For Immediate Release
Contact: Tom Burnett (504-299-9066 x16)
NEW ORLEANS The Sun Belt Conference, entering its inaugural season of Division I-A football sponsorship, will have a total of 13 games televised on national and regional cable networks in 2001, including broadcasts on Fox Sports Net, ESPN 2 and College Sports Southeast.
All seven Sun Belt football-playing institutions will make at least one appearance on the national and regional schedule, which was released here Tuesday at Sun Belt Football Media Days. The Sun Belt Conference football teams are Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State and North Texas.
Two national cable broadcasts highlight the Sun Belt television schedule, including a Sept. 1 matchup with New Mexico State at Texas in a live Fox Sports Net broadcast. In addition, the inaugural New Orleans Bowl will be televised live nationally on ESPN 2. The game will be played Dec. 18 at the Louisiana Superdome and feature the Sun Belt Conference champion against the third selection from the Mountain West Conference.
We are very excited about our television exposures in the first year of Sun Belt football, Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters said. This is certainly another reason why it was so important for our football schools to come together as a league. We are very pleased with the interest from all of our television partners, and are very proud of our first-year package.
In addition to the national broadcasts, the Sun Belt will have at least five games televised live on College Sports Southeast, and six contests broadcast on Fox Sports Northwest, part of the University of Idahos television package.
The College Sports Southeast games include New Mexico State at Louisville on Aug. 23 in the John Thompson Foundation Classic, the first game of the 2001 college football season. In addition CSSE will televise TCU at North Texas on Sept. 1, Southern Mississippi at UL Lafayette on Sept. 22, Ole Miss at Arkansas State on Oct. 6, and Arkansas State at Middle Tennessee on Nov. 3. CSSE may also exercise its option for additional broadcasts to be determined at a later date.
Fox Sports Northwest, which serves cable television households in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, will telecast six games involving the University of Idaho, including live broadcasts of Vandals home games with Washington State on Aug. 30, Boise State on Sept. 29, UL Monroe on Nov. 3, and North Texas on Nov. 17. In addition, two Idaho road games, at Arizona on Sept. 8, and at Washington on Sept. 22, will be shown on Fox Sports Northwest on a tape-delayed basis.