Texas-Oklahoma? Not here
At 3:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC (WXLV-45) is showing N.C. State at Florida State. The rest of the country gets either Iowa-Penn State or Texas-Oklahoma on its ABC affiliates. The Disney monster, which owns ABC and ESPN, makes sufficient use of its properties by bringing ESPN2 into the package. In this market, we get the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions on ESPN2 even though you've got to figure the Longhorns-Sooners tilt would have greater appeal.
Explanations are not forthcoming from Bristol.
It's not the only quirk. You'd think N.C. State-FSU would be seen throughout the ACC "footprint," but you'd be wrong. The Seminoles and Wolfpack are available on ABC from North Carolina through Florida and in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Virginia and Maryland, however, get OU-Texas.
Further proof that you find a blog devoted to anything is here. It provides the coverage maps of each week's ABC-ESPN contests.
Most amazing factoid of the week: UCLA-Notre Dame will be seen by only 17 percent of the country. The rest will get Ohio State-Purdue. Only two counties in Indiana will see the Fighting Irish by conventional (over-the-air ABC affiliate) means. Viewers in Chicago, perhaps Notre Dame's greatest stronghold, will have to tune to a subsidiary of their normal ABC affiliate to find the contest. Who would have thought the Irish would be confined to a WB-level station? Purdue fans must be loving this.