Pac-12 Networks announce football schedule

SALT LAKE CITY — Last year, Utah played in the first-ever Pac-12 football game against USC. This fall, the Utes will participate in another first, playing Northern Colorado in the first game aired on the Pac-12 Networks. The Utah-UNC game on Thursday, Aug. 30 will kick off at 5:15 p.m. MDT as the front end of a nationally-televised doubleheader that will also feature Arizona State vs. Northern Arizona at 7:30 p.m. MST (8:30 p.m. MDT).

"Putting our first schedule together required a lot of flexibility and cooperation from all of our schools," said Pac-12 Enterprises President Gary Stevenson. "Utah was especially helpful by moving the start time of their home opener to give us a great doubleheader to launch our networks."

"The conference asked us to start our first game at 5:15 p.m. in order to accommodate a doubleheader on the Pac-12 Network. While the early kickoff will present some difficulties, we plan to minimize those as much as possible," said Utah Athletics Director Chris Hill.

"Since academics is the first priority for all of us at the University, a committee was formed to ensure our students and faculty would not be negatively impacted by the early start time," continued Hill.

Class schedules will not be disrupted on Aug. 30 and additional parking for students and staff will be made available on the grass fields off of Mario Cappechi Drive (east of the Alumni House) to compensate for game day parking lot closures.

"Playing in the inaugural Pac-12 Network game is an honor for our program and one more benefit of being a member of the Pac-12 Conference," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. "Any time we have the opportunity to play on national television it is good exposure for our university and gives recruits all across the country a chance to watch us play."

With today's announcement, Utah also learned the start times for several other games. The Utah-Utah State game in Logan, Utah, on Friday, Sept. 7 will kick off at 6 p.m. MT and will be aired on ESPN2. Utah's homecoming game against BYU on Saturday, Sept. 15 will start at 8 p.m. MT on ESPN2. The Utah-USC game in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 4 will start at 7 p.m. MT on ESPN. Utah will play at Colorado on Friday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. with the television network to be determined six to 12 days in advance.

The Pac-12 Networks will launch on August 15 and will consist of one national and six regional networks devoted solely to the Pac-12. In addition to the hundreds of live televised Pac-12 sporting events, Pac-12 Networks subscribers will have access to their carrier's TV Everywhere platform, providing access to all Pac-12 Networks programming on any device through their broadband service.

Fans can learn more about the Pac-12 Networks by watching this video and can see if they will get Pac-12 Networks from their TV provider by visiting the Pac-12 Networks Channel Finder. The link contains an option to email satellite providers DirecTV and Dish using the subject line "I Want Pac-12 Networks." Fans are also encouraged to make their voices heard to the satellite companies via Twitter (using the handles @DirecTV and @Dish and the hashtag #IWantPac12Networks) and Facebook.

Related topics