ESPN College Football Week 8: TV Schedule, College GameDay in Harrisonburg, SEC Nation in Tuscaloosa, and a Week 7 Ratings Update

Derek Volner

October 23, 2015

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Schedule Update: 18 Ranked Teams Including Eight of Top 10
contact: michael.c.humes@espn.com

ESPN’s college football schedule this week is highlighted by 18 teams in the Associated Press rankings – including eight of the top 10 – and 10 of the remaining 14 undefeated programs. ESPN2 and ESPN will each televise a weeknight game featuring an unbeaten team from the American on the road: No. 22 Temple at East Carolina on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and No. 18 Memphis at Tulsa on Friday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Highlights for Saturday, Oct. 24:

Each game of the ABC tripleheader will showcase an undefeated squad in the top seven: No. 6 Clemson at Miami (Fla.) at noon, a 3:30 p.m. split-national window pitting No. 7 Michigan State against Indiana and Texas Tech at one-loss No. 17 Oklahoma (ESPN2 will show the game viewers do not receive on ABC) and No. 1 Ohio State at Rutgers in the Saturday Night Footballcontest at 8 p.m.
An ESPN quadrupleheader will kick off at noon with unbeaten No. 2 Baylor against Iowa State. The prime-time doubleheader will pit No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 24 Ole Miss at 7 p.m. followed by one-loss No. 10 Stanford against Washington at 10:30 p.m.
Two games at 7 p.m. will each have an undefeated top nine team – No. 5 LSU against Western Kentucky on ESPNU and No. 9 Florida State at Georgia Tech on ESPN2.

Full Schedule: https://es.pn/1OMhRWm
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College GameDay Makes First Appearance at James Madison University
contact: Rachel.M.Siegal@espn.com

ESPN College GameDay Built by The Home Depot – college football’s longest running and most celebrated pregame show – will make its eighth appearance from a non-FBS site with a first visit to James Madison University for its showdown with instate rival Richmond on Saturday, Oct. 24. The Emmy Award-winning show will air from the Quad in front of Wilson Hall from 9 a.m.-noon on ESPN.

Host Rece Davis – in his first season at the College GameDay desk – is joined by analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, as well as contributors Samantha Ponder, Tom Rinaldi, George Whitfield and Gene Wojciechowski.

College Football Live will originate from the College GameDay set Friday, Oct. 23, at 2 p.m. on ESPN with Ponder, Howard and Pollack at the desk.

Full Release: https://es.pn/1XohXox
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SEC Nation in Tuscaloosa
contact: Gracie.Blackburn@espn.com

SEC Network’s traveling pregame show has slated its campus stops for the last two weeks in October, visiting Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Sat, Oct. 24) and Lexington, Ky. (Sat, Oct. 30). Saturday, Oct. 24 will mark SEC Nation analyst Greg McElroy’s first Alabama homecoming since joining the show earlier this year. McElroy won a National Championship for the Crimson Tide in 2010 as quarterback under head coach Nick Saban. Similar to last year, the show will be surrounded by the tailgating scene across from Denny Chimes, in front of Moore Hall.

Full Release: https://es.pn/1LPN7Nz
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ESPN Radio’s College GameDay on the Road at Georgia Tech
contact: Tara.C.Chozet@espn.com

ESPN Radio’s College GameDay will hit the road this week, with a live broadcast from the campus of Georgia Tech on Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 7 p.m. The show will air from Bobby Dodd Stadium, in advance of the Florida State-Georgia Tech matchup. GameDay is hosted by Doug Kezirian with Brad Edwards and Trevor Matich. Maria Taylor, Joey Galloway and Andrea Adelson are weekly contributors.

Full Release: https://es.pn/1KtwKFs
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ESPN College Football Week 7 Viewership: ESPN’s Third-Best Regular Season College Football Saturday
contact: Derek.Volner@ESPN.com

In week 7, ESPN televised its third most-watched regular season college football Saturday ever and its best October Saturday ever (dating back to 1994) led by No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan (3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN), which averaged 7,398,000 viewers throughout the telecast and 11,549,000 viewers for the game’s final play (7:15 p.m. – 7:24 p.m.). The Spartans-Wolverines game was college football’s most-watched game last weekend across all networks. Additional superlatives:

ESPN’s most-viewed 3:30 p.m. game ever (records date back to 1990)
ESPN’s most- watched October college football game in more than 20 years and second best overall, trailing only Florida State at Miami on October 8, 1994 (7,677,000 viewers)
WatchESPN’s second-most-streamed regular season college football game ever, with 167,000 average minute impressions on top of the TV audience and a total of 697,000 unique viewers accounting for 39,424,000 minutes viewed

ESPN is No. 1 in Prime Time; WatchESPN Continues to Set Records
No. 8 Florida at No. 6 LSU (7 p.m. on ESPN) was the top prime-time game and second-most-watched college football game of week 7 across all networks, averaging 6,778,000 viewers. Additionally, the matchup was WatchESPN’s third-best college football game ever and second-most watched of the week, adding 146,000 average minute impressions on top of the TV audience and a total of 694,000 unique viewers accounting for 32,982,000 minutes viewed.

Record-Setting Saturday
ESPN averaged 3,431,000 viewers on Saturday, Oct. 10, into Sunday, Oct. 11 (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.), making it the third most-watched regular season college football Saturday and the most-watched October Saturday ever (dating back to 1994).

Full Release: https://es.pn/1MVi1cC
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