A fifth straight appearance in prime time for the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game, 10 national TV exposures and 10 national ESPN3 exposures in the first three weeks of the season, including four national TV appearances on the opening weekend of the year, headline the Atlantic Coast Conference early season TV football schedule announced Tuesday by the ACC.
The schedule includes all of the ACC’s games for the first three weeks of the season, with the exception of road non-conference games which are controlled by the host teams’ conferences, as well as five Thursday night contests which will be nationally televised by ESPN and three nationally-televised Friday games.
In all, the ACC announced 19 games that have been selected to be televised nationally, and another 10 which will be video streamed nationally.
Once again the conference will have a syndicated package on the ACC Network which will air in more than 100 markets and a package on the Regional Sports Networks (RSN) that will be in an average 71 million homes.
However, with ESPN3 carrying both packages outside of their syndicated footprints, once again every ACC-controlled football game this year will be available nationally.
The 2014 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game, which will be played for the fifth consecutive year in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6, and will have a nationally televised kickoff time of either 7:45 p.m. (on ESPN) or 8 p.m. ET (on ABC).
As usual the ACC opens the season in an exciting way with a minimum of four national TV exposures (the network for Clemson at Georgia has yet to be announced).
Wake Forest opens the 2014 ACC season in a Thursday night (Aug. 28) road opener at Louisiana Monroe, in a game which will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
On Saturday, Aug. 30, Virginia then hosts UCLA in a nationally televised intersectional contest on ESPN. And then Florida State then begins defense of its national title at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., meeting Big 12 power Oklahoma State in a nationally televised prime time game on ABC. The Seminoles boast the nation’s longest current winning streak, having won 16 straight games going into this season.
And finally, Louisville, which officially joins the conference this July 1, makes its ACC football debut hosting Miami on Labor Day Monday Night (8 p.m.) on September 1 in a game that will be nationally televised by ESPN. The game marks the 10th appearance by an ACC team or teams in the last 11 years on the prime Labor Day platform.
Other national TV exposures during the first three weeks include Pitt at Boston College on Friday, Sept. 5 (ESPN,7 p.m.); San Diego State at North Carolina (ESPNews, 8 p.m.) and Virginia Tech at Ohio State on Sat., Sept. 6 (ESPN, 8 p.m.); and East Carolina at Virginia Tech (Noon, ABC, ESPN or ESPN2), Arkansas State at Miami (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.) and Southern California at Boston College (8 p.m., ABC, ESPN or ESPN2) on Sat., Sept 13.
The primetime battle between the Eagles and Trojans gives the ACC three straight prime-time Saturday night exposures to begin the season.
In all, eight of the Top 25 teams in the final 2013 Associated Press poll will be in action in ACC games on the season’s first three weekends in Florida State (No. 1), Clemson (No. 8), Ohio State (No. 12), Louisville (No. 15), UCLA (No. 16), Oklahoma State (No. 17), Southern California (No. 19) and Duke (No. 23).
Additionally, in the same time period, seven of the Top 18 teams in “ESPN’s Way Too Early Top 25” are also in action in ACC games including Florida State (No. 1), UCLA (Nov. 7), Ohio State (No. 9), Georgia (No. 11), Southern California (No. 14), North Carolina (No. 17) and Clemson (No. 18).
Gametimes were also announced for the ACC’s five nationally televised Thursday night games which will air on ESPN and will have a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, including Virginia Tech at Pitt (Oct. 16), Miami at Virginia Tech (Oct. 23), Florida State at Louisville (Oct. 30), Clemson at Wake Forest (Nov. 6) and North Carolina at Duke (Nov. 20).
The three national exposures on Friday include Pitt at Boston College on Sept. 5 (ESPN, 7 p.m.), Louisville at Syracuse on Oct. 3 (ESPN, 7 p.m.) and Virginia at Virginia Tech on Thanksgiving Friday, Nov. 28 (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU, time TBD).
A total 10 games will also be available nationally on ESPN3 beginning with Villanova at Syracuse on Friday, Aug. 29 (7:30 p.m.) and continuing with Delaware at Pitt (Aug. 30, Noon); William & Mary at Virginia Tech (Aug. 30, 3:30 p.m.); Elon at Duke (Aug. 30, 6 p.m.); and Liberty at North Carolina (Aug. 30, 6 p.m.).
The ACC’s ESPN3 schedule also includes Richmond at Virginia (Sept. 6, 3:30 p.m.); Old Dominion at NC State (Sept. 6, 6 p.m.); Gardner-Webb at Wake Forest (Sept. 6, 6:30 p.m.); Murray State at Louisville (Sept. 6, 7 p.m.); and Florida A&M at Miami (Sept. 6, 7 p.m.).
The ACC will again have two syndicated packages produced by the ACC Network this fall: The ACC Network and the Regional Sports Networks (RSN).
The ACC Network will be syndicated in over 100 markets nationally and more than 90 million TV households with three games in the first three weeks, each with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff: Georgia Southern at NC State (Aug. 30); South Carolina State at Clemson (Sept. 6); and Louisville at Virginia (Sept. 13).
In addition, ACC Network games are also available digitally on ESPN3 (outside of the ACC footprint) and on theACC.com and on the ACC App for IPhones, IPads and Droid mobile devices.
Once again, the ACC will also feature a weekly football game which will air each week on the Regional Sports Networks (RSN) of Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolinas, Fox Sports Florida or Sun Sports, Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic, New England Sports Network (NESN), the YES Network or MSG Network in New York and Root Sports in Pennsylvania, in addition to several other RSNs nationally reaching 71 million homes on average.
The RSN package will have four games in the first three weeks of the season including a doubleheader on Sept. 13 with Georgia Tech hosting Georgia Southern (Noon) and Duke hosting Kansas (3:30 p.m.) and a prime-time exposure on Sept. 6 with Florida State hosting The Citadel (7:30 p.m.). Georgia Tech hosts Wofford on Aug. 30 (12:30 p.m.) in the first ACC RSN game of the year.
The RSN package games are also available outside of their coverage areas on ESPN3.
ESPN, Inc., is the world’s leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of more than 50 multimedia sports assets. The company is comprised of seven U.S. 24-hour television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes and Longhorn Network (with the SEC Network launching August 2014) and five HD simulcast services (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and ESPN Deportes). Other businesses include ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (24 networks, syndication, radio, digital), ESPN Radio (broadcast, satellite, digital, a growing category led by ScoreCenter), digital services (ESPN.com plus a variety of sport-, college-, and market-specific sites; multi-screen WatchESPN and ESPN3; plus mobile TV and video, apps, alerts and messaging), ESPN The Magazine, consumer products and espnW. Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.
2014 Atlantic Coast Conference
Early Season Football Television Schedule Release
(All times Eastern)
*Non-conference away games not under ACC control,
times and networks to be announced at a later date
Date………….. Game………………………………………………………………………… Network………………………. Gametime
Aug. 28……… *Wake Forest at Louisiana Monroe…………………………. ESPNU………………………….. 7 p.m.
Aug. 29……… Villanova at Syracuse……………………………………………….. ESPN3…………………………… 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 30……… UCLA at Virginia……………………………………………………….. ESPN…………………………….. Noon
Aug. 30……… Delaware at Pitt………………………………………………………… ESPN3…………………………… Noon
Aug. 30……… Georgia Southern at NC State……………………………………. ACC Network………………… 12:30 p.m.
Aug. 30……… Wofford at Georgia Tech ………………………………………… RSN………………………………. 12:30
Aug. 30……… William & Mary at Virginia Tech…………………………….. ESPN3…………………………… 3:30 p.m.
Aug. 30……… Elon at Duke…………………………………………………………….. ESPN3…………………………… 6 p.m.
Aug. 30……… Liberty at North Carolina…………………………………………. ESPN3…………………………… 6 p.m.
Aug. 30……… *Florida State vs. Oklahoma State (Arlington, Tex)…. ABC………………………………. 8 p.m.
Aug. 30……… *Boston College at Massachusetts…………………………… TBA………………………………. TBA
Aug. 30……… *Clemson at Georgia…………………………………………………. TBA………………………………. TBA
Sept, 1……….. Miami at Louisville………………………………………………….. ESPN…………………………….. 8 p.m.
Sept. 5……….. Pitt at Boston College……………………………………………….. ESPN…………………………….. 7 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. South Carolina State at Clemson………………………………. ACC Network………………… 12:30 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. Richmond at Virginia……………………………………………….. ESPN3…………………………… 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. Old Dominion at NC State………………………………………… ESPN3…………………………… 6 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. Gardner-Webb at Wake Forest…………………………………. ESPN3…………………………… 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. Murray State at Louisville………………………………………… ESPN3…………………………… 7 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. Florida A&M at Miami……………………………………………… ESPN3…………………………… 7 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. *Duke at Troy…………………………………………………………… TBA………………………………. 7 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. The Citadel at Florida State………………………………………. RSN………………………………. 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. San Diego State at North Carolina…………………………….. ESPNews………………………. 8 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. *Virginia Tech at Ohio State…………………………………….. ESPN…………………………….. 8 p.m.
Sept. 6……….. *Georgia Tech at Tulane…………………………………………… TBA………………………………. TBA
Sept. 13……… Georgia Southern at Georgia Tech……………………………. RSN………………………………. Noon
Sept. 13……… East Carolina at Virginia Tech………………………………….. ABC, ESPN or ESPN2……. Noon
Sept. 13……… Louisville at Virginia……………………………………………….. ACC Network………………… 12:30 p.m.
Sept. 13……… Arkansas State at Miami…………………………………………… ESPNU………………………….. 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 13……… Kansas at Duke…………………………………………………………. RSN………………………………. 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 13……… *Wake Forest at Utah State……………………………………….. CBS Sports Network…….. 7 p.m.
Sept. 13……… Southern California at Boston College……………………… ABC, ESPN or ESPN2……. 8 p.m.
Sept. 13……… *NC State at South Florida………………………………………… TBA………………………………. TBA
Sept. 13……… *Pitt at Florida International……………………………………. TBA………………………………. TBA
Sept. 13……… *Syracuse at Central Michigan…………………………………. TBA………………………………. TBA
Oct. 3………… Louisville at Syracuse………………………………………………. ESPN…………………………….. 7 p.m.
Oct. 16………. Virginia Tech at Pitt………………………………………………….. ESPN…………………………….. 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23………. Miami at Virginia Tech…………………………………………….. ESPN…………………………….. 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 30………. Florida State at Louisville………………………………………… ESPN…………………………….. 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 6……….. Clemson at Wake Forest…………………………………………… ESPN…………………………….. 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 20……… North Carolina at Duke…………………………………………….. ESPN…………………………….. 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 28……… Virginia at Virginia Tech…………………………………. ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.. TBA
Dec. 6………… Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship………….. ESPN or ABC…………………………. 7:45 or 8 p.m.
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