CBS releases 2013 SEC Game of the Week schedule, opens with Alabama vs. Texas A&M

Gary Danielson and Verne Lundquist return for another year of college football on CBS. Photo: CBS Sports

CBS is entering its 13th season broadcasting SEC football and this one is going to start with what could be the game of the year. The CBS SEC Game of the Week coverage begins Saturday, September 14 with the much-anticipated match-up of SEC West powers, Alabama and Texas A&M. The Aggies, of course, stunned the eventual BCS champions last year in Tuscaloosa so Nick Saban and his Tide will be looking for revenge. And you never want to face Saban under those circumstances, right? The game between potential BCS championship contenders (dare we say BCS Championship Preview?) kicks off at 3:30 pm Eastern in College Station, Texas.

In addition to 16 SEC games during the regular season, which includes a pair of double headers and the SEC Championship Game, CBS will also air the annual Army-Navy Game, Navy’s home game against Air Force, and the Sun Bowl. Each CBS broadcast will be led in to by a half hour edition of College Football Today to get caught up on the early action and preview the games still to be played. Here is the full CBS schedule at the moment, as provided by CBS Sports in a press release today:

• September 14: Alabama at Texas A&M (3:30 PM)
• September 21: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• September 28: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• October 5: Air Force at Navy (11:30 AM), SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• October 12: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• October 19: SEC Doubleheader (Teams TBA, 12 PM, 3:30 PM)
• October 26: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• November 2: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• November 9: SEC Doubleheader (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM, 8 PM)
• November 16: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• November 23: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• November 29 (Friday): Arkansas at LSU (2:30 PM)
• November 30: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• December 7: SEC Championship Game (4 PM)
• December 14: Army-Navy Game (3 PM)
• December 31: Sun Bowl (2 PM)

The future of CBS Sports and their place in SEC broadcast emphasis should be interesting to watch in the coming years. When ESPN debuts the SEC Network in August 2014 the network has a chance to become the true voice of the conference. It appears as though CBS is keeping a hold on their place covering games of the week, but long will that last as ESPN and the SEC Network move forward?

Worth the Wait, Northwestern’s Gator Bowl rings

It had been a painfully long time coming for the Northwestern Wildcats. Northwestern had not won a bowl game since the 1948 season, with a Rose Bowl victory. Since then the purple cats had been 0-9 in postseason games before last season. Northwestern’s 34-20 Gator Bowl victory over Mississippi State was a fitting way to snap the drought after some close calls the previous seasons. Who more fitting to lead Northwestern to the end of that drought that Pat Fitzgerald, Mr. Northwestern? Of course he should feel a great sense of pride in the accomplishment.

On Wednesday morning Fitzgerald showed off his newest prized possession with great pride.

Northwestern’s 2013 Gator Bowl championship ring.

College Football Notebook – May 22, 2013

The American wants a bowl game too

If baseball won’t fill the seats, might as well give football a shot.

The SEC and Big 12 have their deal with the Sugar Bowl. The Big Ten and Pac 12 have the Rose Bowl. The ACC has a deal to stay in Miami with an Orange Bowl spot reserved. Now The American wants to stay in Miami as well, despite being essentially locked out of the Orange Bowl. With no spot available in the Orange Bowl, The American is looking to create a brand new bowl game, with Marlins Park potentially serving as the host site according to a report by Tampa Bay Times reporter Greg Auman.

The idea would mean we would have four bowl games being played in baseball stadiums. The Pinstripe Bowl (Yankee Stadium), Beef O’ Brady’s Bowl (Tropicana Field) and Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (AT&T Park) have proven that hosting bowl game sin baseball venues is possible, and Marlins Park should be more than big enough to host a football game if this plan gets that far.

But two bowl games in Miami? That is an idea that may need a little more support from the city, although multiple bowl games in the same city is certainly nothing new. New Orleans will host up to three bowl games in some years between the Sugar Bowl and New Orleans Bowl and a BCS Championship Game every now and then. Orlando also has hosted multiple games with the Russell Athletics Bowl and Capital One Bowl. The odds of playing a second bowl game in Sun Life Stadium, the home of the Miami Hurricanes, Miami Dolphins and the Orange Bowl, are probably slim. This makes Marlins Park the obvious choice.

It also makes it the most likely to receive support from the city of Miami, which forked over a large sum of tax payer dollars to construct a baseball stadium that struggles to see 14,000 fans show up on a  regular basis. If baseball is not going to fill the seats, you might as well find as many ways to pack the seats as possible.

Whatever happens with a bowl game in Marlins Park, please do not let Jeffrey Loria have any role in it. … Continue Reading

College Football Notebook – May 21, 2013

I decided on Monday that I was going to start keeping a blog post open all day long on my end so that I can add quick links and thoughts in a running diary sort of format. Unfortunately I got side tracked on Monday so I’m starting this idea today. There will be some days when I skip this but I think this will serve as a good way to keep updated with fresh content on the site more consistently, as well as a nice way to link to some other links I have to share through some other outlets.

This post will be updated throughout the day as I see fit, so feel free to check back as often as you like during the day or just check in in the evening to see what you may have missed. Or, check in in the morning as you are checking to see the overnight scores and fantasy team results and more for a good round-up of college football tidbits from the previous day. We’ll see how this goes, and it begins now…

STARTED

— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) May 21, 2013

… Continue Reading

Video: Florida State ACC Championship, Orange Bowl ring models revealed

It was  good year for Florida State football. The Seminoles got a taste of the glory days for the program by winning an ACC title and a victory in a BCS bowl game, even if it was against BCS buster Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl. The Seminoles fell a little short of my preseason expectations in 2012 but I feel they might be capable of another run through the ACC this upcoming season, which kicks off in Pittsburgh against a new conference foe in week one.

We now know what the celebratory and honorary bling that accompanies these milestone victories look like, thanks to some nice CAD video showcasing the designs for Florida State’s ACC and Orange Bowl championship rings. What, no ring for winning the ACC Atlantic Division?

First, Florida State’s ACC Championship ring design…

And Florida State’s Orange Bowl ring…

… Continue Reading