Aug. 17, 2005
IRVING, Texas - Conference USA has announced its updated television schedule for the 2005 football season. The schedule features nearly 50 games to be nationally-televised on CSTV, ESPN, ESPN 2 or i (formerly known as PAX). Included are a number of unopposed windows that provide tremendous exposure to C-USA, as well as several exciting league match-ups, and many challenging non-conference contests.
Two additional UCF games have been added to the C-USA television schedule. The November 5 Homecoming game vs. Houston at the Florida Citrus Bowl will kickoff at 6 p.m. on the i network. In addition, the November 12 game at UAB will air live on CSTV at 4 p.m.
This season marks the first year of C-USA's partnership with CSTV: College Sports Television. CSTV and Conference USA recently signed a six-year initial term that includes significant national and regional exposure for football, men's and women's basketball and other C-USA sports. CSTV, the fastest growing independent cable network, has agreements with distributors that serve more than 65 million households nationwide. It deals with the top six distributors - Comcast, DirecTV, Time Warner, Charter, Cox and Adelphia, among others - and is expected to be available on cable in all Conference USA markets when the partnership commences this fall.
As part of the relationship with CSTV, Conference USA has entered into an agreement for seven nationally-televised games on i this season. A national cable outlet, i, is currently available to more than 95 million people across the country. The seven-game C-USA package is part of i's "CSTV Football Nation" coverage on Saturday evenings.
Conference USA will continue its relationship with ESPN, Inc., having at least 12 regular season contests televised by ESPN or ESPN 2 this fall, including 10 games included in its contract with the network and two additional non conference games that have been selected by the network through their agreements with other conferences. The inaugural Conference USA championship will also be televised by ESPN on Saturday, December 3.
"We are very pleased to have more of our football games on television and distributed to a wider audience than ever before," said Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky. "Our fans around the country will be able to watch nearly all C-USA football games during this historic season."
CSTV will air at least 20 national and regional telecasts of C-USA football during the 2005 season. The first four weeks will feature exciting regional inter-conference rivalries with the next four weeks highlighting key C-USA league match-ups. The network's debut Conference USA game is Saturday, September 3 when Duke visits East Carolina. Other non-conference rivalries on the docket include TCU at SMU, Mississippi State at Tulane and New Mexico at UTEP. Six different C-USA schools are featured over the first four weeks of the Conference USA league game portion of the schedule.
The ESPN schedule kicks off with three games on the opening night of the 2005 college football season, Thursday, September 1. UCF will be featured on ESPN at 7:45 p.m. EDT when second-year head coach George O'Leary takes his Golden Knights into Columbia, S.C., for Steve Spurrier's debut as the Gamecocks' head coach. Over on ESPN 2, a doubleheader featuring C-USA teams is on the docket as Houston hosts Oregon at 7 p.m. EDT, followed by Minnesota visiting Tulsa at 10:15 p.m. EDT.
The opening weekend of action continues with the first league game of the 2005 season on Sunday, September 4 on ESPN 2. Tulane and Southern Miss, two of the longest-standing rivals in C-USA, renew acquaintances in Hattiesburg, Miss. at 4 p.m. EDT. Labor Day (Monday, September 5) caps off the weekend action with a battle between mid-south rivals Memphis and Ole Miss at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (4:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN).
Additional Conference USA football television exposures remain a possibility, and will be released as soon as they are finalized.
C-USA will be split into two divisions this season. East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB and UCF will compete in the East Division. Houston, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and UTEP comprise the West Division.
2005 CONFERENCE USA FOOTBALL TELEVISION SCHEDULE(confirmed games as of August 17)
CSTV NATIONALSaturday, September 3 Duke at East Carolina 1:00 p.m. EDT/Noon CDTSaturday, September 10 TCU at SMU 9:30 p.m. EDT/8:30 p.m. CDTSaturday, September 17 Mississippi State at Tulane 8:00 p.m.EDT/7:00 p.m. CDTSaturday, September 24 New Mexico at UTEP 9:00 p.m. EDT/8:00 p.m.CDTSaturday, October 1 UTEP at Memphis 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDTSaturday, October 8 Tulsa at Southern Miss 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m.CDTSaturday, October 15 Memphis at Houston 5:00 p.m. EDT/4:00 p.m.CDTSaturday, October 22 East Carolina at Memphis 3:30 p.m.EDT/2:30 p.m. CDTSaturday, October 29 Marshall at Tulane 7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m.CDTSaturday, November 5 Rice at SMU TBASaturday, November 12 UCF at UAB 4:00 p.m. EDT/3:00 p.m. CDTSaturday, November 19 Memphis at Southern Miss 8:30 p.m.EDT/7:30 p.m. CDTSaturday, November 26 Rice at Houston 4:00 p.m. EDT/3:00 p.m. CDT OR Marshall at Memphis 2:00 p.m. EDT/1:00 p.m. CDT
ESPN SCHEDULEThursday, September 1 UCF at South Carolina 7:45 p.m. EDT/6:45 p.m.CDTMonday, September 5 Mississippi at Memphis 4:30 p.m. EDT/3:30 p.m.CDTFriday, October 21 Southern Miss at UAB 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m.CDTSaturday, December 3 C-USA Championship Game TBATuesday, December 20 Wyndham New Orleans Bowl 8:00 p.m.EST/7:00 p.m. CSTWednesday, December 21 GMAC Bowl 8:00 p.m. EST/7:00 p.m. CSTFriday, December 23 Fort Worth Bowl 8:00 p.m. EST/7:00 p.m. CSTSaturday, December 24 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl 7:00 p.m. EST/6:00 p.m.CSTSaturday, December 31 AutoZone Liberty Bowl 1:00 p.m. EST/Noon CST
ESPN 2 SCHEDULEThursday, September 1 Oregon at Houston 7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m.CDTThursday, September 1 Minnesota at Tulsa 10:15 p.m. EDT/9:15 p.m.CDTSunday, September 4 Tulane at Southern Miss 4:00 p.m. EDT/3:00 p.m.CDTSaturday, September 10 Kansas State at Marshall 10:30 a.m.EDT/9:30 a.m. CDTSaturday, September 10 Southern Miss at Alabama 7:45 p.m.EDT/6:45 p.m. CDTFriday, September 16 Houston at UTEP 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDTTuesday, November 1 UAB at Memphis 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDTTuesday, November 8 Southern Miss at Marshall 7:30 p.m.EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT
ESPN OR ESPN 2 SCHEDULEFriday, October 14 UTEP at Tulane 8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT
ESPN U SCHEDULESaturday, September 3 UTEP at New Mexico State 10:30 p.m.EDT/9:30 p.m. CDT
FOX SPORTS NETSaturday, September 10 Tulsa at Oklahoma 12:30 p.m. EDT/11:30a.m. CDTSaturday, September 17 SMU at Texas A&M 12:30 p.m. EDT/11:30a.m. CDTSaturday, September 17 Rice at Texas 7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT
JEFFERSON-PILOT SCHEDULESaturday, September 3 UAB at Tennessee 12:30 p.m. EDT/11:30a.m. CDT
CSTV Football Nation on i (Formerly PAX)Saturday, October 8 Houston at Tulane 6:00 p.m. EDT/5:00 p.m.CDTSaturday, October 15 UAB at Marshall 5:00 p.m. EDT/4:00 p.m. CDTSaturday, October 22 Marshall at UTEP 9:00 p.m. EDT/8:00 p.m.CDTSaturday, October 29 UTEP at Rice 6:00 p.m. EDT/5:00 p.m. CDTSaturday, November 5 Houston at UCF 6:00 p.m. EDT/5:00 p.m. CDTSaturday, November 12 SMU at Houston 6:00 p.m. EDT/5:00 p.m. CDTSaturday, November 19 UAB at UTEP 6:00 p.m. EDT/5:00 p.m. CDT