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Over the years, things really have improved for college football fans. More and more games are available on television, and marquee games are typically given to at least 75 percent of the country (if not broadcast nationally on an over-the-air network).However, no system is perfect, and we have no better illustration of the imperfections of television deals than this coming weekend.
You all know about the Big Ten Network by now. It's not a perfect operation by any means, but it seems to be sticking around. Unfortunately for the network, they still can't get on any major cable systems. Therefore, fans all across "Big Ten country" have been shut out of numerous games so far this season.
Well, for the first time, fans are going to be shut out of a marquee matchup with national appeal. Top-ranked Ohio State hosts Wisconsin Saturday, and it was announced over the weekend that the game would be carried by the Big Ten Network.
Ouch.
Buckeye fans won't get to watch tOSU's last notable test before the season-ending showdown with resurgent Michigan, unless they are among the few who get BTN. Badger fans in Wisconsin, where no cable provider carries BTN, are left searching for a place to watch the game, too.
How did this happen? Well, it appears ABC chose to air Michigan-Michigan State, leaving Wisconsin-tOSU twisting in the wind. We can question the wisdom of ABC making that decision, but it could also be argued that the potential of a blowout is much higher with the Wisconsin-tOSU game.
Meanwhile, the Pac-10 may actually have a worse TV deal than the Big Ten does. Saturday's marquee matchup, worthy of the ESPN College GameDay presence, is Arizona State visiting Oregon.
You'd think such a game would be on ABC.
Nope. ABC picks UCLA-Arizona.
Surely, then, FSN would pick it up for one of their Saturday games.
Nope. FSN takes Washington State-Cal.
Evidently, these decisions were made before the season started. What? Haven't you people heard of "flex games"? They're all the rage now.
If you get FSN Arizona or FCS Central, you're in luck. You'll see the game live at 6:30pm ET. If you don't get one of those outlets, you'll be stuck with all those Big Ten fans.
UPDATE: ESPN and FSN have reached an agreement to get the game to a national audience. If you don't live in the markets of FSN Arizona, FSN West, FSN Northwest, or the Oregon Sports Network, you'll get the game on ESPN.
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