Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Kickoff times / TV coverage for the 2010 football season

Whether you live out of state or are planning road trips, it's important to keep an eye on the potential kickoff times. Remember, the TV networks decide some gametimes during the summer, but the majority of TV selections are made 12 days prior to gameday (and in some cases, 6 days). For ASU, 2010 is unusual in that 8 of the 12 games are already set before the season even starts.

I'll keep this article updated as the season progresses.

For a comprehensive, accurate listing of all games on TV, this is by far the best site.

Here's how thing shape up for the 2010 season (all times local to Arizona):

9/4 Portland State: kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

9/11 Northern Arizona: kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona Plus (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

9/18 @ Wisconsin: kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. with coverage on ABC in much of the country and ESPN2 everywhere else.

9/25 Oregon: kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. This is a Fox Sports Net production, so it will be on most of the regional FSN affiliates, including Fox Sports Arizona. Check your local listings!

10/2 @ Oregon State: kickoff set for 3:30 p.m., televised by FSN Northwest. Will be shown on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports Atlantic.

10/9 @ Washington: kickoff set for 7:00 p.m., televised by FSN Northwest. Will be shown on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ). For unknown reasons, this game was not picked up by Fox College Sports nationally.

10/23 @ Cal: kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. This is a Fox Sports Net production.  It will be on many of the regional FSN affiliates, including Fox Sports Arizona, but large parts of the country, including the entire North East, will not get this game.

10/30 Washington State: kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. No TV coverage.

11/6 @ USC: kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. This is a Fox Sports Net production, so it should also be on most of the regional FSN affiliates, including Fox Sports Arizona, although we're now into the NHL and NBA seasons so this game could be pre-empted in some markets.

11/13 Stanford: kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. with coverage on Fox Sports Arizona (in AZ) and Fox College Sports (nationally). Because this is a Fox Sports Arizona production (not Fox Sports Net), this game will NOT be shown on other regional FSN affiliates.

11/26 UCLA: kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. This is a Fox Sports Net production, and given the unusual day/time it will be shown on most of the regional FSN affiliates, including Fox Sports Arizona.

12/2 @ UNRB: kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. on ESPN (national).

Friday, November 5, 2010

2011 Schedule Announced

It's official!

Sept. 3 UC Davis @ ASU
Sept. 10 Missouri @ ASU
Sept. 17 ASU @ Illinois
Sept. 24 USC @ ASU
Oct. 1 Oregon State @ ASU
Oct. 8 ASU @ Utah
Oct. 15 ASU @ Oregon
Oct. 22 Bye
Oct. 29 Colorado @ ASU
Nov. 5 ASU @ UCLA
Nov. 12 ASU @ Washington State
Nov. 19 UNRB @ ASU
Nov. 26 Cal @ ASU
Dec. 3 Pac-12 Championship Game (hopefully at Sun Devil Stadium!)

Initial reaction: this is a favorable schedule. Two home games to open conference play. Games at Utah and Oregon are probably the highlights for road-trips. We get to play au before Thanksgiving for the first time in many years.

Only negatives: no automatic "W" since we miss the Huskies. Also, only one home game in a six-week stretch in the middle of the season.

We miss Stanford and UW in 2011-12, and then miss Cal and Oregon in 2013-14.