2007 Football Schedule

[E.T.]

BIG EAST FOOTBALL FANS GET READY: 2007 COMPOSITE SCHEDULE RELEASED

Last year's success figures to drive even more exposure for the BIG EAST in 2007

2007 Orange Bowl Champion Louisville looks poised to be a BIG EAST Championship contender once again

Feb. 1, 2007

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Posting a perfect 5-0 record in bowl games, breaking records with an unprecedented non-conference winning percentage and shattering ESPN's ratings records with classic league contests in primetime is officially in the history books. Building on that fresh foundation of success has officially begun.

The BIG EAST Conference has announced its 2007 football composite schedule, which is highlighted by several marquee intra- and non-conference contests that will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.

The schedule consists of 68 total games played over the course of 14 weeks and includes 28 conference contests. Of the league's 40 non-conference games, 15 are against teams from the other five automatic qualifying conferences in the Bowl Championship Series and 12 are against teams that played in bowl games this past season. In addition, 10 national television broadcasts have already been slated for ESPN or ESPN2, with a number of other ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC broadcasts to be added later.

"As our BIG EAST Conference football programs continue to grow and improve themselves, so too will our level of national exposure," stated BIG EAST Commissioner Michael Tranghese. "Coming off one of the greatest years in the history of BIG EAST football, we expect our national presence through scheduling and television to keep getting better."

Fresh off the 2006 season in which the BIG EAST had 21 games on ESPN, ESPN and ABC - 50 percent more games than the league's minimum guarantee of 14 - the 10 preliminary contests on the 2007 ESPN/ESPN2 schedule includes three high-profile league games that will be shown on Thursday in primetime in late October and November.

Last year's three consecutive Thursday night primetime appearances on ESPN was often referred to as the "BIG EAST Championship Series" by many college football pundits. The three league games slated for Thursday primetime figure to hold the same significance as teams jockey for position in the league standings. This season's games include USF at Rutgers on Oct. 18, West Virginia at Louisville on Nov. 8 and Rutgers at Louisville on Nov. 29.

The 100th edition of the "Backyard Brawl" will be the BIG EAST game featured on "Championship Saturday" Dec. 1. on either ESPN or ESPN2.

The first BIG EAST non-conference game on national television in 2007 will be Washington at Syracuse on Aug. 31 (ESPN). Other headlining non-conference contests come in three consecutive days in the first week of Sept.: Oregon State at Cincinnati on Sept. 6 (ESPN), Navy at Rutgers on Sept. 7 (ESPN) and USF at Auburn on Sept. 8 (ESPN/ESPN2).

In addition, West Virginia continues its rivalry with Maryland when it travels to College Park for a Thursday night primetime battle with the Terps on Sept. 1 (ESPN).

The league schedule kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 22 with Pittsburgh at Connecticut and Syracuse at Louisville. The following week, West Virginia travels to USF to open its conference schedule on Saturday, Sept. 29. Cincinnati and Rutgers will begin league action on Saturday, Oct. 6 in Piscataway, N.J.

2007 BIG EAST FOOTBALL TELEVISION SCHEDULE (TO DATE)

Friday, August 31 Washington @ Syracuse 8:00 PM ESPN

Thursday, September 6 Oregon State @ Cincinnati 7:30 PM ESPN

Friday, September 7 Navy @ Rutgers 7:00 PM ESPN

Saturday, September 8 USF at Auburn TBD ESPN/ESPN2

Thursday, September 13 West Virginia @ Maryland 7:30 PM ESPN  

Friday, September 28 West Virginia @ USF 8:00 PM ESPN2  

Thursday, October 18 USF @ Rutgers 7:30 PM ESPN  

Thursday, November 8 Louisville @ West Virginia 7:30pm ESPN  

Friday, November 9 Rutgers @ Army 8:00 PM ESPN2

Thursday, November 29 Rutgers @ Louisville 7:30pm ESPN  

Saturday, December 1 Pittsburgh @ West Virginia TBD ESPN/ESPN2  

2006: A Season To Remember

The BIG EAST is coming off a memorable 2006 campaign in which league teams combined for a 5-0 bowl record - the top bowl mark of any conference - and a 37-8 record versus non-conference opponents. Last season, the BIG EAST made Thursday night primetime ESPN contests a household favorite as a number of league contests broke network records. The West Virginia-Louisville contest on Thursday, Nov. 2, set a number of record highs. It ranked as the most-viewed Thursday night regular-season college football game ever on ESPN (4,915,915 households). It also ranked as the second most viewed regular-season college football game ever on ESPN for any day and was the most viewed BIG EAST Conference game ever in terms of households. The Louisville-Rutgers game on Thursday, Nov. 9 (ESPN) joined this list of top BIG EAST broadcasts. It ranked as the network's fourth most-viewed regular season college football game ever (4,642,069 households). The game also delivered a 5.03 national rating. In addition, The West Virginia-Connecticut game on Friday, Oct. 20, was the most viewed regular-season Friday night game ever on ESPN (1,866,698 households).

Dates and times for all games listed below are subject to change:

Thursday, August 30

Buffalo at Rutgers

Murray State at Louisville

SE Missouri State at Cincinnati (or Saturday, Sept. 1)

Friday, August 31

Washington at Syracuse (8:00 p.m., ESPN)

Saturday, September 1

Connecticut at Duke

Eastern Michigan at Pittsburgh

Elon at USF

SE Missouri State at Cincinnati (or Thursday, Aug. 30)

Western Michigan at West Virginia

Thursday, September 6

Oregon State at Cincinnati (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

Friday, September 7

Navy at Rutgers (7:00 p.m., ESPN)

Saturday, September 8

Grambling at Pittsburgh

Maine at Connecticut

Middle Tennessee State at Louisville

USF at Auburn (TBD, ESPN/ESPN2)

Syracuse at Iowa

West Virginia at Marshall

Thursday, September 13

West Virginia at Maryland (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

Saturday, September 15

Cincinnati at Miami (Ohio)

Illinois at Syracuse

Louisville at Kentucky

Norfolk State at Rutgers

Pittsburgh at Michigan State

Temple at Connecticut

Saturday, September 22

CONNECTICUT at PITTSBURGH

East Carolina at West Virginia

Marshall at Cincinnati

North Carolina at USF

SYRACUSE AT LOUISVILLE

Friday, September 28

WEST VIRGINIA at USF (8:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Saturday, September 29

Akron at Connecticut

Cincinnati at San Diego State

Louisville at North Carolina State

Maryland at Rutgers

Pittsburgh at Virginia

Syracuse at Miami (Ohio)

Saturday, October 6

CINCINNATI at RUTGERS

USF at Florida Atlantic

Utah at Louisville

WEST VIRGINIA at SYRACUSE

Saturday, October 13

Central Florida at USF

Connecticut at Virginia

LOUISVILLE at CINCINNATI

Navy at Pittsburgh

RUTGERS at SYRACUSE

Thursday, October 18

USF at RUTGERS (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

Saturday, October 20

Buffalo at Syracuse

CINCINNATI at PITTSBURGH

LOUISVILLE at CONNECTICUT

Mississippi State at West Virginia

Saturday, October 27

PITTSBURGH at LOUISVILLE

USF at CONNECTICUT

WEST VIRGINIA at RUTGERS

Saturday, November 3

CINCINNATI at USF

RUTGERS at CONNECTICUT

SYRACUSE at PITTSBURGH

Thursday, November 8

LOUISVILLE at WEST VIRGINIA (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

Friday, November 9

Rutgers at Army (8:00 p.m., ESPN2)

Saturday, November 10

CONNECTICUT at CINCINNATI

USF at SYRACUSE

Saturday, November 17

LOUISVILLE at USF

PITTSBURGH at RUTGERS

SYRACUSE at CONNECTICUT

WEST VIRGINIA at CINCINNATI

Saturday, November 24

CINCINNATI at SYRACUSE

CONNECTICUT at WEST VIRGINIA

USF at PITTSBURGH

Thursday, November 29

Saturday, December 1

PITTSBURGH at WEST VIRGINIA (TBD, ESPN/ESPN2)

BIG EAST Games in CAPS All Times Eastern and subject to change.