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It’s the Monday before the Saturday before the season opener at Cal which means the release of the start times and TV assignments of that weeks’ games. Washington was snake-bitten by a night start time last year in the infamous thunderstorm game so hopefully the weather won’t turn against them this year as it will be a 7:30p PT kickoff with the game airing on ESPN.
Are you ready for some #Pac12FB⁉️ Week one schedule is set
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) October 26, 2020
️ Saturday, Nov. 7‼️
@CFBONFOX + @ESPNCFB pic.twitter.com/49IFY7IWMA
Based on how things turned out it looks like the UW-Cal matchup was likely viewed as the 3rd best game by the networks. ASU/USC becomes the first Pac-12 game with a 9a start time to see if they can pull in the national audience to watch the Pac-12’s biggest brand (USC is still USC folks, that’s why Slovis is the picture accompanying the official announcement from the Pac-12). Oregon gets the next best time slot with the 4:30p kickoff on ABC with the ABC/ESPN family of networks shifting to the Huskies immediately after at 7:30p.
Washington is a favorite according to the point spread which means there’s a peak possibility of more Pac-12 After Dark shenanigans. Although hopefully the lack of involvement from Pac-12 Networks means that some of the curse goes away. And let’s be real, isn’t Wazzu/Oregon State a much more likely pairing to put together some Pac-12 After Dark shenanigans?
Now we know, folks. Brace yourselves for an extremely nerve-wracking entire day of waiting for Husky football to return after a 10+ month hiatus. And if you’re already losing sleep over excitement for that first game like I am then I’m sorry you’ve also now got an additional 7 hours to wait for that kickoff.