Pac-12 early football television schedule announced

SAN FRANCISCO -- Pac-12 Conference television partners ESPN, FOX Sports, and Pac-12 Networks will provide complete coverage of the entire Pac-12 home football schedule during the 2016 season. Pac-12 Networks will air 35 Pac-12 home games, while ESPN and FOX Sports will combine to televise 44 games from Pac-12 home and neutral sites. In addition, FOX will televise the Pac-12 Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

The opening week of the 2016 football season will feature nine games aired by one the Pac-12 Conference’s three television partners. The CALIFORNIA Golden Bears, despite being nearly 7,500 miles from their Berkeley campus, will kick off the season as the home team against Hawai’i in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, August 27 (Friday, August 26 in the United States, with broadcast partner to be determined). Pac-12 Networks will then open the season stateside on Thursday, September 1, when Pac-12 South Division co-champion UTAH hosts Southern Utah.

A pair of games is on the docket for Friday, September 2. COLORADO will host Colorado State on ESPN in the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, while defending Pac-12 champion STANFORD and All-America running back Christian McCaffrey make their season debut against Kansas State on FS1. Pac-12 Networks will televise four additional games on Saturday, September 3, while FS1 will wrap up the first weekend of play featuring ARIZONA against BYU at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

In all, Pac-12 Networks will televise 14 games during the first three weeks of the season. With the exception of the Idaho State at COLORADO game on Saturday, September 10, which will be carried on Pac-12 Mountain, all games will be carried on Pac-12 Network and the Pac-12 Network regional carrier in the home team’s market.

Other featured matchups during the first three weeks of the season include a pair of Saturday, September 10, contests with BYU at UTAH (FOX) and Virginia at OREGON (ESPN). The rematch of the 2015 Pac-12 Football Championship Game will take place on Saturday, September 17, with USC at STANFORD opening league play on ABC.

ESPN will televise on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ABC, while FOX Sports will air its games on FOX or FS1, and will simulcast selected games on FOX Deportes. FOX will culminate the 2016 Pac-12 season when it carries the Pac-12 Football Championship Game on Friday, December 2.

While television selections for the first three weeks of the 2016 season have been made, as well as all Thursday and Friday games throughout the season, all remaining television game selections and start times, starting with week four (Saturday, September 24) and running through the final week of the regular season (Saturday, November 26) will be made 12- or six-days in advance.

Additional non-conference road games will be televised as part of other conference or institution television packages. Those conferences and institutions will release their 2016 television schedule in the coming weeks. In all, every game involving a Pac-12 team is expected to be televised this season.

Following is the television schedule for the 2016 Pac-12 football season:  

Games in italics have been selected to be televised as a part of other conference/institution television packages.

(1) ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia

(2) Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, Colo.

(3) University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.

(4) AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

(5) Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.

For additional information on Pac-12 football, check out Pac-12.com.