Everybody is in action in the Pac-12 in the next to last weekend of the regular season, as all the byes are behind us now. And all 6 games are on Saturday, an increasingly uncommon occurrence.
2 of the 6 rivalry games, the ones in California, are on tap this week, a result of the Notre Dame affect, where the Irish can dictate schedules in conferences they aren't even a member of (which is all of them), as well as California's adamant refusal to play the "Big" medium sized Game on Thanksgiving weekend.
Because half the schedule has been relegated to the Pac-12 Channel, the tripleheader that results sees the day start with Washington St. (3-7, 2-5) visits #13 Arizona St. (8-2, 5-2) at 11 AM AST (which is 10 AM PST, and Coug body-clock time).
Fox Sports 1 has that Bay Area rivalry game from Berkeley, with Stanford (5-5, 3-4) at California (5-5, 3-5) at 1 PM PST, in a bowl game play-in for both teams.
There are a pair of games between a pair of top 20 teams, and the ESPN/ABC folks are all over those. Both also have direct implications on the Pac-12 South race as well.
#15 Arizona (8-2, 5-2) makes the trip north to take on #17 Utah (7-3, 4-3) at 1:30 PM MST in Salt Lake City (12:30 PM PST), and ESPN will be there.
The "Battle for the City" takes place in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena this year, with #19 USC (7-3, 6-2) visiting #9 UCLA (8-2, 5-2) at 5 PM PST, and its the ABC Saturday evening national telecast.
The afternoon game on the Pac-12 Channel is the last home game of the season for Pac-12 North Champion Oregon, and therefore possibly for Heisman Trophy contender Marcus Mariotta, with Colorado (2-8, 0-7) visiting #2 Oregon (9-1, 6-1) at 1:30 PM PST.
The schedule winds up (as usual) with a late night Beaver game, as Oregon St. (5-5, 2-5) makes the trip up I-5 to take on Washington (6-5, 2-5) at 7:30 PM PST in Husky Stadium, on the Pac-12 Channel. This is also a bowl-eligibility play-in game for both teams.
(For those thinking Oregon St. and the Pac-12 North schools get all the late night games, do note that there are also 3 Mt. West late games, including our friends from Boise St., Wyoming, Nevada, Fresno St., UNLV, and Hawaii, and 5 of the Mt. West's 6 games this weekend are night games.)
Nationally, other than the 3 games of Maction (there would have been a 4th had there not been a blizzard in Buffalo that pushed a game back to Friday) already in the books, the schedule gets started tonight, with significant games in the Big XII, ACC, & Sun Belt.
Here's the complete national schedule, adjusted for East Coast Bias Time:
Thu, Nov 20, 2014 | ||||
7:00 PM ET FS1 |
(12) Kansas State | at | West Virginia | |
7:30 PM ET ESPN |
North Carolina | at | Duke | |
9:30 PM ET ESPNU |
Arkansas State | at | Texas State | |
Fri, Nov 21, 2014 | ||||
1:00 PM ET |
Kent State | at | Buffalo | |
8:00 PM ET FS1 |
UTEP | at | Rice | |
9:30 PM ET CBSS |
Air Force | at | San Diego State | |
9:30 PM ET ESPN2 |
San Jose State | at | Utah State | |
Sat, Nov 22, 2014 | ||||
12:00 PM ET CBSS |
Fordham | at | Army | |
12:00 PM ET SECN |
Eastern Kentucky | at | Florida | |
12:00 PM ET SECN |
Charleston Southern | at | (10) Georgia | |
12:00 PM ET BTN/BTN2 |
Rutgers | at | (11) Michigan State | |
12:00 PM ET BTN/BTN2 |
Indiana | at | (6) Ohio State | |
12:00 PM ET ESPNU |
Northwestern | at | Purdue | |
12:00 PM ET ESPN3/ESGP |
South Alabama | at | South Carolina | |
12:00 PM ET ESPN2 |
Penn State | at | Illinois | |
12:00 PM ET ESPN |
(25) Minnesota | at | (23) Nebraska | |
12:00 PM ET FS1 |
Kansas | at | (21) Oklahoma | |
12:00 PM ET AMSN |
Marshall | at | UAB | |
12:00 PM ET FSN |
Texas-San Antonio | at | Western Kentucky | |
12:00 PM ET ESPNN |
Southern Methodist | at | UCF | |
12:30 PM ET ESPN3/ESGP |
Virginia Tech | at | Wake Forest | |
1:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Appalachian State | at | Louisiana-Lafayette | |
1:00 PM ET PAC12 |
Washington State | at | (13) Arizona State | |
1:00 PM ET FCS |
Louisiana Tech | at | Old Dominion | |
1:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Western Michigan | at | Central Michigan | |
1:30 PM ET ROOT |
New Mexico | at | Colorado State | |
2:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Eastern Michigan | at | Ball State | |
3:00 PM ET BYUTV |
Savannah State | at | BYU | |
3:00 PM ET ESPN3 |
Tulsa | at | Houston | |
3:30 PM ET ESPN3/ESGP |
Georgia State | at | (22) Clemson | |
3:30 PM ET ABC/ESPN2 |
Boston College | at | (2) Florida State | |
3:30 PM ET BTN/BTN2 |
Maryland | at | Michigan | |
3:30 PM ET NBC |
(24) Louisville | at | Notre Dame | |
3:30 PM ET ESPNU |
Syracuse | at | Pittsburgh | |
3:30 PM ET CBS |
(8) Mississippi | at | Arkansas | |
3:30 PM ET ABC/ESPN2 |
(16) Wisconsin | at | Iowa | |
3:30 PM ET FSN |
Texas Tech | at | Iowa State | |
3:30 PM ET ESPN |
(15) Arizona | at | (17) Utah | |
3:30 PM ET AMSN |
FIU | at | North Texas | |
3:30 PM ET ESPN3 |
Tulane | at | East Carolina | |
4:00 PM ET SECN |
Western Carolina | at | (1) Alabama | |
4:00 PM ET FS1 |
Stanford | at | California | |
4:00 PM ET ESPN3/ESGP |
Louisiana-Monroe | at | New Mexico State | |
4:00 PM ET ESPNN |
South Florida | at | Memphis | |
4:30 PM ET PAC12 |
Colorado | at | (2) Oregon | |
7:00 PM ET ESPN2 |
Miami (FL) | at | Virginia | |
7:00 PM ET ESPNU |
Samford | at | (14) Auburn | |
7:00 PM ET AMSN |
Florida Atlantic | at | Middle Tennessee | |
7:30 PM ET ESPN |
(20) Missouri | at | Tennessee | |
7:30 PM ET FOX |
Oklahoma State | at | (7) Baylor | |
7:30 PM ET SECN |
Vanderbilt | at | (4) Mississippi State | |
8:00 PM ET ABC |
(19) USC | at | (9) UCLA | |
8:00 PM ET CBSS |
Cincinnati | at | Connecticut | |
10:15 PM ET ESPN2 |
Boise State | at | Wyoming | |
10:30 PM ET PAC12 |
Oregon State | at | Washington | |
10:30 PM ET ESPNU |
Fresno State | at | Nevada | |
11:00 PM ET OCPV |
UNLV | at | Hawaii |
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com