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Nine HBCU games highlight initial ESPNU football schedule
June 16, 2005
ESPNU, the new 24-hour college sports network which launched in March, will feature the first nationally televised college football game of the 2005 season – Benedict at Morehouse, a Division II matchup from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Thursday, Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET. 
Each week during the season, ESPNU will present approximately five live games
featuring teams from a variety of top Division I-A conferences -- the ACC,
Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, SEC, Sun Belt and WAC – plus games involving Division I-AA and II programs from the Big Sky, MEAC, Ohio Valley, SIAC, Southern and SWAC. In all, ESPNU plans to showcase approximately 75 college football games this season, supplementing ESPN and ESPN2’s extensive season-long action.
Nearly half of the ESPNU college football schedule announced, includes
the lineup for the first three Saturdays plus the season-long weeknight (and
one Sunday game) plans. Additional games will be announced later. Highlights
of the announced games follow:
- The first national TV game of the season – Benedict at Morehouse (Aug. 25)
- A Thursday night game of the week generally from one of two prominent HBCU (Historically Black College/University) leagues – the MEAC and SWAC
- Exclusive coverage of special events such as the Steel City Classic (Sept. 25-- Miles vs. Stillman from Birmingham) and the Turkey Day Classic (Nov. 24 - Tuskegee at Alabama State)
“Top quality college football is one of the pillars of the ESPNU lineup,” said
Burke Magnus, ESPNU Vice President and General Manager. “Thanks to the cooperation
of numerous conferences and schools, we’ve assembled a wide-ranging and appealing
schedule that will offer exposure to some of the sport’s most popular and successful
programs, while also showcasing many teams not traditionally televised.”
ESPNU
HBCU COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (TO DATE)
| Date |
Time (ET) |
Game |
| Thursday, Aug. 25 |
7:30 p.m. |
Benedict at Morehouse |
| Saturday, Sept. 3 |
7 p.m. |
Delaware State at Florida A&M |
| Thursday, Sept. 15 |
7:30 p.m. |
Hampton at North Carolina A&T |
| Sunday, Sept. 25 |
3 p.m. |
Steel City Classic: Miles vs. Stillman from Birmingham, Ala. |
| Thursday, Oct. 6 |
7:30 p.m. |
South Carolina State at Norfolk State |
| Thursday, Nov. 3 |
7:30 p.m. |
Southern at Texas Southern |
| Thursday, Nov. 10 |
7:30 p.m. |
Morgan State at South Carolina State |
| Friday, Nov. 18 |
8 p.m. |
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Texas Southern |
| Thursday, Nov. 24 |
2 p.m. |
Turkey Day Classic: Tuskegee at Alabama State |
* ESPNU’s coverage will co-exist with syndicated telecasts offered on other outlets regionally through ESPN Regional Television arrangements.
ESPNU
ESPNU has secured distribution agreements with DIRECTV, Adelphia, Mediacom, several smaller affiliates and is close to distribution agreements with others.
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