Texas Tech. Arizona is ranked #25 in the AP poll. ESPN could just air Arizona/Texas Tech at 3:30pm ET on ESPN and dump Utah/Cincinnati to another slot to make room for Auburn-Mississippi.

How about a 2pm ET game? Be curious to see how that works out for them.

ACC:

https://theacc.com/news/2026/10/19/acc-f...unced.aspx

It's possible the ACC could get SNF again. Miami is ranked #1 and facing off against Bill Belicheck's UNC while Texas is free falling having lost two in a row. Will Kamario Taylor play for Mississippi State?

All I know is whatever ABC airs NBC (Ohio State at USC) should be favored to win its first Saturday window since Ohio State at Oregon back in 2024. Even better the Dodgers aren't in the World Series so piggy backing off Frank's World Series point that works out even better just in case the World Series goes seven games Game 7 would be on Halloween. On the other hand, Cleveland is still alive ! Could you imagine Cleveland fans having to choose between Game 7 of the World Series which practically no one has seen or a huge OSU game?

I think the SEC might have scheduled light this week because of both Halloween and the World Series Game 7 outside of Florida-Georgia. Since Alabama and LSU are playing the following week they're both off. Texas and Oklahoma are playing perennial bottom feeders.

Cleveland sports fans are diehards in everything. I hate all of their teams, but their fans are super loyal. Game 7 of the World Series for the team with the longest current championship drought in baseball is priority #1 no matter how big of an Ohio State game there would be. I think that would be the case in every Big Ten market that overlaps with an MLB team. Like I’ve said, we’re pretty much all strong MLB markets across the board.

I could see Wisconsin or Minnesota taking the football. Not counting PA, which is split between two teams (each would take their own over Penn State, of course, but wouldn't even lift a sideways eye at the other being in a World Series.) Ohio is also a special case, as OSU has so many, including multiple in the last decade, that its just not special enough to compete with a Reds or Indians WS.

Don’t agree about Wisconsin or Minnesota. When the Brewers and Twins are playing well, those fans turn out.

We just saw it last night with Wisconsin vs. USC going at the same time as the Brewers World Series Game 2. We’ll see what the ratings are locally, but the get-in ticket price for the Brewers was absolutely insane - it’s what you’d expect for Chicago or NYC much more than what you’d expect for Milwaukee. That entire state is completely jacked for the Brewers right now.

(10-25-2026 02:23 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(10-24-2026 08:54 AM)The Beaver Wrote:  

(10-19-2026 06:34 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(10-19-2026 03:26 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Happy Halloween!

Big Ten:



The Big Nooner? Wisconsin at Iowa! I'm gonna go out on a limb and say FOX didn't have first pick this week.

SEC:



Auburn-Mississippi relegated to SECN after Auburn's huge win over Georgia last Saturday? SECN must have wanted the game. Makes no sense.

Big 12:



So instead of Auburn-Mississippi, ABC/ESPN will air Arizona/Texas Tech. Arizona is ranked #25 in the AP poll. ESPN could just air Arizona/Texas Tech at 3:30pm ET on ESPN and dump Utah/Cincinnati to another slot to make room for Auburn-Mississippi.

How about a 2pm ET game? Be curious to see how that works out for them.

ACC:

https://theacc.com/news/2026/10/19/acc-f...unced.aspx

It's possible the ACC could get SNF again. Miami is ranked #1 and facing off against Bill Belicheck's UNC while Texas is free falling having lost two in a row. Will Kamario Taylor play for Mississippi State?

All I know is whatever ABC airs NBC (Ohio State at USC) should be favored to win its first Saturday window since Ohio State at Oregon back in 2024. Even better the Dodgers aren't in the World Series so piggy backing off Frank's World Series point that works out even better just in case the World Series goes seven games Game 7 would be on Halloween. On the other hand, Cleveland is still alive ! Could you imagine Cleveland fans having to choose between Game 7 of the World Series which practically no one has seen or a huge OSU game?

I think the SEC might have scheduled light this week because of both Halloween and the World Series Game 7 outside of Florida-Georgia. Since Alabama and LSU are playing the following week they're both off. Texas and Oklahoma are playing perennial bottom feeders.

Cleveland sports fans are diehards in everything. I hate all of their teams, but their fans are super loyal. Game 7 of the World Series for the team with the longest current championship drought in baseball is priority #1 no matter how big of an Ohio State game there would be. I think that would be the case in every Big Ten market that overlaps with an MLB team. Like I’ve said, we’re pretty much all strong MLB markets across the board.

I could see Wisconsin or Minnesota taking the football. Not counting PA, which is split between two teams (each would take their own over Penn State, of course, but wouldn't even lift a sideways eye at the other being in a World Series.) Ohio is also a special case, as OSU has so many, including multiple in the last decade, that its just not special enough to compete with a Reds or Indians WS.

Don’t agree about Wisconsin or Minnesota. When the Brewers and Twins are playing well, those fans turn out.

We just saw it last night with Wisconsin vs. USC going at the same time as the Brewers World Series Game 2. We’ll see what the ratings are locally, but the get-in ticket price for the Brewers was absolutely insane - it’s what you’d expect for Chicago or NYC much more than what you’d expect for Milwaukee. That entire state is completely jacked for the Brewers right now.

Right, but this year's Wisconsin are not really in title contention, so you can't really compare them. I don't think we've ever seen Wisconsin be ranked something like 1, 2 or 3 to truly compare.

(10-25-2026 02:49 PM)The Beaver Wrote:  

(10-25-2026 02:23 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(10-24-2026 08:54 AM)The Beaver Wrote:  

(10-19-2026 06:34 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(10-19-2026 03:26 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Happy Halloween!

Big Ten:



The Big Nooner? Wisconsin at Iowa! I'm gonna go out on a limb and say FOX didn't have first pick this week.

SEC:



Auburn-Mississippi relegated to SECN after Auburn's huge win over Georgia last Saturday? SECN must have wanted the game. Makes no sense.

Big 12:



So instead of Auburn-Mississippi, ABC/ESPN will air Arizona/Texas Tech. Arizona is ranked #25 in the AP poll. ESPN could just air Arizona/Texas Tech at 3:30pm ET on ESPN and dump Utah/Cincinnati to another slot to make room for Auburn-Mississippi.

How about a 2pm ET game? Be curious to see how that works out for them.

ACC:

https://theacc.com/news/2026/10/19/acc-f...unced.aspx

It's possible the ACC could get SNF again. Miami is ranked #1 and facing off against Bill Belicheck's UNC while Texas is free falling having lost two in a row. Will Kamario Taylor play for Mississippi State?

All I know is whatever ABC airs NBC (Ohio State at USC) should be favored to win its first Saturday window since Ohio State at Oregon back in 2024. Even better the Dodgers aren't in the World Series so piggy backing off Frank's World Series point that works out even better just in case the World Series goes seven games Game 7 would be on Halloween. On the other hand, Cleveland is still alive ! Could you imagine Cleveland fans having to choose between Game 7 of the World Series which practically no one has seen or a huge OSU game?

I think the SEC might have scheduled light this week because of both Halloween and the World Series Game 7 outside of Florida-Georgia. Since Alabama and LSU are playing the following week they're both off. Texas and Oklahoma are playing perennial bottom feeders.

Cleveland sports fans are diehards in everything. I hate all of their teams, but their fans are super loyal. Game 7 of the World Series for the team with the longest current championship drought in baseball is priority #1 no matter how big of an Ohio State game there would be. I think that would be the case in every Big Ten market that overlaps with an MLB team. Like I’ve said, we’re pretty much all strong MLB markets across the board.

I could see Wisconsin or Minnesota taking the football. Not counting PA, which is split between two teams (each would take their own over Penn State, of course, but wouldn't even lift a sideways eye at the other being in a World Series.) Ohio is also a special case, as OSU has so many, including multiple in the last decade, that its just not special enough to compete with a Reds or Indians WS.

Don’t agree about Wisconsin or Minnesota. When the Brewers and Twins are playing well, those fans turn out.

We just saw it last night with Wisconsin vs. USC going at the same time as the Brewers World Series Game 2. We’ll see what the ratings are locally, but the get-in ticket price for the Brewers was absolutely insane - it’s what you’d expect for Chicago or NYC much more than what you’d expect for Milwaukee. That entire state is completely jacked for the Brewers right now.

Right, but this year's Wisconsin are not really in title contention, so you can't really compare them. I don't think we've ever seen Wisconsin be ranked something like 1, 2 or 3 to truly compare.

Understood, but the Midwest generally is just a far better pro sports area than the South. I always say that we’re the region that can actually “walk and chew gum at the same time” where high levels of pro sports loyalties coincide with college sports loyalties in a way that doesn’t happen in the South (where college fandom is stronger) or Northeast (where the pros are stronger). If one of our pro sports teams is playing for the championship (as is the case for the World Series), that’s going to take priority.

By the way, for all of the talk about the TV value of ACC schools in future realignment, it’s interesting to see Clemson vs. Florida State being relegated to the ACC Network this weekend. While there is still nothing better for a big brand name to be also in playoff contention at the same time, what we’re seeing is that being a big brand cannot paper over non-playoff competitiveness in the way that it used to. Things are becoming much more NFL-like where postseason contention is the major driver for TV choices are you get into the last stretch of the season as opposed to simply pure brand names.

Sac St stuck with hosting a Wednesday 4pm kickoff for their first MACtion game.

On November 7th Ole Miss vs Georgia will be the ABC night game.

Alabama @ LSU will be at 2:30 CT on ABC

First time since 2010 that Alabama at LSU hasn't been a night game

https://x.com/ClayTravis/status/2114767621513994309

(10-26-2026 12:55 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  On November 7th Ole Miss vs Georgia will be the ABC night game.

Alabama @ LSU will be at 2:30 CT on ABC

First time since 2010 that Alabama at LSU hasn't been a night game

So the question is does ABC/ESPN really think Ole Miss/Georgia is the better game or are they protecting Alabama/LSU from Miami/Notre Dame? They haven't done that in the past but there's a first time for everything.

Big Ten:


Mostly six day holds. Penn State/Washington is in the middle time slot. Since the CBS time slot is accounted for PSU/Wash can't be OTA.

SEC:


The afternoon and prime time ESPN windows are earlier than usual.

Big 12:


Also a lot of six day holds.

ACC:
https://theacc.com/news/2026/10/26/acc-f...unced.aspx

Absolute BS that they put the holy war on at 10AM local time.

(10-26-2026 03:34 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(10-26-2026 12:55 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  On November 7th Ole Miss vs Georgia will be the ABC night game.

Alabama @ LSU will be at 2:30 CT on ABC

First time since 2010 that Alabama at LSU hasn't been a night game

So the question is does ABC/ESPN really think Ole Miss/Georgia is the better game or are they protecting Alabama/LSU from Miami/Notre Dame? They haven't done that in the past but there's a first time for everything.

That's a good question, but I think they just think Georgia/Ole Miss is the better game. They are the higher ranked teams.

(10-26-2026 03:34 PM)schmolik Wrote:  So the question is does ABC/ESPN really think Ole Miss/Georgia is the better game or are they protecting Alabama/LSU from Miami/Notre Dame? They haven't done that in the past but there's a first time for everything.

LSU fans swear it's because the SEC is out to get them. Of course, LSU fans also feel like they are owed night games.

(10-27-2026 06:47 PM)multicampus Wrote:  

(10-26-2026 03:34 PM)schmolik Wrote:  So the question is does ABC/ESPN really think Ole Miss/Georgia is the better game or are they protecting Alabama/LSU from Miami/Notre Dame? They haven't done that in the past but there's a first time for everything.

LSU fans swear it's because the SEC is out to get them. Of course, LSU fans also feel like they are owed night games.

LSU has had more night games than any other SEC team. If they got one afternoon game and think they got screwed practically every other SEC team would like to switch home schedules with them including Alabama.

(10-14-2026 06:40 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Halloween Speculation:

Big Ten:
Big Nooner: Minnesota at Indiana
CBS Big Time: Northwestern at Oregon
NBC Big Saturday Night: Ohio State at USC

NBC hasn't had one Ohio State game all season. You'd have to think NBC gets first pick at least a few times this year. This is probably one of the best weeks for them to get. FOX isn't going to have it when OSU-USC is the obvious top pick. CBS would want the game but it's Florida-Georgia week and everyone knows that game's always 3:30pm. Seems like an obvious Saturday night game.

Remaining Halloween games: Washington/Nebraska, Purdue/Penn State, Wisconsin/Iowa, Michigan/Rutgers, Illinois/Maryland, and Nevada/UCLA (non conference). A few of the games might top Northwestern/Oregon or even Minnesota/Indiana although I think FOX would take IU even if they lose to OSU with PSU down.

ABC: Auburn at Mississippi (locked into early slot), Florida vs. Georgia at Atlanta (locked, time, network, everything), Mississippi State at Texas (locked into night slot)

Remaining SEC games: South Carolina at Oklahoma, Missouri at Arkansas (both games are flex, noon games are out).

One game/matchup to watch for is Miami at North Carolina. I can see ESPN wanting to get that game on ABC in either the noon or prime time slot bumping the SEC to ESPN. Clemson at Florida State could get an ESPN slot although FSU getting spanked by Louisville doesn't help FSU's case (at least the game isn't an FSU road game).

The real fun comes November 7th...

I mean, I gave you the correct answer back in August...

(08-05-2026 12:10 PM)AAC.TV.Talk Wrote:  

(07-31-2026 06:35 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Updated Projections:

.
.
.


ABC:
* Time slot locked in
** Game locked in
.
.
.
10/31/2026 Auburn at Mississippi * Florida vs. Georgia (Atlanta)** Mississippi State at Texas *
.
.
.

for 10/31, ABC/ESPN also has Notre Dame at Navy (in Foxboro MA) at noon. They went with ABC in '22 and '24.

(10-27-2026 06:55 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(10-27-2026 06:47 PM)multicampus Wrote:  

(10-26-2026 03:34 PM)schmolik Wrote:  So the question is does ABC/ESPN really think Ole Miss/Georgia is the better game or are they protecting Alabama/LSU from Miami/Notre Dame? They haven't done that in the past but there's a first time for everything.

LSU fans swear it's because the SEC is out to get them. Of course, LSU fans also feel like they are owed night games.

LSU has had more night games than any other SEC team. If they got one afternoon game and think they got screwed practically every other SEC team would like to switch home schedules with them including Alabama.

Further statistics...

I usually sympathize with most fans complaining about game times but not here. And especially not from one LANE KIFFIN!

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...abama-sec/

"I was like, 'If someone thinks the SEC wants us to win this year after what's been going on, they must've just been on Mars the last four months.'

That being said if I were an LSU fan I would give up night home games with McNeese and Louisiana Tech for an Alabama night home game. I'd probably give up Clemson and Texas A&M too.

Georgia's had four night home conference games since 2024, tied for the lowest. The four games were Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Alabama, and Texas. Who cares if you play Tennessee State at night?

Meanwhile before this year's Alabama game the only conference games LSU didn't play at night were last year vs. Arkansas and this year vs. Mississippi State. Poor babies. You know the conference office loves you when you even get to host South Carolina at night.

Nov. 14 Speculation:

FOX Big Nooner: Northwestern at Ohio State
CBS Big Time: Michigan at Oregon
NBC Big Saturday Night: USC at Indiana

When in doubt just make OSU the Big Nooner and more recently just make USC the NBC game. Could FOX actually take USC-Indiana over Northwestern-Ohio State? This year FOX has won three consecutive Big Nooners in a row with Indiana (of course one of those had IU playing OSU and that game drew way more than the other two:) Yes I know OSU lost last night to USC but conventional wisdom is when you have a chance to take Ohio State you take them. Of course I'm assuming it's FOX's choice and not NBC's choice.

The unwritten rule is Michigan refuses to play night games although since they are playing in Oregon an NBC game would kick off at 4:30pm in Eugene so would that count as a night game? If we see Michigan-Oregon on NBC then obviously it depends on local time and I can see the Big Ten arranging for Michigan to play West Coast games in November in the future to get them on NBC.

SEC/ACC:
ABC: Alabama at Vanderbilt (Early Window), Missouri at Georgia, Texas at LSU
ESPN: Duke at Miami, Mississippi at Oklahoma (Afternoon Window), Florida at Kentucky (Night Window)

Texas plays Missouri Saturday which could affect whether Missouri-Georgia or Texas-LSU is more attractive and both games are listed as flex. ABC has for the most part assigned windows to games 12 days in advance using 6 days only for network placements. I'd have to believe Texas-LSU would still draw better than Missouri-Georgia even if Missouri wins. Oklahoma's and Florida's loss likely eliminate those games from being on ABC although it could make sense to put Missouri-Georgia and Mississippi-Oklahoma at 3:30pm and put the winner of the Georgia-Mississippi game on ABC and the loser on ESPN. I can also see Alabama-Vanderbilt and Duke-Miami being ABC/ESPN'ed as well in case Miami beats Notre Dame.

Big 12:
FOX: Utah at Arizona, 3:30pm, Texas Tech at Oklahoma State, 7:30pm
ESPN: Baylor at BYU, 10:15pm

SEC Week 11:



ACC Week 11:

https://theacc.com/news/2026/11/2/acc-fo...unced.aspx

ABC is going to wait for this week to decide on Missouri-Georgia or Texas-LSU at 3:30pm and 7:30pm (SNF). There are a few other TBD times/networks. Alabama/Vanderbilt has been dumped to SECN while Auburn/Mississippi State is either on ESPN or ESPN2. Either SECN wants an Alabama game badly or they really think Vanderbilt is that bad to dump an Alabama game to SECN below Auburn/Mississippi State with both teams with 4 losses.

The Big 12 games are officially on 6 day holds.

The Big 10 hasn't announced anything (6 day hold or otherwise).

I might have missed this.. It is dated on Big Ten's X site at 4:33pm so it was late this week.



This implies that NBC has 3rd pick behind CBS and FOX (not sure who picked first among them). Michigan/Oregon is not available to NBC which implies Michigan vetoed playing a night game and accepted a cable game when CBS chose USC at Indiana instead.

A clarification: Michigan and Ohio State can veto night games the last three weeks of the season:

https://nypost.com/2024/11/12/sports/why...mainstays/

I can certainly get why Michigan wouldn't want to play a night game at Oregon. Even though it would kick off at 4:30pm in Eugene and end relatively early, it's three hours later which delays their return trip back to Ann Arbor.

Ohio State got another Big Nooner though...

Speaking of noon, the noon ABC game is Duke at Miami. ESPN didn't find either of the SEC games better than Duke/Miami.

Keep in mind other people are welcome to post official announcements to this thread on Mondays before I do, you don't have to wait for me to post them:)

Nov. 21 Big Ten Speculation:

Matt Sarznyiak hints of some scheduling:

This eliminates some possibilities for OTA games (not that Maryland/USC was likely going to be an OTA game anyway).

Also according to Matt, NBC has a noon ET window. They will not have a prime time game due to SMU at Notre Dame. Remember NBC hosted a Week 0 USC game and a Week 1 Sunday game (Apple Cup) so this noon ET special is the last "makeup" game this season for NBC for the three Notre Dame pre-emptions.

The good news for Ohio State fans who hate Big Nooners? If your team sucks and fans tune out if your team gets blown out, FOX doesn't want you anymore.

FOX Big Nooner: USC at Michigan
CBS Big Time 3:30: Ohio State at Nebraska

Special NBC noon: Rutgers at Penn State
Special FOX Prime Time: Indiana at Washington (9pm ET) - FOX has a basketball game scheduled, Michigan at Villanova, 7pm ET.

NBC Prime Time: SMU at Notre Dame, 7:30pm (Announced)