Saturday Night Football

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the NFL Network's late-season "Saturday Night Football" broadcasts, see Run to the Playoffs.

For ESPN cable's Saturday night college football broadcasts, see ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime.

Saturday Night Football
Genre	Sports
Starring	Brent Musburger Kirk Herbstreit Lisa Salters
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	36 games in 24 broadcast windows, through December 1, 2007
Production
Running time	180 minutes+
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC (2006 – present)
Original run	September 2, 2006 – present
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

ESPN Saturday Night Football is a weekly presentation of college football on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Premiering on September 2, 2006, the program features prime time college football games starting at 8:00 p.m ET. For the majority of games in 2006, the play-by-play announcer was Brent Musburger with analysts Bob Davie and Kirk Herbstreit and sideline reporter Lisa Salters. Davie was taken off the package in 2007. Other broadcast teams were used for regional games and some national games. The current presenting sponsor for Saturday Night Football is Southwest Airlines.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Schedules 2.1 2006 schedule 2.2 2007 schedule 2.3 2008 schedule 3 Broadcast teams 3.1 2006 3.2 2007 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Overview

While ABC and ESPN have aired college football games on Saturday nights for decades, this program marks the first time that a collegiate sporting program has officially been part of any major over-the-air network's prime-time schedule.

Twelve weeks of games were televised during the 2006 college football season during the three-month period, with the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship Game closing out the season on December 2, 2006. Twelve weeks of games were televised for 2007 season again with the Big 12 Championship Game ending the season on December 1, 2007.

Saturday Night Football games essentially replace Noon games, which aired sporadically on the West Coast because affiliates were airing E/I-compliant children's programming to meet FCC licensing guidelines.

Saturday Night Football uses a variation of ABC's decades-old college football theme music, while all other college football broadcasts on ABC and ESPN use the ESPN college football theme music. Also, as a nod to the past, the program uses chroma key technology to display a shot of the stadium crowd behind the announcers during the opening portion of the game; such practices were prevalent during ABC Sports broadcasts during the 1970s and 1980s.

[edit] Schedules

[edit] 2006 schedule

ABC did not air games on either October 21 or October 28 to avoid competing with the World Series.

• September 2: #2 Notre Dame 14 at Georgia Tech 10
• September 9: #1 Ohio State 24 at #2 Texas 7
• September 16: #19 Nebraska 10 at #4 Southern California 28
• September 23: #12 Notre Dame 40 at Michigan State 37 (split-national, 79% of the United States)^[1]
• September 23: #3 Southern California 20 at Arizona 3 (split-national, 21% of the United States)^[1]
• September 30: #1 Ohio State 38 at #13 Iowa 17
• October 7: #11 Oregon 24 at #16 California 45 (split-national, 62% of the United States)^[2]
• October 7: #22 Nebraska 28 at Iowa State 14 (split-national, 38% of the United States)^[2]
• October 14: #4 Michigan 17 at Penn State 10 (split-national, 79% of the United States)^[3]
• October 14: Arizona State 21 at #3 Southern California 28 (split-national, 21% of the United States)^[3]
• November 4: #18 Oklahoma 17 at #21 Texas A&M 16 (split-national, 43% of the United States)^[4]
• November 4: #23 Virginia Tech 17 at Miami (Fla.) 10 (split-national, 38% of the United States, no HD)^[4]
• November 4: UCLA 24 at #10 California 38 (split-national, 19% of the United States)^[4]
• November 11: #4 Texas 42 at Kansas State 45 (split-national, 56% of the United States)^[5]
• November 11: #18 Wake Forest 30 at Florida State 0 (split-national, 44% of the United States)^[5]
• November 18: #17 California 9 at #4 Southern California 23
• November 25: #6 Notre Dame 24 at #3 Southern California 44
• December 2: #19 Nebraska 7 vs. #8 Oklahoma 21—Big 12 Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City

[edit] 2007 schedule

ABC did not air games on either September 8 or October 13 due to broadcasts of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races, with the first, the Chevy Rock and Roll 400, being the last race of the regular season, and the second, the Bank of America 500, the midpoint of the "playoffs", the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

• September 1: #15 Tennessee at #12 California 45
• September 15: #1 Southern California 49 at #14 Nebraska 31
• September 22: Washington State 14 at #1 Southern California 47 (split-national, 61% of the United States)^[6]
• September 22: Iowa 13 at #9 Wisconsin 17 (split-national, 39% of the United States, no HD)^[6]
• September 29: #1 Southern California 27 at Washington 24
• October 6: #4 Ohio State 23 at #23 Purdue 7 (split-national, 83% of the United States)^[7]
• October 6: Notre Dame 20 at UCLA 6 (split-national, 17% of the United States)^[7]
• October 20: #24 Michigan 27 at Illinois 17
• October 27: #1 Ohio State 37 at #24 Penn State 17
• November 3: Florida State 27 at #2 Boston College 17 (split-national, 62% of the United States)^[8]
• November 3: Texas A&M 14 at #5 Oklahoma 42 (split-national, 20% of the United States, no HD)^[8]
• November 3: Oregon State 3 at #13 Southern California 24 (split-national, 18% of the United States)^[8]
• November 10: #5 Kansas 43 at Oklahoma State 28 (split-national, 63% of the United States)^[9]
• November 10: #8 Boston College 35 at Maryland 42 (split-national, 19% of the United States, no HD)^[9]
• November 10: #12 Southern California 24 at #24 California 17 (split-national, 18% of the United States)^[9]
• November 17: #3 Oklahoma 27 at Texas Tech 34
• November 24: #3 Missouri 36 vs. #2 Kansas 28 at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City
• December 1: #9 Oklahoma 38 vs. #1 Missouri 17—Big 12 Championship Game at the Alamodome, San Antonio

[edit] 2008 schedule

The preliminary schedule for Big Ten and Pac-10 games is such [1]:

• August 30: Michigan State at California (split-national)
• August 30: Alabama vs. Clemson at Georgia Dome, Atlanta (split-national)
• September 6: No game due to NASCAR Sprint Cup race on ABC
• September 13: Ohio State at Southern California
• September 20: Georgia at Arizona State
• September 27: Illinois at Penn State (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• October 4: Ohio State at Wisconsin (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• October 4: Oregon at Southern California (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• October 11: No game due to NASCAR Sprint Cup race on ABC
• October 18:
• October 25: Penn State at Ohio State (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• October 25: Notre Dame at Washington (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• November 1:
• November 8: California at Southern California
• November 15:
• November 22:
• November 29: Notre Dame at Southern California (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• December 6: Big 12 Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City

[edit] Broadcast teams

[edit] 2006

• Brent Musburger, play-by-play, Kirk Herbstreit, Bob Davie, analysts, and Lisa Salters, sideline reporter.
  • Ten games: Notre Dame–Georgia Tech,^[10] Ohio State–Texas,^[11] Nebraska–Southern California,^[12] Notre Dame–Michigan State,^[13] Ohio State–Iowa,^[14] Oregon–California,^[15] Michigan–Penn State,^[16] Oklahoma–Texas A&M,^[17] Wake Forest–Florida State,^[18] and Notre Dame–Southern California^[19].
• Dan Fouts, play-by-play, Tim Brant, analyst, and Jack Arute, sideline reporter.
  • Three games: Southern California–Arizona,^[20] Nebraska–Iowa State,^[21] and UCLA–California^[22].
• Mark Jones, play-by-play, David Norrie, analyst, and Stacey Dales, sideline reporter.
  • Two games: Arizona State–Southern California^[23] and Virginia Tech–Miami (Fla.)^[24].
• Gary Thorne, play-by-play, Andre Ware, analyst, and Todd Harris, sideline reporter.
  • One game: Texas–Kansas State^[25].
• Brad Nessler, play-by-play, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire, analysts, and Erin Andrews, sideline reporter.
  • One game: California–Southern California^[26].
• Mike Patrick, play-by-play, Todd Blackledge, analyst, and Holly Rowe, sideline reporter.
  • One game: Nebraska–Oklahoma (Big 12 Championship Game)^[27].

[edit] 2007

• Brent Musburger, play-by-play, Kirk Herbstreit, analyst, and Lisa Salters, sideline reporter.
  • Eleven games: Tennessee–California,^[28] Southern California–Nebraska,^[29] Iowa–Wisconsin,^[30] Southern California–Washington,^[31] Ohio State–Purdue,^[32] Michigan–Illinois,^[33] Ohio State–Penn State,^[34] Florida State–Boston College,^[35] Kansas–Oklahoma State,^[36] Missouri–Kansas,^[37] and Oklahoma–Missouri (Big 12 Championship Game)^[38].
• Dan Fouts, play-by-play, Tim Brant, analyst, and Todd Harris, sideline reporter.
  • Two games: Washington State–Southern California^[39] and Notre Dame–UCLA^[40].
• Terry Gannon, play-by-play, David Norrie, analyst, and Jeannine Edwards, sideline reporter.
  • Two games: Oregon State–Southern California^[41] and Southern California–California^[42].
• Ron Franklin, play-by-play, Ed Cunningham, analyst, and Jack Arute, sideline reporter.
  • One game: Texas A&M–Oklahoma^[43].
• Dave LaMont, play-by-play, Chris Spielman, analyst, and Quint Kessenich, sideline reporter.
  • One game: Boston College–Maryland^[44].
• Brad Nessler, play-by-play, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire, analysts, and Bonnie Bernstein, sideline reporter.
  • One game: Oklahoma–Texas Tech^[45].

[edit] See also

• College GameDay
• College Football Final
• College Football Scoreboard
• ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime
• ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime
• ESPN2 College Football Saturday Primetime

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Grossman, Ben. "ABC Fields Team for College Ball Game", Broadcasting & Cable, 2006-05-16. Retrieved on 2007-10-26. 
• "ABC to Broadcast 12 prime-time Saturday Games", ESPN.com news services, 2006-05-17. Retrieved on 2006-09-07. 
• Sarz, Matt (2005–2007). Matt's College Sports on TV Website. Retrieved on 2007-10-26. Weekly listings for the 2006 and 2007 college football seasons

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