ESPN Networks to Carry 69 Live Weekday College Football Games in 2013 Season

ESPN's extensive coverage of the 2013 college football campaign - from kick off on Thursday, Aug. 29 to the BCS National Championship on January 6 - will include 69 live weekday game telecasts across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ABC. The lineup will showcase many of the nation's top programs in weekly Thursday and Friday night matchups and on select Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the season.

The schedule includes at least one team from all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences (American Athletic, Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-12, Southeastern and Sun Belt) plus independents BYU and Navy. Coverage of teams from Football Championship Division leagues Big Sky, Big South, Colonial Athletic, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Southern and Southwestern Athletic will also be featured.

The schedule involves 12 teams currently ranked in an early ESPN.com preseason top 25 poll highlighted by a showdown between No. 3 Oregon and No. 5 Stanford and multiple appearances by No. 4 Louisville. Additional ranked teams on the schedule include: No. 8 South Carolina, No. 12 Clemson, No. 13 Texas, No. 14 Florida State, No. 18 TCU, No. 19 UCLA, No. 21 Boise State, No. 22 Nebraska and No. 23 USC.

Overall, the 2013 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Regional Television and ESPN GamePlan will total more than 450 regular-and post-season games, concluding with the entire Bowl Championship Series on ESPN. A comprehensive schedule with Saturday games will be released at a later date.

Weekday game highlights:

· ESPN Thursdays: The season will kick off with 10 games on Thursday, Aug. 29, highlighted by an ESPN College Football Primetime doubleheader involving SEC teams: No. 8 South Carolina hosting ACC member North Carolina at 6 p.m. ET followed by Ole Miss at Vanderbilt at 9:15 p.m. Additional highlights of the Thursday night series:

· SEC: Two games in addition to the opening doubleheader, including Kentucky at Mississippi State (October 24) and Ole Miss at Mississippi State in the annual Thanksgiving night showcase November 28). ESPN previously televised the rivalry game - also known as the Battle for the Golden Egg and the Egg Bowl - as its annual Thanksgiving Day prime-time college football game from 1998 to 2003.

· Pac-12: Two games, highlighted by No. 3 Oregon at No. 5 Stanford on November 7.

· ACC: Four matchups, highlighted by two contests with No. 12 Clemson, who are coming off an 11-2 record in 2012.

· Big 12: Two telecasts including No. 18 TCU at Texas Tech (September 12) and No. 13 Texas at Iowa State (October 3).

· American Athletic Conference: Four games, including No. 4 Louisville twice.

· Labor Day: ESPN's Labor Day prime-time telecast on Monday, Sept. 2, will mark the ACC debut for Pittsburgh. The Panthers will host defending conference champion No. 14 Florida State, which finished last season with a 12-2 overall record.

· Friday nights: ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to provide weekly Friday night telecasts showcasing top programs, including No. 4 Louisville of the American Athletic Conference twice. Additional highlights:

· Mountain West: ESPN will televise a Mountain West matchup over four consecutive Fridays from September 13 to October 4, highlighted by at least one telecast of the three teams that claimed a share of the conference championship in 2012: Boise State, Fresno State and San Diego State.

· Pac-12: ESPN2 will offer two Friday night Pac-12 games, both involving one ranked team: No. 23 USC (at Oregon State on November 1) and No. 19 UCLA (against Washington November 15).

· BYU: ESPN and ESPNU will both televise BYU, highlighted by the Cougars hosting No. 21 Boise State (October 25 on ESPN)

· MAC: ESPN2 and ESPNU will televise multiple games involving the participants in last year's MAC championship game: Defending conference champion Northern Illinois three times and Kent State, with an 8-0 conference record last year, twice. ESPN2 will also carry the 16th annual Marathon MAC Football Championship at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m.

· Sun Belt: Defending Sun Belt Conference champion Arkansas State will play in two midweek games, including a matchup against Louisiana-Lafayette, the Sun Belt's second-place team in 2012 (Tuesday, Oct. 22).

Date Time (ET) Game Network

Thu, Aug 29 6 p.m. North Carolina at No. 8 South Carolina ESPN 6 p.m. Liberty at Kent State ESPN3 6:30 p.m. Presbyterian at Wake Forest ESPN3 7 p.m. Tulsa at Bowling Green ESPNU 7 p.m. Illinois State at Ball State ESPN3 7 p.m. Akron at UCF ESPN3 7:30pm Towson at Connecticut ESPN3 7:30 p.m. Southern Utah at South Alabama ESPN3 9:15 p.m. Ole Miss at Vanderbilt ESPN 10:30 p.m. Rutgers at Fresno State ESPNU

Fri, Aug 30 7 p.m. Samford at Georgia State ESPN3 8 p.m. Texas Tech at SMU ESPN 8 p.m. Florida Atlantic at Miami (Fla.) ESPNU 8:30 p.m. Southern at Houston ESPN3

Mon, Sep 2 8 p.m. No. 14 Florida State at Pittsburgh ESPN

Fri, Sep 6 8 p.m. Wake Forest at Boston College ESPN2

Thu, Sept 12 7:30 p.m. No. 18 TCU at Texas Tech ESPN 7:30 p.m. Troy at Arkansas State ESPNU

Fri, Sep 13 8 p.m. Air Force at No. 21 Boise State ESPN

Thu, Sep 19 7:30 p.m. No. 12 Clemson at NC State ESPN

Fri, Sep 20 9 p.m. No. 21 Boise State at Fresno State ESPN

Thu, Sep 26 7:30 p.m. Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech ESPN

Fri, Sep 27 9 p.m. Utah State at San Jose State ESPN 9 p.m. Middle Tennessee at BYU ESPNU

Thu, Oct 3 7:30 p.m. No. 13 Texas at Iowa State ESPN 7:30 p.m. Western Kentucky at Louisiana-Monroe ESPNU

Fri, Oct 4 9 p.m. Nevada at San Diego State ESPN

Thu, Oct 10 7:30 p.m. Rutgers at No. 4 Louisville ESPN

Fri, Oct 11 8:30 p.m. Temple at Cincinnati ESPN or ESPN2

Tue, Oct 15 8 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette at Western Kentucky ESPN2

Thu, Oct 17 7:30 p.m. Miami (Fla.) at North Carolina ESPN

Fri, Oct 18 8 p.m. UCF at No. 4 Louisville ESPN

Tue, Oct 22 8 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette at Arkansas State ESPN2

Thu, Oct 24 7:30 p.m. Kentucky at Mississippi State ESPN

Fri, Oct 25 8 p.m. No. 21 Boise State at BYU ESPN

Wed, Oct 30 8 p.m. Cincinnati at Memphis ESPN2

Thu, Oct 31 7 p.m. South Florida at Houston ESPN 7:30 p.m. Louisiana-Monroe at Troy ESPNU 10:30 p.m. Arizona State at Washington State ESPN

Fri, Nov 1 9 p.m. No. 23 USC at Oregon State ESPN2

Tue, Nov 5 8 p.m. Bowling Green at Miami (Ohio) ESPN2 or ESPNU 8 p.m. Ohio at Buffalo ESPN2 or ESPNU

Wed, Nov 6 8 p.m. Central Michigan at Ball State ESPN2

Thu, Nov 7 7:30 p.m. Troy at Louisiana-Lafayette ESPNU 9 p.m. No. 3 Oregon at No. 5 Stanford ESPN

Fri, Nov 8 8:30 p.m. No. 4 Louisville at Connecticut ESPN2 9 p.m. Air Force at New Mexico ESPNU

Tue, Nov 12 7:30 p.m. Ohio at Bowling Green ESPNU or ESPN3 7:30 p.m. Buffalo at Toledo ESPNU or ESPN3

Wed, Nov 13 8 p.m. Ball State at Northern Illinois ESPN2 or ESPNU 8 p.m. Miami (Ohio) at Kent State ESPN2 or ESPNU

Thu, Nov 14 7:30 p.m. Georgia Tech at No. 12 Clemson ESPN

Fri, Nov 15 9 p.m. Washington at No. 19 UCLA ESPN2

Tue, Nov 19 8 p.m. Kent State at Ohio ESPN2 or ESPNU 8 p.m. Buffalo at Miami (Ohio) ESPN2 or ESPNU

Wed, Nov 20 8 p.m. Northern Illinois at Toledo ESPN2

Thu, Nov 21 7:30 p.m. Rutgers at UCF ESPN 9:30 p.m. UNLV at Air Force ESPNU

Fri, Nov 22 9:30 p.m. Navy at San Jose State ESPN2

Tue, Nov 26 7 p.m. Western Michigan at Northern Illinois ESPN2

Thu, Nov 28 7:30 p.m. Ole Miss at Mississippi State ESPN

Fri, Nov 29 Noon Iowa at No. 22 Nebraska ABC TBD Miami (Fla.) at Pittsburgh ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 TBD South Florida at UCF ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 TBD SMU at Houston ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 TBD Mid-American Conference TBD ESPNU TBD Mid-American Conference TBD ESPN3

Thu, Dec 5 7:30 p.m. No. 4 Louisville at Cincinnati ESPN

Fri, Dec 6 8 p.m. Marathon MAC Championship (from Detroit) ESPN2