Football Championship Week Highlighted by Games with Conference Championship & Bowl Bid Implications

Mike Humes November 27, 2012

ESPN’s college football “Championship Week” schedule will include games with conference championship and bowl bid implications, highlighted by five matchups in which the winning team will win the conference title.

ESPN’s Thursday prime-time telecast on November 29 will pit Louisville at Rutgers in a BIG EAST matchup at 7:30 p.m. Rutgers will win the conference with a victory over Louisville. ABC will also televise Cincinnati at Connecticut on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 3:30 p.m. If Louisville and Cincinnati win and create a four-way tie for the championship, the higher-ranked team in the BCS Standings between Louisville and Rutgers will receive the conference’s BCS berth. The highest-ranked team in the BCS Standings between Louisville, Rutgers and Syracuse will receive the BCS bid with a Louisville and Connecticut victory.
ESPN2 and ESPN Radio will each offer a conference championship game on Friday, Nov. 30:
- ESPN2 will televise the Marathon MAC Football Championship, No. 21 Northern Illinois vs. No. 17 Kent State in a showdown of one-loss teams at 7 p.m. ET.
- ESPN Radio will broadcast No. 16 UCLA at No. 8 Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game at 8 p.m.
The lineup for Saturday, Dec. 1, will include ACC and Conference USA championship games and a matchup between the top two teams of the Sun Belt:
- ESPN’s prime-time telecast will feature No. 13 Florida State vs. Georgia Tech in the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game at 8 p.m.
- ESPN2 and ESPN 3D will televise Central Florida at Tulsa in a matchup of 9-3 teams in the Conference USA Championship Game at noon.
- ESPN3 will carry Middle Tennessee at Arkansas State in a matchup for the Sun Belt Conference title at 3 p.m. Both teams have an 8-3 overall and 6-1 in conference record.
Additional games with conference and bowl implications on Saturday, Dec. 1:
- No. 6 Kansas State will host No. 18 Texas on the ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Windows 8 broadcast at 8 p.m. One-loss Kansas State will clinch the Big 12 title and the conference’s automatic BCS berth with a win or a No. 11 Oklahoma loss. ESPN will televise Oklahoma at TCU Saturday, Dec. 1 at noon.
- ABC will also broadcast No. 20 Boise State at Nevada at 3:30 p.m. Boise State can clinch a share of the Mountain West Conference title with a win.
ESPN3 will carry eight games from the Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals on Saturday, Dec. 1.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Thu, Nov 29	7:30 p.m.	Louisville at Rutgers Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele	ESPN
Fri, Nov 30	7 p.m.	Marathon MAC Football Championship: No. 21 Northern Illinois vs. No. 17 Kent State (from Detroit) Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN2
	8 p.m.	Pac-12 Championship Game: No. 16 UCLA at No. 8 Stanford Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Joe Schad	ESPN Radio
Sat, Dec 1	Noon	No. 11 Oklahoma at TCU Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Shannon Spake	ESPN
	Noon	Conference USA Championship Game: UCF at Tulsa Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN2 & ESPN 3D
	Noon	No. 23 Oklahoma State at Baylor Dave Lamont, Tom Ramsey, Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN Radio
	2 p.m.	FCS Championship Second Round: New Hampshire at Wofford	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	FCS Championship Second Round: Coastal Carolina at Old Dominion	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	FCS Championship Second Round: Central Arkansas at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	FCS Championship Second Round: Illinois State at Appalachian State	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Middle Tennessee at Arkansas State Brock Bowling & Cole Cubelic	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	No. 20 Boise State at Nevada Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ABC & ESPN3 *
		Cincinnati at Connecticut Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Maria Taylor	ABC & ESPN3 *
	4 p.m.	FCS Championship Second Round: South Dakota State at North Dakota State	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	FCS Championship Second Round: Cal Poly at Sam Houston State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	FCS Championship Second Round: Wagner at Eastern Washington	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Pittsburgh at South Florida Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Quint Kessenich	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	FCS Championship Second Round: Stony Brook at Montana State	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 18 Texas at No. 6 Kansas State Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ABC
	8 p.m.	Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game: No. 13 Florida State vs. Georgia Tech (Charlotte) ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Joe Schad	ESPN & ESPN Radio

* Local blackout may apply
ESPN will use BCS Standings through the remainder of the season

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