So it seems we are back to week one scheduling where everything was flowers and unicorns. Or so it seems. I will not hold my breath until Saturday morning when the schedule becomes official because I know how Bell, Rogers, and even TSN, work. It’s like this is the way they do their scheduling when something changes:

So as of now, I will say these schedules are set. Going out on a limb with that comment but I am willing to take the chance. Let’s begin with the cable schedule:

ROGERS FIBE SATELLITE Clemson at Louisvile (Thu) 7:30 PM TSN3/5 X X X Florida State at Boston College (Fri) 8:00 PM TSN2 X X X Idaho State at Boise State (Fri) 9:00 PM CBSSN X X Air Force at Michigan State 12:00 PM ABC/TSN5 X X X Buffalo at Florida Atlantic 12:00 PM MyTV X X UNLV at Michigan 12:00 PM BTN X Wake Forest at Army 12:00 PM CBSSN X X Connecticut at Missouri 12:00 PM TSN3 X X X Northwestern at Duke 12:30 PM WSBK X X X Nebraska at Miami (replaced by Northern Illinois at Ohio State) 3:30 PM ABC X X X Troy at Wisconsin 3:30 PM BTN X Auburn at LSU 3:30 PM CBS X X X East Carolina at Navy 3:30 PM CBSSN X X Georgia Tech at Notre Dame 3:30 PM NBC X X X Colorado State vs. Colorado (in Denver) 7:00 PM CBSSN X X California at Texas 7:30 PM FOX X X X Stanford at USC 8:00 PM ABC X X X Rutgers at Penn State 8:00 PM BTN X Utah at Fresno State 10:30 PM CBSSN X X

I had made a mistake up until now when it came to MyTV out of Buffalo (WNYO). I had assumed that both Fibe and Satellite customers had that channel but it turns out that it is not on the listing of channels for Bell Satellite. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like you’re missing the highest calibre of games or anything but at least a couple times a year you get a game with a great finish and it makes it worth having. Gee, Bell Satellite is looking worse and worse every week.

As for the games themselves (on cable), the quality is much better than last week’s sked. Stanford-USC, Georgia Tech-Notre Dame, and Auburn-LSU highlight quite a good cable package this coming weekend. As of right now, the ABC game at noon on both FIbe and Satellite is TBA but it appears on Rogers as AFA-Sparty so I have a hunch that is what Bell will show too. The afternoon ABC game is also TBA across all platforms but Nebraska-Miami is set in that spot so I expect that game to appear at 3:30. I have heard there may be a reverse mirror for the 3:30 game but all signs at this time point toward NU-UM being the only game on ABC (since NIU-tOSU has been sent to the specialty packs already). Update: Well, it looks like about 75% of the US and all of Canada are getting NIU-tOSU on ABC. So Nebraska-Miami is sent to the specialty pack. Gee, I sure hope Bell and Rogers don’t fuck this up. Speaking of the specialty packs…

Here’s the specialty pack schedule:

ROGERS FIBE SATELLITE Clemson at Louisvile (Thu) 7:30 PM X X Florida A&M at South Carolina State (Thu) 7:30 PM X X X Hampton vs. Howard (in Washington) (Fri) 7:30 PM X X X Florida State at Boston College (Fri) 8:00 PM X X Air Force at Michigan State 12:00 PM X X Kent State at Minnesota 12:00 PM X Illinois at North Carolina 12:00 PM X X X Connecticut at Missouri 12:00 PM X X Nevada at Texas A&M 12:00 PM X X Northwestern at Duke 12:30 PM X Central Michigan at Syracuse 12:30 PM X Northern Illinois at Ohio State (replaced by Nebraska at Miami) 3:30 PM X X X Virginia Tech at Purdue 3:30 PM X X X Northwestern State at Mississippi State 4:00 PM X X South Carolina at Georgia 6:00 PM X X X Furman at UCF 6:00 PM X Texas Tech at Arkansas 7:00 PM X X X Western Carolina at Tennessee 7:00 PM X X X Florida at Kentucky 7:30 PM X X Pittsburgh at Iowa 8:00 PM X Maine at Tulane 8:00 PM X Ole Miss at Alabama 9:15 PM X X X

Rogers up to their old tricks again, adding games to make up for no SEC Network games (I’m pretty sure that is false but it sounds about right for Rogers). Furman-UCF and Maine-Tulane (hey it rhymes!) on ESPN3 have been added to Rogers’ Super Sports Pack. This means Bell may or may not pick these games up by noon on Saturday. Bell has kind of done the same with the Thursday and Friday night games. I can see those coming off the specialty pack since they are already on a TSN station. Still nothing special about the SEC Network games this season so far although UF-UK last season was an amazing game (triple overtime if I remember correctly). The highlight here most definitely is Ole Miss with their Madden-like offense playing Bama. I am pretty positive the Rebs won’t drop 70 on the Tide. Update #2: Clemson-Louisville ended up being taken off the specialty pack since it was already on two TSN channels. I expect the same tonight. FSU-BC will be listed on the specialty pack but, since it’s also on TSN2, there’s a good chance it will not appear on a specialty pack channel.

Set Your Eyeballs on These Games

Ole Miss at Alabama (9:15, specialty pack) – OK so maybe not easily the biggest game of the week but it is (by a slight margin). Bama’s first SEC test and Ole Miss’s first test period. This game will go a long way towards determining who will reign supreme (I miss the original Iron Chef) in the SEC West (especially now with Auburn playing poorly to start the season and Arkansas falling off a cliff).

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame (3:30, NBC) – Not quite the game of the week but one of the biggest games shown on NBC in a long time. DeShone Kizer gets to show what he’s made of against a tough Ramblin’ Wreck D and we see if Brian Van Gorder (yet another good coordinator who was a shit head coach) remembers what he tried to destroy at Georgia Southern (hint: it’s the option).

Auburn at LSU (3:30, CBS) – After watching Fun Bobby Petrino forget how to manage the clock and Vandy somehow sneak onto our (cable) television screens, CBS gets a really good SEC West showdown that many will want to see. LSU should be favoured by a boatload in this one. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gus Malzahn lit a fire under his players’ asses after their scare against Jacksonville State so this may end up being a good one even with LSU and the Death Valley advantage.

BYU at UCLA (10:30 on FOX Sports Fucking One) – Wait. I said set your eyeballs on these games? Sorry. None of us will get that opportunity other than the occasional highlight (if you’re even up that late). Should be a good one…unfortunately for us.

Northwestern at Duke (12:30, WSBK and for Rogers Customers, the Super Sports Pack for some reason) – Yes. Northwestern. And Duke. Seriously. Understand this…the winner moves to 3-0 and is almost a shoo-in for a bowl game (if not more). The winner will be in the top 25 and in Northwestern’s case, probably the top 20. The Wildcats are better than advertised and the ACC Network has to be very pleased they basically stumbled onto a potentially great game.

Georgia State at Oregon (2:00, Pac-12 Network which does not exist here in Canada) – Should be over by the 45 second mark but I would love to see Oregon try and drop 90 on the Panthers.

Losing Money

Some bets that I would make if I wanted to gamble and lose my money. Here we go. And remember, these are straight-up and not against the spread:

Clemson over Louisville (god Louisville does not look good so far this season)

Michigan State over Air Force

Duke over Northwestern

Notre Dame over Georgia Tech

LSU over Auburn

Alabama over Ole Miss

UCLA over BYU

USC over Stanford

Miami over Nebraska

Georgia over South Carolina

This Saturday could be interesting for viewing on my part since the slopitch playoffs start that morning. I hope to get as much viewing in as possible to make up for my craptastic recap of the previous week’s festivities. Either way I will be live-tweeting off and on all throughout Saturday again (@LikeABauce1978 for you Twitter people and no, I don’t do Instagram at all) and eating food that’s probably not good for me and larger-than-normal quantities.