Football

Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/25-26

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All times PDT.

Saturday
9:30-1 PM: College Football, Kentucky @ defending 2008 BCS titleholder Florida (Raycom Sports). Raycom always seems to get unusually good games from the SEC… too bad that’s about to end.

12:30-4 PM: College Football, defending Princton-Yale titleholder Oklahoma State @ Texas (ABC). The Northeast is getting this game. The Rockies are getting this game. Parts of the South are getting this game. But seriously, you couldn’t have found some way to get this better national distribution? The Pac-10 and Big 12 really need better contracts; the SEC and Big 10 are almost guaranteed to have their top game going out nationally every week. Surprised the Big 12 resigned almost an identical deal last year after the Big 10 got a reverse-mirror deal.

Alternately: 12:30-4 PM: College Football, #12 Georgia @ LSU (CBS) or Virginia Tech @ Florida State (ABC/ESPN2). You have to live on the West Cosat (like me) to be completely reduced to Georgia-LSU.

3:30-7 PM: College Football, Colorado @ Missouri (FSN). Really just a gapfiller.

7-9:30 PM: Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC 90 (PPV). Isn’t this an awfully quick turnaround from UFC 89?

Sunday
10-3 PM: NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing, Pep Boys Auto 500 (ABC). Does NASCAR need to move the Chase away from NFL season?

5-8:30 PM: MLB Baseball, Rays @ Phillies (FOX). Sorry, no NFL this week.

8-10 PM: IndyCar Racing, Gold Coast IndyCar 300 (ESPN2). Does this really count? I mean, it’s so far after the end of the season…

Sunday Night Football Flex Scheduling Watch: Week 7

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NBC’s Sunday Night Football package gives it flexible scheduling. For the last seven weeks of the season, the games are determined on 12-day notice, 6-day notice for Week 17.

The first year, no game was listed in the Sunday Night slot, only a notation that one game could move there. Now, NBC lists the game it “tentatively” schedules for each night. However, the NFL is in charge of moving games to prime time.

Here are the rules from the NFL web site (note that this was written with last season in mind):

  • Begins Sunday of Week 11
  • In effect during Weeks 11-17
  • Only Sunday afternoon games are subject to being moved into the Sunday night window.
  • The game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night during flex weeks will be listed at 8:15 p.m. ET. (Note: Last year, NBC listed a tentative game for Week 17; they are not doing so this year.)
  • The majority of games on Sundays will be listed at 1:00 p.m. ET during flex weeks except for games played in Pacific or Mountain Time zones which will be listed at 4:05 or 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • No impact on Thursday, Saturday or Monday night games.
  • The NFL will decide (after consultation with CBS, FOX, NBC) and announce as early as possible the game being played at 8:15 p.m. ET. The announcement will come no later than 12 days prior to the game. The NFL may also announce games moving to 4:05 p.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • Week 17 start time changes could be decided on 6 days notice to ensure a game with playoff implications.
  • The NBC Sunday night time slot in “flex” weeks will list the game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night. (Note: Again, excluding Week 17.)
  • Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in flex weeks are subject to change 12 days in advance (6 days in Week 17) and should plan accordingly.
  • NFL schedules all games.
  • Teams will be informed as soon as they are no longer under consideration or eligible for a move to Sunday night.
  • Rules NOT listed on NFL web site but pertinent to flex schedule selection: CBS and Fox each protect games in five out of six weeks, and could not protect any games Week 17 last year. Unless I find out otherwise, I’m assuming that’s still the case this year, especially with no tentative game listed Week 17, and that protections were scheduled after Week 4.
  • Three teams can appear a maximum of six games in primetime on NBC, ESPN or NFL Network (everyone else gets five) and no team may appear more than four times on NBC. A list of all teams’ number of appearances is in my Week 4 post.

Here are the current tentatively-scheduled games and my predictions:

Week 11 (November 16):

  • Tentative game: Dallas @ Washington
  • Prospects: This game may be sliding with Tony Romo’s injury; if the Cowboys go on a losing tear the next two weeks it could cost the NFL’s greatest rivalry a Sunday night spot.
  • Likely protections: Ravens-Giants, Titans-Jaguars, or nothing (CBS) and Bears-Packers (FOX)
  • Other possible games: Chargers-Steelers is looking lopsided and is another nominee for protection. Broncos-Falcons doesn’t look that hot. For the moment, this game still has the best chance to keep its spot.

Week 12 (November 23):

  • Tentative game: Indianapolis @ San Diego
  • Prospects: A 3-3 v. 3-4 matchup that pits #16 v. #19 in NBCSports.com’s power rankings. Suddenly looks decidedly mediocre and prone to losing its spot.
  • Likely protections: Eagles-Ravens (Fox) and Jets-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Panthers-Falcons still looks good, but the Falcons are 13th in NBC’s power rankings. Giants-Cardinals is probably in front. Patriots-Dolphins is fading again. Too close to call right now.

Week 13 (November 30):

  • Tentative game: Chicago @ Minnesota
  • Prospects: 4-3 v. 3-4, Chicago is 12th in NBCSports.com’s latest power rankings, and a big game with big NFC North implications. The Vikings probably need to improve, however.
  • Likely protections: Giants-Redskins (Fox) and either Steelers-Patriots or Broncos-Jets (CBS).
  • Other possible games: It’s Thanksgiving Weekend, so more teams like the Cowboys and Titans aren’t available. Panthers-Packers is suddenly a strong candidate again. On the off chance Steelers-Patriots isn’t protected it might still have to deal with Panthers-Packers. If it is, Broncos-Jets is no longer much of a draw. Falcons-Chargers is fading with the Chargers. Look for Saints-Bucs to potentially emerge as a dark horse.

Week 14 (December 7):

  • Tentative game: New England @ Seattle
  • Prospects: The Seahawks are just too terrible for this game to keep its spot.
  • Likely protections: Cowboys-Steelers (FOX) and if anything, Jags-Bears (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Redskins-Ravens is probably out with the Ravens’ losing streak, which means the Eagles and Giants may have a Sunday Night date to look forward to. Jags-Bears is a very dark horse if it’s unprotected, and Falcons-Saints could emerge as one.

Week 15 (December 14):

  • Tentative game: NY Giants @ Dallas
  • Prospects: This is why I had Fox protect Bears-Packers Week 11: so they could leave this week protection-free and maximize their chances of getting a marquee NFC East matchup back. However, this game may be starting to fade if Tony Romo is out a while.
  • Likely protections: Steelers-Ravens, Broncos-Panthers, Bills-Jets, or nothing (CBS).
  • Othe possible games: Packers-Jaguars has rebounded a little, but Bucs-Falcons is looking terrific. None of the potentially protected games looks all that great at the moment.

Week 16 (December 21):

  • Tentative game: San Diego @ Tampa Bay
  • Prospects: It’s 3-4 @ 5-2, and the Chargers are fading fast. Way too lopsided.
  • Likely protections: Panthers-Giants or Eagles-Redskins (FOX) and Steelers-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Cardinals-Patriots is still strong, but Falcons-Vikings and Bills-Broncos are both fading, so the only thing stopping Cardinals-Pats could be the game Fox didn’t protect.

Week 17 (December 28):

  • Playoff positioning watch begins Week 9.

College Football Schedule: Week 9

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The BCS standings may be out, but my College Football Rankings are still the rankings you see on the schedule. I’ve also updated the lineal titles, including a change in the NFL lineal title, despite Freehostia being a little kinky at the moment. Apologies for putting this out now when Ohio-Temple is already underway. All times Eastern.

Top 25 Games
*Oklahoma State @ Texas 3:30 ABC
USC @ Arizona 7 PT FSN
Penn State @ Ohio State 8 PM ABC
Oklahoma @ Kansas State 12:30 FSN
Kentucky @ *Florida 12:30 R’com/Y’hoo
Central Florida @ Tulsa 8 PM SU ESPN
*Alabama @ Tennessee 7:45 ESPN
Texas Tech @ #21 Kansas Noon ESPN
Colorado @ Missouri 6:30 FSN
#12 Georgia @ LSU 3:30 CBS
Wyoming @ TCU 6 PM mtn.
Eastern Michigan @ #14 Ball State Noon CSD.TV
#16 Boise State @ San Jose State 9 PM FR ESPN2
Virginia @ #17 Georgia Tech 3:30 ESPNU
#25 Boston College @ #18 North Carolina Noon Raycom
UNLV @ #20 BYU 2 PM mtn.
#22 Minnesota @ Purdue Noon ESPN Classic
Baylor @ #23 Nebraska 12:30 VS.
Watchlist and Other Positive B Point Teams
Duke @ Vanderbilt 3 PM
South Florida @ Louisville 3:30 BEN (ESPN+)
Rutgers @ Pittsburgh 3:30 ESPN360
Michigan State @ Michigan 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
Virginia Tech @ Florida State 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
Bowling Green @ Northern Illinois 4 PM CSN/CBSCS XXL
Fresno State @ Utah State 3 PM KAIL/KJZZ/CSN W
This Week’s Other HD Games
Ohio @ Temple 8 PM TU ESPN2
Auburn @ West Virginia 7:30 TH ESPN
New Mexico @ Air Force 8 PM TH CBS CS
Illinois @ Wisconsin Noon ESPN2
Wake Forest @ Miami (FL) Noon ESPNU
Northwestern @ Indiana Noon BTN
SMU @ Navy 3:30 CBS CS
Middle Tenn. St. @ Mississippi State 7 PM ESPNU
Notre Dame @ Washington 8 PM ESPN2
Big 12
Texas A&M @ Iowa State 7 PM FCS
SEC
Mississippi @ Arkansas 7 PM PPV
ACC
NC State @ Maryland 3:30 ESPN360
Big East
Cincinnati @ Connecticut Noon BEN (ESPN+)
MAC
Central Michigan @ Toledo Noon ESPN+
Kent State @ Miami (OH) 3:30 ONN/CSD.TV
MWC
Colorado State @ San Diego State 9:30 mtn.
C-USA
Rice @ Tulane 3 PM
Southern Miss @ Memphis 8 PM CBS CS
Pac-10
UCLA @ California 3:30 ABC
Oregon @ Arizona State 7 PT
WAC
New Mexico State @ Idaho 5 PM Altitude/CSD.TV
Nevada @ Hawaii 9 PT KAME/PPV
Sun Belt
Florida Atlantic @ Louisiana-Monroe 7 PM ESPN+
Troy @ North Texas 7 PM CSD.TV
Bowl Subdivision
Louisiana Tech @ Army 1 PM ESPN360

Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 10/18-19

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All times PDT.

Saturday
9:30-1 PM: College football, #23 Vanderbilt @ Georgia (Raycom Sports, available free online from Yahoo Sports). When you think about it, the SEC’s new deal isn’t much different from their old one. They even have Arkansas-Kentucky on ESPNU this week. Except their syndicator is ESPN Plus now, so it’s not even available to everyone online. So they’re still screwing themselves out of a good third place game getting national exposure. Maybe ESPNU will become less of the ACC Network, I don’t know.

12:30-3 PM: College football, #17 Kansas @ Oklahoma (ABC, not available in most markets). I’d say the Big 12 gets screwed by never getting reverse mirrored on ESPN with the Big 10 game when the craptastic ACC does, but it does have Texas-Missou in primetime going to the whole country.

Alternately: 12:30-3 PM: College Football, Ohio State @ Michigan State (ABC or ESPN). I just realized that somehow, the Week 7 rankings aren’t on the web site as I thought. Either they got dropped from the backups in Freehostia’s ongoing transfer, or I just forgot them. Sure enough, Sandsday is missing a strip now so it’s the former. You might have wanted to make your last backup after shutting off the file manager, guys – unless you still have backups and you’re sadistically torturing me with the old copy because it’s fresh or something. (Man, how ill-timed is this whole voting sequence, with the cold last weekend and the backing-up this weekend?)

5-8:30 PM: MLB Baseball, Red Sox @ Rays (TBS). Well after that comeback I might actually watch and pay attention to this game. A damn shame it’s not on broadcast.

9-12 AM: Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC 89 (SpikeTV). Same on both coasts. I don’t think anyone other than diehards cares about the main event match.

Sunday
10-3 PM: NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing, TUMS QuikPak 500 (ABC). I’ve dropped a lot of NASCAR Chase for the Cup races, haven’t I?

5:15-8:30 PM: NFL Football, Broncos @ Patriots (NBC). Hey, remember when the Patriots had a half-decent quarterback for a couple of years?

Sunday Night Football Flex Scheduling Watch: Week 6

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NBC’s Sunday Night Football package gives it flexible scheduling. For the last seven weeks of the season, the games are determined on 12-day notice, 6-day notice for Week 17.

The first year, no game was listed in the Sunday Night slot, only a notation that one game could move there. Now, NBC lists the game it “tentatively” schedules for each night. However, the NFL is in charge of moving games to prime time.

Here are the rules from the NFL web site (note that this was written with last season in mind):

  • Begins Sunday of Week 11
  • In effect during Weeks 11-17
  • Only Sunday afternoon games are subject to being moved into the Sunday night window.
  • The game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night during flex weeks will be listed at 8:15 p.m. ET. (Note: Last year, NBC listed a tentative game for Week 17; they are not doing so this year.)
  • The majority of games on Sundays will be listed at 1:00 p.m. ET during flex weeks except for games played in Pacific or Mountain Time zones which will be listed at 4:05 or 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • No impact on Thursday, Saturday or Monday night games.
  • The NFL will decide (after consultation with CBS, FOX, NBC) and announce as early as possible the game being played at 8:15 p.m. ET. The announcement will come no later than 12 days prior to the game. The NFL may also announce games moving to 4:05 p.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • Week 17 start time changes could be decided on 6 days notice to ensure a game with playoff implications.
  • The NBC Sunday night time slot in “flex” weeks will list the game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night. (Note: Again, excluding Week 17.)
  • Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in flex weeks are subject to change 12 days in advance (6 days in Week 17) and should plan accordingly.
  • NFL schedules all games.
  • Teams will be informed as soon as they are no longer under consideration or eligible for a move to Sunday night.
  • Rules NOT listed on NFL web site but pertinent to flex schedule selection: CBS and Fox each protect games in five out of six weeks, and could not protect any games Week 17 last year. Unless I find out otherwise, I’m assuming that’s still the case this year, especially with no tentative game listed Week 17, and that protections were scheduled after Week 4.
  • Three teams can appear a maximum of six games in primetime on NBC, ESPN or NFL Network (everyone else gets five) and no team may appear more than four times on NBC. A list of all teams’ number of appearances is in my Week 4 post.

Here are the current tentatively-scheduled games and my predictions:

Week 11 (November 16):

  • Tentative game: Dallas @ Washington
  • Prospects: Both teams are 4-2 in the tough NFC East. Probably will keep its spot, especially being the NFL’s greatest rivalry, to the extent I wouldn’t be surprised if CBS and Fox didn’t bother to protect anything, especially Fox (who if they lost anything, say Bears-Packers, could take solace in getting the Cowboys and Redskins). That said, there’s a reason I still have Fox protecting a game this week. See below.
  • Likely protections: Ravens-Giants, Titans-Jaguars, or nothing (CBS) and Bears-Packers (FOX)
  • Other possible games: Chargers-Steelers is still on life support and is another nominee for protection. Broncos-Falcons looks good but probably can’t compete.

Week 12 (November 23):

  • Tentative game: Indianapolis @ San Diego
  • Prospects: A 3-2 v. 3-3 matchup that pits v. in NBCSports.com’s power rankings. Not as mediocre as it looked in weeks past, so might still keep its spot, but a lack of 1-loss teams and an overabundance of 2-loss teams means it’s too early to make any judgments.
  • Likely protections: Eagles-Ravens (Fox) and Jets-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Panthers-Falcons and Giants-Cardinals are probably the front-runners. Patriots-Dolphins may well be a dark horse. Too close to call right now.

Week 13 (November 30):

  • Tentative game: Chicago @ Minnesota
  • Prospects: 3-3 v. 3-3, which looks mediocre, but it represents a 3-way tie for the lead in the mediocre NFC North, so it could have playoff implications.
  • Likely protections: Giants-Redskins (Fox) and either Steelers-Patriots or Broncos-Jets (CBS).
  • Other possible games: It’s Thanksgiving Weekend, so more teams like the Cowboys and Titans aren’t available. Panthers-Packers may be sliding; the Panthers’ better record than the Bears or Vikings is offset by the divisional rivalry. On the off chance Steelers-Patriots isn’t protected NBC would probably snap it up in a heartbeat, but if it is they might look at Broncos-Jets for a while as well. Falcons-Chargers is still alive.

Week 14 (December 7):

  • Tentative game: New England @ Seattle
  • Prospects: 3-2 v. 1-4, which looks lopsided. The Seahawks are just too terrible for this game to keep its spot.
  • Likely protections: Cowboys-Steelers (FOX) and if anything, Jags-Bears (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Redskins-Ravens is probably out with the Ravens’ losing streak, which means the Eagles and Giants may have a Sunday Night date to look forward to.

Week 15 (December 14):

  • Tentative game: NY Giants @ Dallas
  • Prospects: This is why I had Fox protect Bears-Packers Week 11: so they could leave this week protection-free and maximize their chances of getting a marquee NFC East matchup back.
  • Likely protections: Steelers-Ravens, Broncos-Panthers, Bills-Jets, or nothing (CBS).
  • Othe possible games: Packers-Jaguars is in bad shape, and Bucs-Falcons is becoming a game with big playoff implications. Broncos-Panthers probably the best-looking of the potentially protected games, alongside Bills-Jets.

Week 16 (December 21):

  • Tentative game: San Diego @ Tampa Bay
  • Prospects: It’s 3-3 @ 4-2 but at the moment, NBC seems to think the Chargers are the best of the three-loss-or-more teams.
  • Likely protections: Panthers-Giants or Eagles-Redskins (FOX) and Steelers-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Cardinals-Patriots and Falcons-Vikings are still strong, with Bills-Broncos becoming a dark horse, providing the main challenges for the game Fox didn’t protect. The standings are so tight, though.

Week 17 (December 28):

  • Playoff positioning watch begins Week 9.

Important notice regarding both Morgan Wick Sports and Sandsday

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Freehostia’s servers are moving to a new data center in the name of better performance, which means I can’t make any changes to the web site in the meantime. I never did get around to updating the lineal titles; the Princeton-Yale title is now Oklahoma State’s after their upset defeat of Missouri (potentially torturing Texas by delaying their shot a week), the 2008 BCS title is now in the hands of Florida, and the NFL lineal title is in the hands of the upset-scoring Cleveland Browns. Hopefully this won’t affect the release of next week’s rankings.

Obviously this also means for the remainder of the week, you’ll need to hit up Da Blog to catch the latest strips.

College Football Schedule: Week 8

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All times Eastern.

Top 25 Games
Missouri @ Texas 8 PM ABC
Michigan @ Penn State 4:30 ESPN
USC @ Washington State 3:15 FSN
#17 Kansas @ Oklahoma 3:30 ABC
Mississippi @ *Alabama 3:30 CBS
Baylor @ *Oklahoma State 3 PM
Texas Tech @ Texas A&M Noon FSN
Ohio State @ Michigan State 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
UTEP @ #12 Tulsa 8 PM CBS CS
#23 Vanderbilt @ Georgia 12:30 R’com/Y’hoo
#14 BYU @ TCU 8 PM TH VS.
Colorado State @ #15 *Utah 2 PM mtn.
Hawaii @ #16 Boise State 8 PM FR ESPN
#18 Georgia Tech @ Clemson Noon ESPN
#19 North Carolina @ Virginia 3:30 ABC/ESPN2
Wisconsin @ #20 Iowa Noon BTN
#21 Wake Forest @ Maryland Noon Raycom
#22 Nebraska @ Iowa State 12:30 VS.
Arkansas @ #25 Kentucky 7 PM ESPNU
Watchlist and Other Positive B Point Teams
California @ Arizona 7 PT FSN
Syracuse @ South Florida Noon ESPN+
Virginia Tech @ Boston College 8 PM ESPN2
LSU @ South Carolina 8 PM ESPN
Pittsburgh @ Navy 3:30 CBS CS
Florida State @ NC State 7:30 TH ESPN
Connecticut @ Rutgers Noon ESPNU
Oregon State @ Washington 7 PM VS.
Toledo @ Northern Illinois 4 PM CSN/Gameplan
This Week’s Other HD Games
Purdue @ Northwestern Noon ESPN2
Miami (FL) @ Duke 3:30 ESPNU
Stanford @ UCLA 4 PM FSN/FCS
Indiana @ Illinois 8 PM BTN
Big 12
Kansas State @ Colorado 7 PM FSN
SEC
Mississippi State @ Tennessee 7 PM Gameplan
Mountain West
San Diego State @ New Mexico 6 PM mtn.
Air Force @ UNLV 7 PT mtn.
MAC
Miami (OH) @ Bowling Green Noon ESPN+
Western Michigan @ Central Michigan Noon ESPN+
Akron @ Eastern Michigan 1 PM CSD.TV
Conference USA
Memphis @ East Carolina Noon CSS
Southern Miss @ Rice 3 PM CBSCS XXL
Houston @ SMU 8 PM CBSCS XXL
WAC
Utah State @ Nevada 4 PM Gameplan
Idaho @ Louisiana Tech 7 PM ESPN+
Sun Belt
Florida International @ Troy 7 PM ESPN+
Arkansas State @ Louisiana-Lafayette 7 PM CSD.TV
North Texas @ Louisiana-Monroe 7 PM CSD.TV
Florida Atlantic @ Western Kentucky 7 PM CSD.TV
San Jose State @ New Mexico State 8 PM Gameplan
Bowl Subdivision
Middle Tenn. St. @ Louisville 3:30 Gameplan
Army @ Buffalo 3:30 CSD.TV
Marshall @ UAB 4 PM CBSCS XXL

Quick college football ranking note

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The new rankings are up, and links should be fixed to the Week 6 full rankings, but there won’t be an RTF of the full rankings for this week until I post tomorrow’s strip. I should also have a couple more logos up by tomorrow, including TCU’s.

I may have a more substantive post later today turning back to politics and/or global warming/mass transit… or I may not. Coming down with something over the weekend has really played havoc with my plans and I’m still recovering.

Sunday Night Football Flex Scheduling Watch: Week 5

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NBC’s Sunday Night Football package gives it flexible scheduling. For the last seven weeks of the season, the games are determined on 12-day notice, 6-day notice for Week 17.

The first year, no game was listed in the Sunday Night slot, only a notation that one game could move there. Now, NBC lists the game it “tentatively” schedules for each night. However, the NFL is in charge of moving games to prime time.

Here are the rules from the NFL web site (note that this was written with last season in mind):

  • Begins Sunday of Week 11
  • In effect during Weeks 11-17
  • Only Sunday afternoon games are subject to being moved into the Sunday night window.
  • The game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night during flex weeks will be listed at 8:15 p.m. ET. (Note: Last year, NBC listed a tentative game for Week 17; they are not doing so this year.)
  • The majority of games on Sundays will be listed at 1:00 p.m. ET during flex weeks except for games played in Pacific or Mountain Time zones which will be listed at 4:05 or 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • No impact on Thursday, Saturday or Monday night games.
  • The NFL will decide (after consultation with CBS, FOX, NBC) and announce as early as possible the game being played at 8:15 p.m. ET. The announcement will come no later than 12 days prior to the game. The NFL may also announce games moving to 4:05 p.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. ET.
  • Week 17 start time changes could be decided on 6 days notice to ensure a game with playoff implications.
  • The NBC Sunday night time slot in “flex” weeks will list the game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night. (Note: Again, excluding Week 17.)
  • Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in flex weeks are subject to change 12 days in advance (6 days in Week 17) and should plan accordingly.
  • NFL schedules all games.
  • Teams will be informed as soon as they are no longer under consideration or eligible for a move to Sunday night.
  • Rules NOT listed on NFL web site but pertinent to flex schedule selection: CBS and Fox each protect games in five out of six weeks, and could not protect any games Week 17 last year. Unless I find out otherwise, I’m assuming that’s still the case this year, especially with no tentative game listed Week 17, and that protections were scheduled after Week 4.
  • Three teams can appear a maximum of six games in primetime on NBC, ESPN or NFL Network (everyone else gets five) and no team may appear more than four times on NBC. A list of all teams’ number of appearances is in my Week 4 post.

Here are the current tentatively-scheduled games and my predictions:

Week 11 (November 16):

  • Tentative game: Dallas @ Washington
  • Prospects: Both teams are 4-1 in the tough NFC East. Probably will keep its spot, especially being the NFL’s greatest rivalry, to the extent I wouldn’t be surprised if CBS and Fox didn’t bother to protect anything, especially Fox (who if they lost anything, say Bears-Packers, could take solace in getting the Cowboys and Redskins). That said, there’s a reason I still have Fox protecting a game this week. See below.
  • Likely protections: Ravens-Giants, Titans-Jaguars, or nothing (CBS) and Bears-Packers (FOX)
  • Other possible games: Chargers-Steelers is losing ground as the Chargers may be overrated (and now that I think about it, may have been protected anyway). Broncos-Falcons is the only remote possibility at the present time, but a lot can change.

Week 12 (November 23):

  • Tentative game: Indianapolis @ San Diego
  • Prospects: A 2-2 v. 2-3 matchup that pits v. #23 in NBCSports.com’s power rankings. Last week I said “If Indy keeps losing and the Chargers get on the winning track this could start looking lopsided.” I may want to put that the other way around, but it looks mediocre at the moment anyway, which is a shock.
  • Likely protections: Eagles-Ravens (Fox) and Jets-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Panthers-Falcons and Giants-Cardinals are probably the front-runners. Patriots-Dolphins may well be a dark horse, as might Jets-Titans. Too close to call right now.

Week 13 (November 30):

  • Tentative game: Chicago @ Minnesota
  • Prospects: 3-2 v. 2-3, which looks mediocre, but in NBCSports.com’s power rankings it’s a 10-16 matchup, which is decent, especially given the competition.
  • Likely protections: Giants-Redskins (Fox) and either Steelers-Patriots or Broncos-Jets (CBS).
  • Other possible games: It’s Thanksgiving Weekend, so more teams like the Cowboys and Titans aren’t available. Panthers-Packers looks like a decent enough selection. On the off chance Steelers-Patriots isn’t protected NBC would probably snap it up in a heartbeat. Falcons-Chargers might look bad soon.

Week 14 (December 7):

  • Tentative game: New England @ Seattle
  • Prospects: 3-1 v. 1-3, which looks lopsided. 9-v.-25 in NBC’s power rankings, also looking lopsided. Only chance for this to keep its spot is if NBC thinks the Pats are as much of a draw as they were last year, and without a perfect record (or Tom Brady), they are not.
  • Likely protections: Cowboys-Steelers (FOX) and if anything, Jags-Bears (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Redskins-Ravens looks worse off than before, but Eagles-Giants still looks good, which makes it the favorite for the moment.

Week 15 (December 14):

  • Tentative game: NY Giants @ Dallas
  • Prospects: This is why I had Fox protect Bears-Packers Week 11: so they could leave this week protection-free and maximize their chances of getting a marquee NFC East matchup back.
  • Likely protections: Steelers-Ravens, Broncos-Panthers, Bills-Jets, or nothing (CBS).
  • Othe possible games: Packers-Jaguars could start looking concerning, and Bucs-Falcons could be sneaking up to replace it. Broncos-Panthers probably the best-looking of the potentially protected games, with Bills-Jets right behind.

Week 16 (December 21):

  • Tentative game: San Diego @ Tampa Bay
  • Prospects: Quite possibly will lose its spot. It’s 2-3 @ 3-2.
  • Likely protections: Panthers-Giants or Eagles-Redskins (FOX) and Steelers-Titans (CBS).
  • Other possible games: Cardinals-Patriots and Falcons-Vikings have to at least be considered, but NBC will probably take whatever game Fox didn’t protect.

Week 17 (December 28):

  • Playoff positioning watch begins Week 9.