Big Ten TV Schedule: Week Twelve (2/8-2/14)

[Styre]

All times CENTRAL. All games nationally televised unless otherwise indicated. I will add announcers as they are assigned. All games subject to change due to COVID-19.

First, the NU games:

Indiana @ Northwestern
Wednesday, February 10
4:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Chris Vosters
Color: Len Elmore

Northwestern @ Rutgers
Saturday, February 13
4:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Dave Revsine
Color: Andy Katz

And the rest:

Monday, February 8

Nebraska @ Minnesota
7:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Dave Revsine
Color: John Beilein

Ohio State @ Maryland
8:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Brandon Gaudin
Color: Bill Raftery

Tuesday, February 9

Penn State @ Michigan State
6:00 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Dave Flemming
Color: Dan Dakich

Wednesday, February 10

Rutgers @ Iowa
6:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Brandon Gaudin
Color: Robbie Hummel

Wisconsin @ Nebraska
8:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Shon Morris

Thursday, February 11

Purdue @ Minnesota
4:00 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Jason Benetti
Color: Robbie Hummel

Friday, February 12

Illinois @ Nebraska
8:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Shon Morris

Saturday, February 13

Indiana @ Ohio State
11:00 AM, ESPN
PxP: Dan Shulman
Color: Jay Bilas

Iowa @ Michigan State
1:30 PM, FOX
PxP: Gus Johnson
Color: Jim Jackson

Sunday, February 14

Michigan @ Wisconsin
12:00 PM, CBS
PxP: Kevin Harlan
Color: Bill Raftery

Nebraska @ Penn State
2:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Brandon Gaudin
Color: John Beilein

Minnesota @ Maryland
6:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Steve Buckhantz
Color: Glenn Consor

The Illinois @ Michigan game scheduled for this week has been postponed.

 

[Styre]

Several changes to the Big Ten schedule:

Indiana @ Northwestern on Wednesday will now be played at 4:30 PM CT, not 8 PM, still on BTN.

Rutgers @ Iowa on Wednesday has been moved back 30 minutes to 6:30 PM CT.

Wisconsin @ Nebraska has been moved up one day to Wednesday, and will be played at 8:30 PM CT.

Purdue @ Minnesota will now be played at 4:00 PM CT on ESPN2 on Thursday.

Illinois @ Nebraska has been added to the schedule and will be played Friday night at 8:00 PM CT on BTN.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Several changes to the Big Ten schedule:

Indiana @ Northwestern on Wednesday will now be played at 4:30 PM CT, not 8 PM, still on BTN.

Rutgers @ Iowa on Wednesday has been moved back 30 minutes to 6:30 PM CT.

Wisconsin @ Nebraska has been moved up one day to Wednesday, and will be played at 8:30 PM CT.

Purdue @ Minnesota will now be played at 4:00 PM CT on ESPN2 on Thursday.

Illinois @ Nebraska has been added to the schedule and will be played Friday night at 8:00 PM CT on BTN.

Styre, any idea why the game tomorrow got moved up to 4:30PM? Looks like they did a similar thing with Purdue/Minnesota on Thursday? Is this mainly TV motivated or something else?

 

[CappyNU]

Styre, any idea why the game tomorrow got moved up to 4:30PM? Looks like they did a similar thing with Purdue/Minnesota on Thursday? Is this mainly TV motivated or something else?

I'm sure Styre has a better answer, but I think this is due to all of the rescheduling they need to do from Covid postponements and the availability of TV windows, so they have to squeeze in as many games as possible while still broadcasting all of them.

From an Athletic article I read yesterday:

How many games will be played?​

As far as the regular season goes, Kenny said, “The goal is still to get to 20 (games) for each team,” and if that proves impossible, all efforts will be made to play as many games as possible.​

​

How?​

​

“We are getting into a position where things are going to be a little more compressed,” Kenny said. “There are only four weeks left in the season, so you have to think creatively about where can we position games that might be nontraditional — scenarios that our coaches in a normal year would never consider and, frankly, we wouldn’t even present.”​

​

Two options are teams agreeing to play either two games in three days or on back-to-back days at a single location.​

​

“Absolutely,” Kenny said. “Everything is on the table, but with those options, in particular, it will take sign-off from both institutions.”​

​

Every instance of rescheduling has to check far more boxes than the teams agreeing to play. There are multiple factors relating to the academic calendar, facility conflicts with other fall and winter sports, TV windows available on BTN, CBS, Fox and ESPN, and NCAA compliance regarding off-day requirements (example, if you don’t take a day off one week, you must take two off the following week).​

​

Rescheduling a game is not a matter of calling two coaches and penciling a matchup on a calendar. Adding a single game takes roughly 20-30 phone calls, according to Kenny, checking all the boxes: coaches, game officials, administrators, facility operations, TV networks, and program personnel handling travel and accommodations.​

​

https://theathletic.com/2370883/202...ovid-schedule-problems-conference-tournament/

 

[Styre]

Styre, any idea why the game tomorrow got moved up to 4:30PM? Looks like they did a similar thing with Purdue/Minnesota on Thursday? Is this mainly TV motivated or something else?

The conference scheduled Illinois @ Nebraska, a makeup game, on Friday night, so because of that the Wisconsin @ Nebraska game on Thursday had to be moved up one day to Wednesday, meaning there are now three games on Wednesday, and the schedule has to be shuffled. I don't know why, specifically, they moved the NU game to 4:30 rather than just scheduling the Wisconsin-Nebraska game for the early slot. Could be a scheduling issue at one of the schools, could just be a ratings-based decision to have a ranked Wisconsin team in prime time.

As for Purdue-Minnesota, the Wisconsin-Nebraska game originally scheduled for Thursday was in that 4 PM slot on ESPN2, so the conference moved Purdue-Minnesota into the slot to give ESPN2 another Big Ten game.