Along with the many new things we can expect from the new media rights deal between the Big 12 and ABC/ESPN & FOX Sports Media Group (announced Friday morning) is a minimum of six Big 12 games to air on "Big" FOX (the main network channel, not FOX Sports) — for the first time ever. FOX will also get "enhanced selections" to Big 12 games through 2015, likely meaning they'll get the first pick over ESPN.
As reported by Dennis Dodd, FOX will begin airing Big 12 games in its prime-time slot (kickoff likely somewhere between 6pm CT and 8pm CT) on September 22, with the K-State @ Oklahoma game being the most likely candidate. Which Baylor games might we see on FOX this year, and what are some of the other implications of this portion of the new TV deal?
The first weekend Baylor would be "eligible" for a FOX broadcast game is September 29th when the Bears travel to Morgantown, WV for their first conference game of the season and WVU's first Big 12 game EVER. Assuming both teams will be ranked going into that weekend, this will be a huge game. Two high-powered offenses and at least one potential Heisman candidate in Geno Smith, this will be must-see TV — and possibly an ESPN College GameDay candidate, but I'll get to that in a minute. Here are the other Big 12 games going on that day (no kickoff times or TV networks have been announced):
|
Date |
Home |
Away |
|
Sept. 29 |
Iowa State |
Texas Tech |
|
Sept. 29 |
SMU |
TCU |
|
Sept. 29 |
West Virginia |
Baylor |
|
Sept. 29 |
OK State |
Texas |
The only other game I could see them airing is the Texas @ Oklahoma State game, so I think there's a pretty good chance we'll see Baylor @ WVU on FOX with a 7pm kickoff time.
But back to GameDay: As mentioned above the jump, FOX will get "enhanced selections" over ESPN for the next four seasons, which I have to assume means they get first pick of all Big 12 games. This has some big implications on each school's chance to have College GameDay come to their campus. Regarding the weekend of September 29, the only other big-name games happening that weekend in the other conferences are Tennessee @ Georgia and Ohio State @ Michigan State. Between these two games and the two Big 12 games (Baylor-WVU and OSU-Texas), the Baylor-WVU is the most exciting to me, mostly because of the first-Big-12-game-ever significance for WVU. This is my pick for College GameDay Week 4, unless FOX exercises their first-pick rights and snatches it up. Either way, expect to see this game on either FOX, ESPN or ABC.
The other Baylor games I could see being picked up for the FOX prime-time broadcast are BU vs. TCU (10/13), BU @ Texas (10/20) and BU @ Oklahoma (11/10).
What do you think? Would you rather Baylor's games be broadcast on FOX or ESPN/ABC? Any other games you could see FOX picking up? Let us know in the comments section below.


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