Indiana’s 8-0 start just one piece of the puzzle the Big Ten needs to work with TV matchups

AP Sports Writer

Indiana has made only two network television appearances in the first season of the Big Ten’s media deal with Fox, NBC and CBS.

The Hoosiers, though, should receive more national recognition with crucial games against Michigan next Saturday and Ohio State on Nov. 23.

Indiana’s first 8-0 start since 1967 is one of many pieces the conference and the networks must work with when determining what matchups to put into the top spots.

Fox has the early afternoon window, while CBS is in its first season at 3:30 p.m. ET after many years of carrying the SEC. NBC is in its second season with the prime-time package. It is the first time a conference has had a weekly package with three broadcast networks.

“The whole design here was for the top three games every week to be on broadcast television. And as we know, broadcast television continues to aggregate massive amounts of eyeballs for these big-time live events,” said CBS Sports executive vice president of programming Dan Weinberg. “I think the conference recognized the potential upside of that model with how successful the NFL has been. I think the structure of what they tried to create is what we’re seeing in practice, and we view it as a positive with even more upside to come over these next several years.”

There was already plenty of intrigue going into the season with the addition of Oregon, Southern California, UCLA and Washington. The Ducks rising to the top spot in the AP Top 25 has been another benefit of the expansion.

Oregon, Penn State and Ohio State occupy three of the top four spots in this week’s poll, and the Hoosiers are ranked 13th.

“I think the depth and the breadth of matchups with these four additional teams coming in has provided an opportunity to spread the proverbial peanut butter around a little bit more,” said Justin Byczek, NBC Sports’ senior vice president of programming. “We’ve been able to drive the best matchups every week into our respective windows.”

Oregon makes its second straight appearance on CBS Saturday when it visits Michigan. It will be the fifth time in seven weeks that CBS will have a matchup with one of the Big Ten’s West Coast schools.

Last Saturday marked the first time since the 2007 Sun Bowl that the Ducks were on CBS.

“We talked about it prior to the start of the season when we were looking over the composite schedule. On any given week, there are matchups on paper that would be Rose Bowls in previous years. And that’s just exciting,” Weinberg said.

Oregon, though, won’t be on network television on Nov. 9, with their game against Maryland already slated for Big Ten Network.

Each team is guaranteed at least two games on Big Ten Network, one of which must be a conference matchup.

All three networks have taken a collaborative approach in securing matchups. Fox has the top three picks in the preseason television draft each year but traded the third pick to NBC, which selected the Oct. 12 game between Ohio State and Oregon. In return, Fox got last Saturday’s Nebraska-Ohio State game and Saturday’s Ohio State-Penn State matchup.

Fox owns the top three selections as the conference’s primary media partner and through its ownership of the Big Ten Network.

Besides the “Big Noon Saturday” slot, Fox has showcased the Big Ten with nine matchups on Friday nights. All four West Coast schools have at least one Friday night home game, while the Bruins, Ducks and Huskies make two appearances.

“We wanted to use Friday to showcase the new West Coast schools and on Saturday to go a little deeper and not have it always be Ohio State and Michigan,” said Mike Mulvihill, Fox’s president of insights and analytics.

Ironically, Indiana is one of five conference schools that wasn’t scheduled for a Friday night game.

The Hoosiers were on NBC on Sept. 14, spoiling UCLA’s conference debut. They appeared on Fox on Oct. 19, when they beat Nebraska 56-7. Indiana’s other three conference games were on Big Ten Network.

However, Indiana does have a national window on Saturday, with its game against Michigan State being streamed on Peacock.

The kickoff and network for the Michigan game will be determined after Saturday’s action is completed.

Indiana-Michigan isn’t the only intriguing matchup on Nov. 9. The third-ranked Nittany Lions host Washington in their annual whiteout game, and No. 4 Ohio State faces Purdue.

The result of Saturday’s Ohio State-Penn State matchup should go a long way in helping to determine where all three games land. The Penn State-Washington game will be at 3:30 or 8 p.m. EST.

NBC will have an afternoon Big Ten game on Nov. 9 since it has Florida State-Notre Dame in prime time. It also has a Peacock-exclusive game that day.

All of the 18 Big Ten schools have been on Fox this season, either on Friday night or “Big Noon Saturday.” Half have been on CBS at least once, with USC and Michigan tied at three apiece.

All but four schools — USC, Northwestern, Rutgers and Maryland — have appeared on NBC or Peacock.

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