2012 College Football TV Schedule Week 1: TV Listings for the Upcoming Week

It’s that time of year again. That time when college football fans can scurry away from the outdoors and back into their favorite rooms in their house or apartment or their favorite stool at their local watering hole. 

And why is that?

Because college football is finally back! 

It has been a long eight months since we have watched a college football game, and for some of you it has been even longer due to your favorite team not making a bowl game. But, the season is a time for new hope, new beginnings and a time when every team has a shot at playing for the BCS Championship in January. 

Now, for those of you new to the “Ultimate College Football Television Guide,” let me first say welcome. You’ll notice that at the bottom of the text there is a table where you can find every game that will be on a major network like ESPN (2, 3, U and GamePlan), Fox Sports, NBC Sports Network, CBS Sports Network, Longhorn Network, SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and Big East Networks and FX.

So with that being, said let’s get into some Week 1 action. 

Player to watch in Week 1: Denard Robinson 

Robinson is coming into his senior year at Michigan with a chance to help the Wolverines win their first outright Big Ten title since 2003. 

He proved last year that he can play well in big games. For example, his best passing game came in Week 2, which was the thriller against Notre Dame. Robinson threw for 338 yards, with four touchdowns and a passer rating of 194.1. 

When Michigan needed him to play at a high level down the stretch he was able to put up big games against Illinois (two rushing touchdowns), Nebraska (four combined touchdowns), Ohio State (five combined touchdowns) and Virginia Tech (two passing touchdowns). Those four games all ended in Michigan wins, and the last one was a victory in the Sugar Bowl. 

With a big game against Alabama, it will not only vault Michigan into the top five of the AP and Coaches polls, but it will also put him into early consideration as a Heisman Trophy finalist. 

Player with the most pressure in Week 1: David Ash 

For those of you who do not live in Austin, Texas, you may not have been aware of the quarterback controversy that has been going on at the 40 acres. 

Coming into the season, Longhorns fans were split down the middle as to whom should be QB1 on the 2012 depth chart. 

Some fans thought Ash was the better quarterback and gave Texas the best chance to win this year. However, there were the supports of Case McCoy (younger brother of Colt McCoy), who thought his leadership skills would be enough to carry Texas. 

Ash won the quarterback battle in camp and opens Week 1 as the starter against Wyoming. 

However, a slow start for Ash could mean that he’s yanked from the game for McCoy. If that would happen, and McCoy flourishes against the Cowboys, then Ash could be listed as QB2 for the Longhorns' second game against New Mexico. 

Game you should avoid in Week 1: No. 1 USC vs. Hawaii 7:00PM Fox

For starters, this game is from Los Angeles and not Hawaii so the cutaways of beautiful Honolulu will instead be cutaways of a half empty—or half full, depending on your outlook—Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. 

USC quarterback Matt Barkley will have a glorified preseason game in this one, where he plays into the third quarter or until he throws his fifth touchdown pass and eclipses the 330 passing yard mark. 

So if you have to miss a game this week, you can pass on this one. 

Game you should do everything you can to watch: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama 8:00PM ABC

This is a great way for the defending BCS National Champions to start their season. Alabama pretty much said, "Forget the opening soft game against a team like California (PA). Instead, we are going to take on the champions of the Sugar Bowl."

Last year, LSU went the same route and opened the season at Cowboys Stadium against the Oregon Ducks, who were the runners-up in the 2011 BCS Championship. This Alabama-Michigan game is eerily similar to that LSU-Oregon game. You have Alabama playing the roll as the SEC powerhouse going up against a Michigan team built on speed. 

Last year, LSU dominated Oregon, only allowing the Ducks to gain 95 rushing yards—well below their eventual season average of 299.2. 

Can Alabama do the same to a Michigan team that averaged 221.8 yards per game last year? 

Wrap up and game listing:

Okay that’s enough for this week. Below you’ll find all of the games from Week 1 that start on Thursday and finally end on Monday night. 

Thanks for reading and I’ll see everyone next week for Week 2.

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Date	Time (ET)	Game	Channel
Thursday, Aug. 30	7:00 PM	No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt	ESPN
		UCF at Akron	ESPN-3
		Eastern Michigan at Ball State
		Southeast Missouri State at Central Michigan
		Towson at Kent State
	7:15 PM	Northern Colorado at Utah	Pac-12 Network
	7:30 PM	UTSA at South Alabama	ESPN-3
		Massachusetts at Connecticut
		UCLA at Rice	CBS Sports Network
		Texas A&M at Louisiana Tech	ESPN-U
		McNeese State at Middle Tennessee	ESPN-3
	8:00 PM	Sacramento State at New Mexico State
		Southern Utah at Utah State
	9:00 PM	Eastern Washington at Idaho
	10:15 PM	Washington State at BYU	ESPN
	10:30 PM	Northern Arizona at Arizona State	Pac-12 Network
	11:00 PM	Minnesota at UNLV	CBS Sports Network
Friday, 31	7:00 PM	Villanova at Temple	ESPN-3
	7:30 PM	Tennessee vs. North Carolina State	ESPN-U
	8:00 PM	No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State	ESPN
		Wagner at Florida Atlantic	ESPN-3
	10:00 PM	San Jose State at No. 21 Stanford	Pac-12 Network
Saturday, Sept. 1	9:00 AM	Notre Dame vs. Navy	CBS
	12:00 PM	Appalachian State at East Carolina	Fox Sports
		Western Michigan at Illinois	ESPN-U
		Miami (OH) at No. 18 Ohio State	Big Ten Network
		Ohio at Penn State	ESPN
		Northwestern at Syracuse	ESPN-2
		Marshall at No. 11 West Virginia	FX
	12:21 PM	Buffalo at No. 6 Georgia	SEC Network
	12:30 PM	Elon at North Carolina	ACC Network
	3:00 PM	Nevada at California	Pac-12 Network
		William & Mary at Maryland	ESPN-3
		Nicholls at Oregon State	Pac-12 Network
		Richmond at Virginia	ESPN-3
	3:30 PM	Miami (FL) at Boston College	ABC/ESPN-2
		Bowling Green at No. 23 Florida	ESPN
		Tulsa at Iowa State	Fox Sports
		Southern Miss at No. 17 Nebraska	ABC/ESPN-2
		Iowa at Northern Illinois	ESPN-U
		Eastern Kentucky at Purdue	Big Ten Network
		Northern Iowa at No. 12 Wisconsin	Big Ten Network
	4;00 PM	Colorado State at Colorado	FX
	6:00 PM	Murray State at No. 7 Florida State	ESPN-3
		Youngstown State at Pittsburgh	ESPN-3
	7:00 PM	Jacksonville State at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPN-3
		No. 14 Clemson at Auburn	ESPN
		FIU at Duke	ESPN-3
		North Texas at No. 3 LSU	ESPN-U
		Lamar at Louisiana-Lafayette	ESPN-3
		Central Arkansas at Ole Miss	Fox Sports
		Southeastern at Missouri	ESPN-3
		Chattanooga at South Florida	ESPN-3
		Austin Peay at Western Kentucky	ESPN-3
	7:10 PM	Missouri State at No. 22 Kansas State	Kansas State HD
	7:30 PM	Hawaii at No. 1 USC	FOX
	8:00 PM	No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama	ABC
		Indiana State at Indiana	Big Ten Network
		Wyoming at No. 15 Texas	Longhorn Network
		Rutgers at Tulane	CBS Sports Network
	10:30 PM	Toledo at Arizona	ESPN-U
		Arkansas State at No. 5 Oregon	ESPN
		No. 4 Oklahoma at UTEP	Fox Sports
		San Diego State at Washington	Pac-12 Network
Sunday, Sept. 2	3:30 PM	Kentucky at No. 25 Louisville	ESPN
	6:30 PM	Southern Methodist at Baylor	Fox Sports
Monday, Sept. 3	8:00 PM	Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech	ESPN