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Big Sky ESPN Games Prediction

G

Griz til I die

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Next Thursday ESPN will announce their full broadcast schedule for the College Football season. Starting this year, the Big Sky will get 4 regular season games on the networks of ESPN. Below are the parameters for the deal:

- 4 Regular season Football games on ESPN Networks (Friday or Saturday)
- At least 2 games must air on either ESPN or ESPN2
- At least one game cannot feature either Montana school.

Based on these conditions, here's my best guess on the games ESPN will take this year and the networks they land on:
-Saturday 9/27 Idaho vs. Montana ESPN2
-Saturday 10/4 cats @ NAU ESPN2
-Friday 10/24 Montana @ Sac State ESPNU
-Friday 11/7 UC Davis vs. Idaho ESPNU

The only one of these four that I think is a given is Griz vs. Idaho. That feels like a no brainer. Beyond that though, I'm not sure what else they'll take. I do think it's likely they take Griz @ Sac State just because of all the offseason buzz for Sac and with the Griz coming to town, that'll be their biggest game of the year. I could see them sticking that one on Friday night though. The cats don't really have a lot of good options this year. Their only decent home game is Davis, but that's the week before the Brawl and pretty late in the season that I wouldn't think they'd take that one. So the only other game for the cats that makes sense is @ NAU. That would be the one that makes the most sense and NAU has yet to appear on any ESPN games, and they'd get a home game. As for the non Montana schools game, the most attractive one is Davis vs. Idaho in the Kibbie Dome. That game is the same week our game against Davis on ESPN2 was last year. I think they get relegated to Friday night on ESPNU. What do we think? We got 8 days to stew over it lol.
 
uofmman1122 said:
I'd bet money they put the UM/Sac game on ESPN/ESPN2.
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That's certainly possible, especially if they stick it on Friday night. Selfishly I hope they don't take any Sac State games just because of their presidents immature behavior but I'm sure they'll get at least one and that's the most likely contender.
 
Griz til I die said:
That's certainly possible, especially if they stick it on Friday night. Selfishly I hope they don't take any Sac State games just because of their presidents immature behavior but I'm sure they'll get at least one and that's the most likely contender.
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I don't think ESPN gives a single shit about what their president says to a couple hundred people on twitter. They are the hottest FCS school this year (deserved, or not) in terms of media attention, and I would guess ESPN wants to highlight them, accordingly. And since we're the biggest game they have this year, it'll likely be that one.

Could be wrong, it really also depends on scheduling, but I'd bet a lot of money that's the game they want more than any other on their flagship networks.
 
uofmman1122 said:
I don't think ESPN gives a single shit about what their president says to a couple hundred people on twitter. They are the hottest FCS school this year (deserved, or not) in terms of media attention, and I would guess ESPN wants to highlight them, accordingly. And since we're the biggest game they have this year, it'll likely be that one.

Could be wrong, it really also depends on scheduling, but I'd bet a lot of money that's the game they want more than any other on their flagship networks.
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That is true and I know in the past the Big Sky has had some say in the games they select. How much say they actually have I don't know, but I also think Griz vs. Idaho being a rivalry game in Wa Griz will be pretty attractive to them as well. I'm interested to see which cat game they pick cause there really aren't that many desirable options. The non Montana school game to me is also very compelling to see what they take.
 
IF ESPN wants to show Big Sky in it's best light... The 3 Games that will involve UM or MSU will be home games for both... So My guess would be

Idaho At UM
EWU At UM
Cal Poly At MSU

MSU home Conference games are against the bottom teams, mainly.
 
SACCAT66 said:
IF ESPN wants to show Big Sky in it's best light... The 3 Games that will involve UM or MSU will be home games for both... So My guess would be

Idaho At UM
EWU At UM
Cal Poly At MSU

MSU home Conference games are against the bottom teams, mainly.
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ESPN’s looking for matchups, not venues. They’ve proven that time and time again with some of their previous game selections. No way they take either of those bottom 2 games.
 
Griz til I die said:
Maybe but that’s pretty late in the season. That’s right in the midst of the CFP race.
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West coast time slot ... opens up lots of alternatives as they are looking to continue the live game broadcasts well past when most of the contending CFP teams are done for the day... Plus they have both ESPN and the Deuce...
 
Could UM@PSU be a possibility?

Portland media market, Pacific time slot, PSU has been hyping/marketing it, moved to a different venue for this single game, some storylines like: the Griz getting an All-Conference player from them, father/son coaches on opposite sidelines, etc.
 
DoubleNicks said:
Could UM@PSU be a possibility?

Portland media market, Pacific time slot, PSU has been hyping/marketing it, moved to a different venue for this single game, some storylines like: the Griz getting an All-Conference player from them, father/son coaches on opposite sidelines, etc.
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You’re forgetting that PSU won 3 games last year. Plus I see no scenario where they take any games after November 8.
 
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