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We can expect to be used to the noon kickoff spot on Big Ten Network this coming season quite a bit, but surprisingly that is NOT where Purdue's season opener with Eastern Kentucky will be carried. Earlier today BTN announced the kickoff times for the first three weeks of the 2016 football season and that included Purdue's week 2 game against Cincinnati:
Week 1
|
Date |
Time (ET) |
Matchup |
|
Thursday, Sept. 1 |
9:00 PM |
Oregon State at Minnesota* |
|
Friday, Sept. 2 |
7:00 PM |
Furman at Michigan State* |
|
Saturday, Sept. 3 |
Noon |
Bowling Green at Ohio State |
|
|
Noon |
Howard at Maryland |
|
|
3:30 PM |
Kent State at Penn State |
|
|
3:30 PM |
Murray State at Illinois |
|
|
8:00 PM |
Fresno State at Nebraska* |
Week 2
|
Date |
Time (ET) |
Matchup |
|
Saturday, Sept. 10 |
Noon |
Cincinnati at Purdue |
|
|
Noon |
Howard at Rutgers |
|
|
3:30 PM |
Akron at Wisconsin |
|
|
3:30 PM |
Ill. State at Northwestern |
|
|
7:30 PM |
North Carolina at Illinois* |
|
|
7:30 PM |
Iowa State at Iowa* |
Week 3
|
Date |
Time (ET) |
Matchup |
|
Saturday, Sept. 17 |
Noon |
Temple at Penn State |
|
|
Noon |
Georgia State at Wisconsin |
|
|
3:30 PM |
Colorado at Michigan |
|
|
8:00 PM |
Duke at Northwestern* |
This means that Purdue's opener will be televised on the ABC/ESPN family of networks since league rules state that all Big Ten home games are televised. Here is the known TV schedule for the 14 games involving the conference during the opening weekend:
September 1
Indiana at Florida International - 7:30PM - ESPNU
Oregon State at Minnesota - 9PM - BTN
September 2
Furman at Michigan State - 7PM - BTN
September 3
Bowling Green at Ohio State - Noon - BTN
Howard at Maryland - Noon - BTN
Hawaii at Michigan - Noon - ESPN
Rutgers at Washington - 2PM - Pac-12 Network
LSU vs. Wisconsin at Lambeau Field - 3:30PM ABC
Kent State at Penn State - 3:30PM - BTN
Murray State at Illinois - 3:30PM - BTN
Fresno State at Nebraska - 8PM - BTN
Here are the three games left to pick from for ESPN:
Eastern Kentucky at Purdue
Western Michigan at Northwestern
Miami (OH) at Iowa
ESPN2 and ESPNU have not picked up games yet for the noon or 3:30 PM timeslots.
UPDATE:
Noon it is for the opener on ESPNNews
Per Big Ten, Purdue's season opener against Eastern Kentucky will be at noon and televised on ESPNews.
— GoldandBlack.com (@GoldandBlackcom) June 13, 2016