Expanding the view: FAU, USF capitalize on broader TV schedule

[Sunil]

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/colleges/story/714694.html

Expanding the view: FAU, USF capitalize on broader TV schedule

FAU is one of several Florida teams that is playing more non-Saturday games to get some much-needed exposure on national television.

BY BRIAN COSTA

bcosta@MiamiHerald.com

So long, Saturday afternoon sunshine.

Hello, Tuesday night lights.

For the second consecutive week, Florida Atlantic will play on a Tuesday night when it hosts Troy at Lockhart Stadium. And it's not because the Owls don't like to work weekends.

Like many other college football teams in Florida and across the country, FAU has been enticed by the lure of national television exposure to turn school nights into game nights. The FAU-Troy game will be shown live at 8 p.m. on ESPN2, which also aired the Owls' Tuesday night game at Middle Tennessee State last week.

''It's a lot better than off-Broadway,'' FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger said. ``Even though it has the same connotation as off-Broadway [theater], it suddenly becomes the center of Broadway because you're the only show in town.''

And, usually, it's the only college football game on TV.

Statewide, six schools will play a combined 13 nationally televised non-Saturday games this season.

The University of South Florida has the quirkiest schedule of the bunch, with two Thursday games -- including last week's 26-21 loss to Pittsburgh -- one Friday game and one Sunday game.

The University of Central Florida plays on two Sunday nights.

The University of Miami plays on ESPN on two Thursday nights in November.

''TV rules,'' UM coach Randy Shannon said.

Now more than ever.

OPTIONS WIDE OPEN

Thursday night college football on ESPN has been around for more than a decade. But in recent years, the schedule has expanded to the point in which it is difficult to tell where one week ends and another begins.

The NCAA lifted a ban on televising Friday night games in 2001. A Sunday night slot on ESPN opened in 2006, when Sunday night NFL games moved to NBC. And minor-conference teams have become regulars on Tuesday and Wednesday nights -- often the only days of the week they can get on national TV.

''We have a chance to show the nation what FAU is,'' said Owls safety Greg Joseph, a Miami Dr. Krop graduate. ``We just want people to recognize who we are -- because a lot of people don't know.''

All weeknights are not created equal. ESPN's Thursday night game has become a marquee time slot.

BUILDING A BRAND

But the teams that have benefited most from the non-Saturday games are those such as USF, which has had a greater platform for its rise to national prominence than it would have had 10 years ago.

USF athletic director Doug Woolard said non-Saturday TV games, which are scheduled based on contracts between ESPN and the conferences, have helped the school in several ways.

''I think it has helped our football program, but it really has helped to brand the university overall,'' Woolard said.

He also said the exposure likely has helped the Bulls earn respect from poll voters. USF cracked the Top 25 for the first time last season and is ranked No. 19 this week, down from No. 10 after the loss.

''If somebody has an opportunity to see you, and if you play well, a picture is worth 1,000 words,'' Woolard said. ``Them having a chance to see a team perform well probably has an influence on their voting.''

There are potential drawbacks to not playing on Saturdays.

Playing on a weeknight after a Saturday game the previous week reduces preparation time -- and, for injured players, recovery time.

SCHOOL DAZE

Clint Hurtt, UM's defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, said that although Thursday night games are good for national recruiting, they are more difficult for local recruits to attend because Thursday is a school night.

''It's not very good for us locally,'' Hurtt said.

Games also fall on school nights for college players and their classmates. And that has been perhaps the biggest argument against weeknight games -- Tuesdays and Wednesdays, in particular.

For its Tuesday night game at Middle Tennessee last week, FAU left its Boca Raton campus at about 2:30 p.m. Monday and got back at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

''It kind of throws you off with classes and your whole weekly schedule,'' Joseph said. ``It's good, I guess, because we're the only game on TV, but it's bad when you have to come back to school the next day.''

Joseph wasn't the only one at FAU thrown off by the Tuesday schedule. A roadside sign on campus Thursday promoting the Troy game read, ``FAU football: Get to the game this Saturday.''

But players, students and staffers might soon become more accustomed to midweek games.

ANY DAY BUT ONE

Schnellenberger said he wouldn't mind FAU playing every Tuesday -- or any other weeknight, for that matter -- if it got the Owls on ESPN2 every week.

There is only one day he ruled out: Friday.

''That's high school night,'' he said. ``That's where I draw the line. It was preordained by God and his divine wisdom that the pros would play on Sundays, the colleges would play on Saturdays, and high schools would play on Friday.''

The television gods have decreed otherwise.