ESPN TV Schedule: Best Primetime Showdowns for Big Ten Football in 2012

ESPN just announced a bevy of new games added to its lineup this season; 68 new games altogether, including several early Big Ten games. The full list of televised games is here.

Here's a look at the best prime-time games you can catch on ABC, ESPN and all the other ESPN channels in 2012. What else are you going to do on a Saturday night? Wait, don't answer that. Don't make this weird.

Aug. 31, 8:00 P.m.: Boise State at Michigan State

The first prime-time game of the Big Ten season is also going to be one of the best; Michigan State's going to show off its high-powered defense against a Boise State team that's going to be without Kellen Moore for the first time since roughly 1994 (don't check that, please), but still has a nasty habit about ruining big-name teams' seasons in September.

Michigan State's offense is going through its own reboot, although the offensive line's just about as good as it'll ever be, and Boise State is historically brutish on defense. Look for a low-scoring slugfest to open up the Big Ten season. As if we'd have it any other way here.

Sept. 1, 8:00 PM: Michigan vs. Alabama at Cowboy Stadium

Michigan is in for the fight of its life in Week 1, as the Wolverines head down to Dallas to take on defending national champions Alabama under the stars...well, under the lights...well, if we're being honest, under the biggest video screens ever. It's still a night game, even though everyone's going to be in the glare of the jumboest of Jumbotrons.

Alabama isn't quite what it was last season; Trent Richardson was the first of six Alabama players (Tides? Probably not Tides) taken in the first 35 picks of the draft, and the other five were defenders. The Crimson Tide defense is still going to be strong, but it'll be a step down.

With any luck, that step is all Denard Robinson will need to make a game of it. Michigan's going to need a monster game from Shoelace, especially since the Bama secondary will certainly be less forgiving of poor passes than, say, Notre Dame was under the lights last year.

Sept. 15, 8:00 PM: Notre Dame at Michigan State

Michigan State owes Notre Dame revenge for the beatdown the Irish put on the Spartans last year; in South Bend, Notre Dame controlled the game from the outset and came away with a decisive 31-13 victory. Additionally, offensive linemen Skyler Burkland and Blake Treadwell were both lost for the season in that game; they're back and healthy now.

Notre Dame easily might give Michigan State fits again this year, though; Manti Te'o is one of the best linebackers in the nation, and even though this Irish quarterback situation is a mess, it might not take that much offense to stay close to the Spartans this early in the season. Definitely worth a watch.

Sept. 29, 8:00 PM: Wisconsin at Nebraska

Remember when Big Red was welcomed to conference play by the Big Ten's Big Red? It was close... for almost a half. It was a rude awakening for previously unbeaten Nebraska, and a sign that things would be a little different from here on out.

Well, it's 2012, Nebraska's back for more and Wisconsin's the team that has to hit the road in this matchup now. Wisconsin should take notice; the talent differential is a little more in the Huskers' favor this year than it was last year, and the Badgers have that nasty little habit of dropping prime-time road games.

But maybe that's all in the past. Maybe.

Oct. 27, 8:00 PM: Michigan at Nebraska

The 2012 Big Ten prime-time schedule starts with a bang, and it'll end with one too. The last night game of the season comes to us from Lincoln again as Nebraska plays host to Michigan.

The Wolverines put the final nail in the coffin of Nebraska's division title hopes in 2011 with a 45-17 shellacking in Ann Arbor, and doubtless Nebraska wants to turn the tables here this year. There's more than a glimmer of hope here too; historically, Denard Robinson has really struggled on the road, and Memorial Stadium is as tough a place to play in the Legends Division as any.