Oregon St. has the week off, but the rest of the conference is in action, so scouting some future opponents is in order. Unfortunately, the lack of a Pac-10 network limits the options for that, but despite some other events, several (but not all) notable games are available.
The Florida St. at Oklahoma game is the 12:30 ABC game nationally, and the last NASCAR race before the chase for the championship is on the evening, so there is no ABC coverage of the Pac-10 this week.
The Stanford Cardinal visit the UCLA Bruins in the first conference game of the year 7:30 Saturday night, and ESPN has the coverage.
The Oregon Ducks are going up on Rocky Top to take on the Tennessee Volunteers, and ESPN2 will have the coverage at 4.
The future Pac-12 member Colorado Buffalos get an early look at their new world with a visit to Berkley, and a contest with the California Golden Bears at 12:30, on Comcast Sports Net and also the Fox Sports network of regional channels.Virginia visits USC at 7:30 as well, and most of the Fox Sports regional channels will carry the game, but not Fox Sports Northwest, who instead will cover the Seattle Mariners' pursuit of the record for worst team in baseball history in Anaheim against the Angels. You'll need an extended sports tier package to get the game in the northwest.
The Washington Huskies host the Syracuse Orangemen at 4, and Fox Sports Northwest does have coverage of this game, though most of the Fox Sports regional opponents will be carrying Wyoming (Boise St.'s next opponent) at Texas. So fans in the rest of the current and future Pac-10/12 footprint will need an extended sports tier in the late afternoon time slot to check out Washington, or if the Oregon-UT contest gets out of hand.
The Washington St. Cougars host the Montana St. Bobcats of the FCS Big Sky at 4, and Gametracker is the only way to follow the game.
Another Big Sky team, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, visit the Arizona State Sun Devils at 7, and outside of Arizona, where Fox Sports Arizona Plus is distributed, Gametracker is again the only way to get the game.
Turns out the Big Sky tv package is even worse than the Pac-10's!
The Citadel Bulldogs visits the Arizona Wildcats at 7 as well, and local Arizona tv and a live webcast by the school at www.arizonawildcats.com are the only options for seeing this game.
The Utah Utes, who will join the Pac-11/12 next year, hosts the UNLV Rebels at 1 Pacific Time, and The Mountain has the game.
The Louisville Cardinals, Oregon St.'s next opponent hosts Eastern Kentucky at 12:30, but only local TV and Gametracker are available.
And if you thought ESPN3 might be the solution until the advent of a Pac-12 network, think again. Of the 27 games in their lineup this week, only two involve Pac-10 teams, and they are games available on regular ESPN channels.