The offseason of conference realignment also means you’ll need to recalibrate some of your viewing habits ahead of the 2024 college football season.
With the Pac-12 now down to two teams and the other power conferences expanding in size, Pac-12 After Dark is no more. But don’t worry, we’re still going to have plenty of late-night college football telecasts. Here’s where you’ll need to find college football games throughout the 2024 season as we enter the first year of the SEC’s exclusive contract with ESPN.
ACC
The ACC’s media rights deal is unchanged in 2024, much to the chagrin of Clemson and Florida State. The two schools are unhappy with the long-term deal the conference is in with ESPN as the Big Ten and SEC are set to get far more money per season from their new media rights deals.
The marquee ACC game of the week will appear on either ABC or ESPN this season with most other games on other ESPN networks and the ESPN-owned ACC Network. The CW will again have the rights to an ACC game per week.
Big Ten
The Big Ten moved away from ESPN in 2023 and takes over the 3:30 p.m. ET slot on CBS from the SEC this season. That Big Ten game isn’t always going to be the best of the week like it was for the SEC. With Fox’s Noon ET kickoff getting a lot of key games, CBS won’t always have a top-tier matchup. For example, Michigan’s home game vs. Texas in Week 2 is at Noon ET on Fox, while Iowa State at Iowa is the 3:30 p.m. CBS game.
NBC will have prime-time games — their Week 2 game is Colorado’s trip to Nebraska — again in 2024, along with some afternoon games that are exclusively on Peacock. You can also expect the Big Ten’s West Coast teams to have some 10 p.m. ET kickoffs on Fox networks.
Big 12
The Big 12 looks to be the replacement for ESPN’s late-night Pac-12 telecasts. With four teams west of the Central time zone, home games for Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah look set to be regular choices for ESPN and Fox to fill late slots. Don’t be surprised if Cal and Stanford also have a couple of late ACC home games.
The Big Ten and Big 12 will also have regular Friday night games on both Fox and ESPN throughout the season. On the Friday of Week 3, for example, Kansas hosts UNLV on ESPN, while Arizona visits Kansas State on Fox. Two weeks later, Houston plays a Friday night game at TCU on ESPN while Michigan State visits Oregon on Fox.
SEC
ESPN is now the exclusive TV home for the SEC. And with all of the conference’s games on ESPN networks, the conference and ESPN are trying out something new for game times in 2024.
College football telecast times are typically decided two weeks in advance and fans rarely had any idea what time their team’s game could be scheduled before the two-week window. Ahead of this season, the SEC announced specific game times or broadcast windows for most if its games.
For example, in Week 7, South Carolina at Alabama will be at Noon ET on either ABC or ESPN, while the 3:30 p.m. kickoff on either ABC or ESPN will be Texas vs. Oklahoma in Dallas. The other four conference games that weekend haven’t been announced, but we have an idea of when they’ll be played. Mississippi State at Georgia, Vanderbilt at Kentucky and Florida at Tennessee will kick off no earlier than 3:30 p.m. ET and no later than 8 p.m. ET while Ole Miss at LSU will not kick off before 6 p.m. ET and not after 8 p.m. ET.
It’s an idea that should reap benefits for fans as the season goes on. Fans watching on TV can plan their days around the possible game times, while fans in attendance can make earlier tailgate plans.
Other conferences
Home games for both Oregon State and Washington State will be televised by the CW. The two schools have a scheduling alliance with the Mountain West and games at Mountain West opponents will be televised through the MWC’s TV deal with Fox, CBS and newcomer TruTV.
The AAC’s games will be on ESPN networks, while Army home games will continue to be on CBS Sports Network. Conference USA has a deal with ESPN and CBS, the Sun Belt’s games will be available through ESPN and the MAC will continue to have games on both ESPN networks and CBS Sports Network.
Source Agencies
