COLLEGE FOOTBALL's NATIONAL TV SCHEDULE to BEGIN on ESPNU AUGUST 25 New Network to Televise Five Games Weekly; Nearly Halfof ESPNU Schedule Announced
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NEWS RELERSE ESPN, INC. COMMUNICRTION5 DEPRRTMENT ESPN PLFIZR, BRISTOL, CT OEOIO-74B4 7GE-zaaa THE WORLDWIDE LEADER IN SPORTS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 16, 2005 COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S NATIONAL TV SCHEDULE TO BEGIN ON ESPNU AUGUST 25 New Network To Televise Five Games Weekly; Nearly Half of ESPNU Schedule Announced ESPNU, the new 24-hour college sports network which launched in March, will feature the first nationally televised college football game of the 2005 season - Benedict at Morehouse, a Division I! matchup from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Thursday, Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Each week during the season, ESPNU will present approximately five live games featuring teams from a variety of top Division I-A conferences -- the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, SEC, Sun Belt and WAC - plus games involving Division I-AA and II programs from the Big Sky, MEAC, Ohio Valley, SIAC, Southern and SWAC. In all, ESPNU plans to showcase approximately 75 college football games this season, supplementing ESPN and ESPN2's extensive season-long action. Nearly half of the ESPNU college football schedule was announced, including the lineup for the first three Saturdays plus the season-long weeknight (and one Sunday game) plans. Many additional games will be announced later. Highlights of the announced games follow: • The first national TV game of the season - Benedict at Morehouse (Aug. 25) • Exclusive ESPNU appearances by traditional powers Florida State (Sept. 10) and Virginia Tech (Sept. 17) • Several Big Ten programs on display: Indiana (Sept. 2), Penn State (Sept. 3), Northwestern (Sept. 3), Wisconsin (Sept. 10), Michigan State (Sept. 10) and Michigan (Sept. 17) • A Thursday SEC/ACC showdown featuring Vanderbilt at Wake Forest (Sept. 1) • Appearances by 10 bowl teams from last season, including > Saturday, Sept. 10 when each of ESPNU's four games involve a bowl team: Wisconsin, Florida State, Hawaii and Fresno State > Saturday, Sept. 17 when four bowl teams play on ESPNU, two against each other: Georgia Tech at Connecticut, plus Michigan and Virginia Tech > Action involving bowl participants Troy (Oct. 20) and Miami (Ohio) (Nov. 21) • A Thursday night game of the week generally from one of two prominent HBCU (Historically Black College/University) leagues - the MEAC and SWAC • Exclusive coverage of special events such as the Steel City Classic (Sept. 25-- Miles vs. Stillman from Birmingham) and the Turkey Day Classic (Nov. 24 - Tuskegee at Alabama State) "Top quality college football is one of the pillars of the ESPNU lineup," said Burke Magnus, ESPNU Vice President and General Manager. "Thanks to the cooperation of numerous conferences and schools, we've assembled a wide-ranging and appealing schedule that will offer exposure to some of the sport's most popular and successful programs, while also showcasing many teams not traditionally televised." ESPN.COM ESPNU COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (TO DATE) Several Additional Games To Be Announced Date Time (ET) Game Thursday, Aug. 25 7:30 p.m. Benedict at Morehouse Thursday, Sept . 1 7 p.m. Vanderbilt at Wake Forest Friday, Sept. 2 7:30 p.m. Indiana at Central Michigan Saturday, Sept. 3 12 p.m. Ohio at Northwestern Saturday, Sept. 3 3:30 p.m. South Florida at Penn State* Saturday, Sept. 3 7 p.m. Delaware State at Florida A&M Saturday, Sept. 3 10:30 p.m. UTEP at New Mexico State Thursday, Sept .8 7:30 p.m. TBD Saturday, Sept. 10 12 p.m. Temple at Wisconsin* Saturday, Sept. 10 3:30 p.m. Hawaii at Michigan State* Saturday, Sept. 10 6:45 p.m. The Citadel at Florida State Saturday, Sept, 10 10 p.m. Weber State at Fresno State Thursday, Sept . 15 7:30 p.m. Hampton at North Carolina A&T Saturday, Sept. 17 12 p.m. Eastern Michigan at Michigan* Saturday, Sept. 17 3:30 p.m. Ohio at Virginia Tech Saturday, Sept. 17 6:45 p.m. Connecticut at Georgia Tech Saturday, Sept, 17 10 p.m. UNLV at Nevada Thursday, Sept .22 7:30 p.m. Louisiana-Monroe at Florida Atlantic Sunday, Sept.: 25 3 p.m. Steel City Classic: Miles vs. Stillman from Birmingham, Ala Thursday, Sept .29 7:30 p.m. Southeast Missouri State at Samford Thursday, Oct. 6 7:30 p.m. South Carolina State at Norfolk State Thursday, Oct. 13 7:30 p.m. TBD Thursday, Oct. 20 7:30 p.m. Florida International at Troy Thursday, Oct. 27 7:30 p.m. TBD Thursday, Nov. 3 7:30 p.m. Southern at Texas Southern Thursday, Nov. 10 7:30 p.m. Morgan State at South Carolina State Tuesday, Nov. 15 7:30 p.m. Ohio at Akron Thursday, Nov. 17 7:30 p.m. TBD Friday, Nov. 18 8 p.m. Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Texas Southern Monday, Nov. 21 7:30 p.m. Miami (Ohio) at Ohio Thursday, Nov. 24 2 p.m. Turkey Day Classic: Tuskegee at Alabama State * ESPNU's coverage will co-exist with syndicated telecasts offered on other outlets regionally through ESPN Regional Television arrangements. ESPNU ESPNU has secured distribution agreements with DIRECTV, Adelphia, Mediacom, several smaller affiliates and is close to distribution agreements with others. The 24-hour television network is the key component of the multi-media ESPNU initiative that will deliver college sports content across ESPN's family of services, such as ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Mobile, ESPN Radio, ESPN Interactive, ESPN360, merchandising and more. Original Dream Job winner Mike Hall serves as ESPNU's signature anchor, hosting the majority of the network's studio programming from Charlotte, N.C., headquarters of ESPN Regional Television (ERT), which handles production responsibilities for ESPNU. -30- Contact: Josh Krulewitz at (860) 766-2319; [email protected].