Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I'm pretty bored, so I wanted to try to find out what our competition was for what I consider to be the best available slots on TV for this game - FOX, ABC or ESPN, either at 11:00 am or 2:30 pm (night game is off the table, remember). Here are all of our possible TV slots for this game, with the ones that are filled in red:
11:00 am on FOX
11:00 am on ABC - Notre Dame at Navy
11:00 am on ESPN
11:00 am on ESPN2
11:00 am on BTN
11:00 am on FS1 - Oklahoma at West Virginia
2:30 pm on FOX
2:30 pm on ABC
2:30 pm on ESPN - Louisville at #5 Clemson
2:30 pm on ESPN2 - Iowa State at #18 Oklahoma State/#25 UCF at #19 Tulane
2:30 pm on FS1
2:30 pm on BTN
So, the "prime time" slots are 11:00 am on FOX, 2:30 pm on FOX, 2:30 pm on ABC or 11:00 am on ESPN. For FOX, we will compete with the Big XII and Pac-12, and for ABC/ESPN, we will compete with pretty much everyone. Shockingly, there actually are no remaining Big XII competitors for the Big Noon Kickoff slot, so we are competing against Pac-12 teams in the Mountain and Pacific time zones and our own Big Ten peers ... There are a lot of relevant games that have already been assigned a night game, so these are the games we need to beat out, IMO:
FOX - Either 11:00 am (Big Noon Kickoff) or 2:30 pm
Nebraska at #4 Michigan
Indiana at #2 Ohio State
Maryland at #16 Penn State
--- Only competing for the 2:30 pm slot due to time zones ---
Washington at #8 Oregon
Arizona at #10 UCLA (likely 2:30 pm only)
Stanford at #12 Utah (likely 2:30 pm only)
Competition for ESPN/ABC/ESPN2 Slots (Along w/Teams Above)
Missouri at #2 Tennessee (ONLY for 11:00 am on ESPN or ESPN2)
#15 LSU at Arkansas (ONLY for 11:00 am on ESPN or ESPN2)
Almost Certainly FS1 (or BTN for B1G Teams)
Wisconsin at Iowa
Cal at #24 Oregon State
Rutgers at Michigan State
Northwestern at Minnesota
So, to sum it up ... the main competitors for Big Noon Kickoff (11:00 am on FOX) are below, in order of my opinion of likelihood:
Maryland at #16 Penn State ... Penn State has been on FOX a ton and drawn very well, and it's easy to forget Maryland is 6-2, possibly 7-2 going into this game if they win in Madison this weekend. They are also third in the "Receiving Votes" category, so this COULD be a matchup of two ranked teams.
Indiana at #2 Ohio State ... I get OSU draws viewers, but this matchup is an awful one, and OSU has been on FOX a ton. It wouldn't surprise me to get snubbed, but I can dream!
Nebraska at #4 Michigan ... UM has been in this slot FOUR times so far and likely could be again the next week when we travel there. Maybe FOX would opt for another matchup??
If we can beat Michigan State and Purdue beats Iowa, I would be optimistic that the story alone could be worth getting Big Noon Kickoff. If we don't get it, I still think there is a very good chance that we are either the 2:30 pm FOX slot or the 2:30 pm ESPN slot. Knock on wood and all, but I am somewhat confident we can avoid BTN or FS1 with the other stinker Big Ten games above.
11:00 am on FOX
11:00 am on ABC - Notre Dame at Navy
11:00 am on ESPN
11:00 am on ESPN2
11:00 am on BTN
11:00 am on FS1 - Oklahoma at West Virginia
2:30 pm on FOX
2:30 pm on ABC
2:30 pm on ESPN - Louisville at #5 Clemson
2:30 pm on ESPN2 - Iowa State at #18 Oklahoma State/#25 UCF at #19 Tulane
2:30 pm on FS1
2:30 pm on BTN
So, the "prime time" slots are 11:00 am on FOX, 2:30 pm on FOX, 2:30 pm on ABC or 11:00 am on ESPN. For FOX, we will compete with the Big XII and Pac-12, and for ABC/ESPN, we will compete with pretty much everyone. Shockingly, there actually are no remaining Big XII competitors for the Big Noon Kickoff slot, so we are competing against Pac-12 teams in the Mountain and Pacific time zones and our own Big Ten peers ... There are a lot of relevant games that have already been assigned a night game, so these are the games we need to beat out, IMO:
FOX - Either 11:00 am (Big Noon Kickoff) or 2:30 pm
Nebraska at #4 Michigan
Indiana at #2 Ohio State
Maryland at #16 Penn State
--- Only competing for the 2:30 pm slot due to time zones ---
Washington at #8 Oregon
Arizona at #10 UCLA (likely 2:30 pm only)
Stanford at #12 Utah (likely 2:30 pm only)
Competition for ESPN/ABC/ESPN2 Slots (Along w/Teams Above)
Missouri at #2 Tennessee (ONLY for 11:00 am on ESPN or ESPN2)
#15 LSU at Arkansas (ONLY for 11:00 am on ESPN or ESPN2)
Almost Certainly FS1 (or BTN for B1G Teams)
Wisconsin at Iowa
Cal at #24 Oregon State
Rutgers at Michigan State
Northwestern at Minnesota
So, to sum it up ... the main competitors for Big Noon Kickoff (11:00 am on FOX) are below, in order of my opinion of likelihood:
Maryland at #16 Penn State ... Penn State has been on FOX a ton and drawn very well, and it's easy to forget Maryland is 6-2, possibly 7-2 going into this game if they win in Madison this weekend. They are also third in the "Receiving Votes" category, so this COULD be a matchup of two ranked teams.
Indiana at #2 Ohio State ... I get OSU draws viewers, but this matchup is an awful one, and OSU has been on FOX a ton. It wouldn't surprise me to get snubbed, but I can dream!
Nebraska at #4 Michigan ... UM has been in this slot FOUR times so far and likely could be again the next week when we travel there. Maybe FOX would opt for another matchup??
If we can beat Michigan State and Purdue beats Iowa, I would be optimistic that the story alone could be worth getting Big Noon Kickoff. If we don't get it, I still think there is a very good chance that we are either the 2:30 pm FOX slot or the 2:30 pm ESPN slot. Knock on wood and all, but I am somewhat confident we can avoid BTN or FS1 with the other stinker Big Ten games above.