With Notre Dame, Pac-12, Mountain West and Ivy League action, the NBC Sports Group will air a combined 28 college football games Versus on NBC during the 2011 campaign.
NBC's coverage of seven Notre Dame games kicks off against South Florida on Sept. 3 at 3:30 p.m. (ET). The schedule includes a pair of primetime contests -- Oct. 22 versus USC and Nov. 12 versus Maryland -- in the first primetime contests from South Bend, Ind. in 21 years.
In its last season under the Versus banner -- the NBC Sports Network rebrand begins officially on Jan. 2 -- the national cable network starts its college football coverage on Sat., Sept. 10, with a doubleheader featuring Air Force as they host No. 14 TCU at 3:30 p.m., followed by Utah at No. 25 USC, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
This season and beyond, Versus will bring the look and feel of NBC Sports production to all its college football coverage and will feature other notable games this season, including No. 10 Nebraska visiting Wyoming on Sept. 24, Army at Air Force on Nov. 5 and "The Game" between Harvard and Yale on Nov. 19.
"Similar to our efforts with the NHL, golf and horse racing, the upcoming college football season allows us to better serve the viewer by expanding our coverage across all of our platforms," said Sam Flood, executive producer for NBC Sports and Versus, in announcing the schedule. "Whether it's a Notre Dame, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Ivy League game and regardless of whether it airs on NBC or Versus, college football fans can expect coverage consistent with the NBC Sports brand."
NBC Sports Group will introduce a new live college football studio show this season that will provides pre- and post-game coverage, as well as halftime reports for every game on both NBC and Versus. The show, broadcast from the network's studio at 30 Rock, will be hosted by Liam McHugh, along with 1984 Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie and former NFL tight end and Super Bowl champion Roland Williams. Additionally, during each Notre Dame game on NBC, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Football Night in America and Mike Florio of ProfootballTalk will join the studio crew at halftime with NFL insider information.
On Mondays, Versus will introduce a new one-hour show titled College Football Talk at 5 p.m. The show, hosted by McHugh with former NFL lineman Ross Tucker as analyst, will feature all the top college football stories and highlights from the weekend with a large portion of the show devoted to Notre Dame Football news. Williams will also be a contributor to the show.
NBC Sports Group's College Football Schedule (all times ET)
NBC
Sept. 3 Notre Dame vs. South Florida 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 17 Notre Dame vs. #17 Michigan State 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 8 Notre Dame vs. Air Force 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 22 Notre Dame vs. #25 USC 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 29 Notre Dame vs. Navy 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 12 Notre Dame vs. Maryland 7:30 p.m. (FedEx Field in Landover, MD)
Nov. 19 Notre Dame vs. Boston College 4:00 p.m.
Nov. 26 The State Farm Bayou Classic 2:30 p.m., Grambling vs. Southern
Versus
Mountain West Conference
Sept. 10 #14 TCU at Air Force 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 17 Texas Tech at New Mexico 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 24 #10 Nebraska at Wyoming 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 1 Nevada at #5 Boise State 2:30 p.m.
Oct. 22 Air Force at #5 Boise State 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 5 Army at Air Force 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 12 #14 TCU at #5 Boise State 3:30 p.m.
Dec. 3 UNLV at #14 TCU 2:30 p.m.
Pac-12 Conference
Sept. 10 Utah at #25 USC 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 8 TBD 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 15 TBD 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 5 TBD TBD
Nov. 12 TBD 10:30 p.m.
Nov. 19 TBD 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 26 TBD 7:30 p.m.
Ivy League
Sept. 24 Cornell at Yale 12:00 p.m.
Oct. 15 Penn at Columbia 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 22 Yale at Penn 12:00 p.m.
Nov. 12 Penn at Harvard 12:00 p.m.
Nov. 19 Harvard at Yale 12:00 p.m.
