ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com, ESPN Classic, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Radio 2008 College Football Schedule
ESPN360.com will offer more than 300 games; ESPN Mobile TV to simulcast up to 10 games a week; Two Additional Bowl Games
ESPN on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com, ESPN Classic, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Radio's 2008 college football schedule will feature the return of afternoon and primetime windows across multiple platforms; ESPN360.com offering more than 300 games; up to 10 games a week on ESPN Mobile TV and coverage of two new post-season Bowl games. The season will kick off Thursday, Aug. 28.
Combined with ESPN Regional Television's approximate 85 syndicated productions and approximately 150 games on ESPN GamePlan, ESPN's outermarket pay-per-view service, the networks will cover more than 400 games. Highlights include:
� Primetime Action: Saturday Night Football Presented by Southwest Airlines on ABC, the first and only weekly primetime college football series on broadcast television, will return for a third season Saturdays at 8 p.m. beginning August 30. Weekly Saturday primetime telecasts on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, and ESPN's Thursday and Friday night games, will also return.
� Thursdays To Feature All BCS Conference Teams: For the first time, every game on ESPN's highly-rated Thursday night schedule will feature BCS conference teams (Big 12 games new this year), and Texas A&M at Texas will be presented in primetime on Thanksgiving (Nov. 27).
� Every BCS Conferences: For the second consecutive year, ESPN will be the only network to offer coverage of home games from all six BCS conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, BIG EAST, Pac-10 and Big 12). In addition, ESPN on ABC and ESPN will televise the premier games from the Big Ten, ACC, BIG EAST, Pac-10 and Big 12 every week.
� ESPN360.com: In addition to original productions, ESPN360.com, ESPN's signature broadband service, will offer simulcasts of every ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ABC split national telecast, and every GamePlan pay-per-view game.
� ESPNU: The 24-hour college sports network, will generally offer five games each week during the season. ESPNU's schedule will feature matchups involving teams from a variety of conferences (including the ACC, BIG EAST and MAC), plus contests involving Navy and Championship Subdivision teams (including the CAA, MEAC, Ohio Valley, Southern and SWAC).
� HD: In conjunction with the launch of ESPNU HD on August 28, the network will offer every live game on Thursdays and Saturdays in high definition. This season will mark the third year every ESPN and ESPN2 game and the majority of the Saturday Night Football series will be offered in high definition on ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD and ABC HD.
� �Reverse Mirrors�: As many as 13 (up from eight last year) Saturday afternoon windows will feature innovative coverage in which ABC's regional telecasts are also offered regionally on ESPN or ESPN2 to markets that are getting another game on ABC. For example, on August 30, ABC will televise Utah at Michigan and USC at Virginia at 3:30 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will �reverse mirror� ABC's coverage, televising Utah at Michigan in markets receiving USC at Virginia (on ABC) and USC at Virginia to the parts of the country receiving Utah at Michigan (on ABC).
� Live Games on Your Phone: For the second year, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN's first 24/7 channel for wireless platforms and available on MediaFLO USA's mobile entertainment service and Sprint's MobiTV, will simulcast up to 10 games a week from ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Classic. In addition to live game coverage, ESPN Mobile TV will provide highlights, news and updates on a variety of scoreboard shows.
� ESPN Radio: For the second consecutive season, ESPN Radio, ESPN's national radio network � with more than 750 non-duplicative stations reaching more than 20 million listeners � will broadcast a weekly game as well as 18 post-season bowl games (up from 17 last year).
� ESPN GamePlan: ESPN's outermarket pay-per-view service, will offer season-long action including 10 unique games each week.
� ESPN Classic: The network will televise select games throughout the season.
� Bowls: ESPN's extensive post-season Bowl coverage will include two additional games: The St. Petersburg Bowl, owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television, and the Congressional Bowl in Washington, D.C. ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Radio will provide coverage of 29 Bowl games, including the BCS Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi on ABC and all five BCS games on ESPN Radio.
Kickoff Week
Kickoff Week Presented by Gillette (Monday, Aug. 25-Monday, Sept. 1) will include studio programming as well as 26 games Labor Day Weekend (including Labor Day) on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com, ESPN Classic and ESPN Mobile TV. The event schedule will kick off Thursday, Aug. 28 with five games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360.com and during the weekend, matchups will include defending BCS National Champion LSU hosting defending Football Championship Subdivision Champion Appalachian State, Alabama vs. Clemson, USC at Virginia, Illinois vs. Missouri, Utah at Michigan, Kentucky at Louisville, Tennessee at UCLA and Fresno State at Rutgers.
Regular-season coverage will conclude with Championship Saturday (Dec. 6) and include three conference championships: the Conference USA Championship Game, the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game and Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship Game, one day after ESPN2 televises the Marathon MAC Championship Game Friday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m.
Weekly Windows
The networks will offer an extensive schedule of games each Saturday as well as matchups every Thursday and Friday and on select Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays. 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:
� ESPN on ABC: ESPN on ABC's Saturday Night Football Presented by Southwest Airlines, broadcast television's first-ever weekly college football primetime series, will highlight the network's 43rd season of college football coverage with showdowns between top programs every Saturday at 8 p.m. (except September 6 and October 11). One highlight will be the blockbuster matchup between two traditional powers � Ohio State at USC (Sept. 13). In addition to Saturday Night Football, ABC will continue to broadcast top matchups every Saturday at 3:30 p.m. involving teams 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.
� Saturdays on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU: On most Saturdays, ESPN will offer a noon and 7:45 p.m. game, ESPN2 a noon and 7 p.m. telecast, and a �reverse mirror of ABC's 3:30 p.m. broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2, while ESPNU will offer four telecasts (generally at noon, 3:45 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.),
� Thursdays on ESPN and ESPNU: ESPN and ESPNU will offer a weekly schedule of Thursday primetime games featuring top matchups beginning with N.C. State at South Carolina (Aug. 28). ESPN's telecasts (generally at 7:30 p.m.) include South Carolina at Vanderbilt (Sept. 4), USC at Oregon State (Sept. 25), Pittsburgh at South Florida (Oct. 2), Clemson at Wake Forest (Oct. 9), Auburn at West Virginia (Oct. 23), Virginia Tech at Miami (Nov. 13) and Texas A&M at Texas (Nov. 27). ESPNU's Thursday night schedule will generally be aired at 7:30 p.m. and feature HBCU schools from the MEAC and SWAC.
� Fridays on ESPN: ESPN's weekly Friday primetime series will return and feature top teams in action, including Kansas at South Florida (Sept. 12), Connecticut at Louisville (Sept. 26) and Hawaii at Boise State (Oct. 17), Fresno State at Boise State (Nov. 28) and UCLA at Arizona State (Nov. 28) Coverage will kick off August 29 with the debut of June Jones as SMU visits Rice.
� Other Weekdays: ESPN and ESPN2 will also offer games on select Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the season.
29 Bowl Games on Television and Radio; NCAA Playoff Games
ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Radio and ESPN360.com will combine to provide coverage of 29 Bowl games, including all five BCS games on ESPN Radio, the BCS Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi on ABC, and the new St. Petersburg Bowl and Congressional Bowl on ESPN2 and ESPN, respectively. In addition, ESPNU, ESPN2 and ESPN will offer extensive coverage of the NCAA playoff contests (December 12-20).
� ABC will televise two New Year's Day bowl games: the Capital One Bowl at 1 p.m. followed by the BCS Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi at 4:30 p.m.
� ESPN and ESPN2 will televise 23 bowl games, highlighted by Capital One Bowl Week, one of ESPN's most-viewed weeks of the year, from December 20 - January 2.
� ESPN will televise the last game before the BCS National Championship: the GMAC Bowl Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m.
� ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise all six ESPN Regional Television owned-and-operated bowl games, including the new St. Petersburg Bowl on ESPN2 Saturday, Dec. 20, at 4:30 p.m. Returning games owned and operated by ERT include the New Mexico Bowl and Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl Saturday Dec. 20, at 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) and 8 p.m. (ESPN), respectively; Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Wednesday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m., (ESPN); Papajohns.com Bowl Monday, Dec. 29, at 3 p.m. (ESPN); and Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl Wednesday, Dec. 31, at noon (ESPN).
� ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise NCAA playoff games from the Championship Subdivision, Division II and Division III, including each championship game.
� ESPN Radio will broadcast 18 bowl games, including all five BCS matchups highlighted by the BCS National Championship game (Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 8 p.m.).
Every Corner Covered Through ESPN and ABC Outlets
In addition to game coverage, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com, ESPN Classic, ESPN Radio and ESPN Mobile TV will provide news and features throughout the season, including on popular studio programs College GameDay Built by The Home Depot, the now year-round daily College Football Live, College Football Final and College Football Countdown. ESPN's multiple media outlets -- ESPN.com, ESPNEWS, ESPN MVP on Verizon and ESPN The Magazine � will also offer extensive season-long coverage.
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