Joining the fall schedule is "ABC Saturday Night College Football." Beginning SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2006 (8:00 p.m., ET), ABC Sports will televise 12 games, concluding with the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship game on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2 (8:00 p.m., ET).
ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU AND ESPN360 2006 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTED BY LAUNCH OF SATURDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
NETWORKS TO OFFER MORE THAN 290 REGULAR-AND POST-SEASON GAMES
ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360’s 2006 college football schedule, featuring more than 290 regular-and post-season games (in approximately 265 telecast windows), will be highlighted by the launch of ABC’s Saturday Night Football , broadcast television’s first-ever weekly college football primetime series . Combined with ESPN Regional Television’s approximately 150 syndicated productions , the networks will cover more than 440 games . In addition, ESPN GamePlan and ESPN.com GamePlan Online, the outermarket pay-per-view services, will offer more than 150 games. The schedule will include coverage of every Division I-A conference, and its 2005 champion , and 124 different teams (96 Division I-A, 24 Division I-AA and four Division II SIAC schools).
For the second consecutive year, ESPNU will kick off the season with the first nationally televised game : Tuskegee at Stillman Saturday, Aug. 26 at 4 p.m. ET. ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360 will kick off the season with 25 games over Labor Day weekend (Thursday, Aug. 31 to Monday, Sept. 4), highlighted by 17 games Saturday, Sept. 2 , including the first Saturday Night Football broadcast -- Notre Dame at Georgia Tech at 8 p.m. The networks will generally combine to offer at least 12 games every Saturday throughout the season. All to-be-determined games will be selected generally 12 or six days prior to the date. The schedule may be expanded as the season progresses. Highlights include:
- ABC’s 12-week Saturday Night Football series will highlight the network’s 41st season of extensive college football coverage with showdowns between top programs every Saturday at 8 p.m. (except October 21 and 28). Every telecast will be offered in high definition on ABC HD. Coverage will begin September 2 with Notre Dame at Georgia Tech and be followed by Ohio State at defending National Champion Texas September 9. In addition to Saturday Night Football , ABC will continue to broadcast top matchups every Saturday at 3:30 p.m. from the Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC and BIG EAST plus the Bowl Championship Series Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi and Capital One Bowl.
- Every Saturday throughout the season, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360 will combine to televise at least 12 games featuring top college football teams. In addition to the ABC games mentioned above, on most Saturdays ESPNU will offer four telecasts (generally at noon, 3:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.), ESPN a noon and 7:45 p.m. game and ESPN2 a noon and 7 p.m. telecast. ESPN360 will offer coverage of at least two games every Saturday throughout the season. To-be-determined games will be selected 12 or six days in advance.
- ESPN’s weekly Thursday night games will feature top matchups every Thursday at 7:30 p.m., including Auburn at South Carolina (Sept. 28), Florida State at N.C. State (Oct. 5), Clemson at Virginia Tech (Oct. 26), West Virginia at Louisville (Nov. 2) and Boston College at Miami (Nov. 23). ESPNU’s Thursday night schedule, generally at 7:30 p.m., will include top teams such as Northwestern, Miami (Ohio), Bowling Green, Bethune-Cookman and Hampton.
- ESPN and ESPN2 will also offer a regular Friday telecast and games on select Tuesdays , Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the season.
- · ESPN360 , ESPN’s customized broadband service, will offer coverage of more than 30 regular-season games with at least two games every Saturday throughout the season (games, dates and times for Saturday games after September 16 will be determined on a six or 12-day basis). Teams in the first three weeks of the schedule include Virginia Tech, Maryland, Syracuse, Purdue, Connecticut, Wake Forest and Virginia. In addition, ESPN360 will broadcast every Army home football game.
- For the first time, ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD will provide high definition telecasts of every college football game throughout the season. ESPN has televised every Saturday night and Thursday night game in high definition for the last three and two years, respectively. Last season was the first ESPN2 offered every Saturday night and Friday night game in high definition. In addition, the entire Saturday Night Football series will be available in high definition on ABC HD. Every ABC Saturday Night Football telecast and ESPN Saturday and Thursday night games will also feature the use of SkyCam, a camera on a series of wires above the playing field that is able to go from end line to end line, sideline to sideline, and as high as 40 feet. ESPN’s Saturday and Thursday primetime games used SkyCam last year.
- ESPNU , the 24-hour college sports network, will generally offer five games each week during the season. ESPNU’s schedule will feature matchups from a variety of Division I-A conferences (including the ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, MAC, SEC and Sun Belt), plus contests involving Division I-AA (including the Big Sky, Gateway, Ivy League, MEAC, Ohio Valley and Southern) teams and Division II programs from the SIAC.
- ESPN Classic will offer a limited schedule, including select Army home games and the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game (Saturday, Dec. 16).
- Championship weekend (Nov. 30-Dec. 2) will include four conference championships: the Marathon MAC Championship Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN); Conference USA Championship Friday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. (ESPN2); and the Dr Pepper ACC Championship and Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship, both on ABC Saturday, Dec. 2 at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively. In addition, the lineup for Saturday, Dec. 2 will include three games that could determine the conference titles for the BIG EAST (Rutgers at West Virginia and Connecticut at Louisville) and Pac-10 (USC at UCLA).
