2012-13 NCAA Football Bowl Canadian TV Guide
The 2012-13 NCAA football bowl season begins this Saturday with a doubleheader. The schedule kicks into high gear the week of New Year’s Day with the six biggest games outside of the BCS Championship Game taking the primetime spotlight between December 31 and January 4. Three of the other biggest games will take place on New Year’s Day in the afternoon. There are 35 bowl games, all except two will air on Canadian television. Here is the complete bowl broadcast schedule, including AP poll rankings and commentators for each game.
New Mexico Bowl (University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM)
Saturday December 15, 1:00pm ET
Nevada (7-5) vs. Arizona (7-5)
TV: TSN2 (Bob Wischusen & Danny Kanell)
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Bronco Stadium in Boise, ID)
Saturday December 15, 4:30pm ET
Toledo (9-3) vs. 18 Utah State (10-2)
TV: TSN2 (Tom Hart & Mike Bellotti)
Poinsettia Bowl (Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, CA)
Thursday December 20, 8:00pm ET
Brigham Young (7-5) vs. San Diego State (9-3)
TV: theScore (Carter Blackburn & Rod Gilmore)
St. Petersburg Bowl (Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL)
Friday December 21, 7:30pm ET
Ball State (9-3) vs. Central Florida (9-4)
TV: TSN2 (Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Desmond Howard)
New Orleans Bowl (Superdome in New Orleans, LA)
Saturday December 22, 12:00pm ET
East Carolina (8-4) vs. UL-Lafayette (8-4)
TV: TSN2 (Beth Mowins & Joey Galloway)
Las Vegas Bowl (Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV)
Saturday December 22, 3:30pm ET
20 Boise State (10-2) vs. Washington (7-5)
TV: TSN2 (Brent Musberger & Kirk Herbstreit)
Hawaii Bowl (Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, HI)
Monday December 24, 8:00pm ET
Fresno State (9-3) vs. Southern Methodist (6-6)
TV: TSN2 (Carter Blackburn & Kelly Stouffer)
Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl (Ford Field in Detroit, MI)
Wednesday December 26, 7:30pm ET
Western Kentucky (7-5) vs. Central Michigan (6-6)
TV: theScore (Mark Neely & Ray Bentley)
Military Bowl (RFK Stadium in Washington, DC)
Thursday December 27, 3:00pm ET
24 San Jose State (10-2) vs. Bowling Green (8-4)
TV: TSN2 (Bob Wischusen & Danny Kanell)
Belk Bowl (Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC)
Thursday December 27, 6:30pm ET
Cincinnati (9-3) vs. Duke (6-6)
TV: theScore (Mike Patrick & Ed Cunningham)
Holiday Bowl (Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, CA)
Thursday December 27, 9:45pm ET
17 UCLA (9-4) vs. Baylor (7-5)
TV: theScore (Dave Pasch & Brian Griese)
Independence Bowl (Independence Stadium in Shreveport, LA)
Friday December 28, 2:00pm ET
Ohio (8-4) vs. UL-Monroe (8-4)
TV: theScore (Dave Lamont & Kelly Stouffer)
Russell Athletic Bowl (Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL)
Friday December 28, 5:30pm ET
Rutgers (9-3) vs. Virginia Tech (6-6)
TV: theScore (Joe Tessitore & Matt Millen)
Texas Bowl (Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX)
Friday December 28, 9:00pm ET
Texas Tech (7-5) vs. Minnesota (6-6)
TV: theScore (Mark Jones & Brock Huard)
Armed Forces Bowl (Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, TX)
Saturday December 29, 11:45am ET
Air Force (6-6) vs. Rice (6-6)
TV: theScore (Beth Mowins & Joey Galloway)
Pinstripe Bowl (Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY)
Saturday December 29, 3:15pm ET
Syracuse (7-5) vs. West Virginia (7-5)
TV: theScore (Chris Fowler & Jesse Palmer)
Alamo Bowl (Alamodome in San Antonio, TX)
Saturday December 29, 6:45pm ET
15 Oregon State (9-3) vs. Texas (8-4)
TV: TSN2 (Sean McDonough & Chris Spielman)
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, AZ)
Saturday December 29, 10:15pm ET
Texas Christian (7-5) vs. Michigan State (6-6)
TV: TSN2 (Brad Nessler & Todd Blackledge)
Music City Bowl (LP Field in Nashville, TN)
Monday December 31, 12:00pm ET
Vanderbilt (8-4) vs. North Carolina State (7-5)
TV: TSN2 (Carter Blackburn & Rod Gilmore)
Sun Bowl (Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, TX)
Monday December 31, 2:00pm ET
Southern California (7-5) vs. Georgia Tech (6-7)
TV: CBS (Verne Lundquist & Gary Danielson)
Liberty Bowl (Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, TN)
Monday December 31, 3:30pm ET
Tulsa (10-3) vs. Iowa State (6-6)
TV: TSN2 (Mark Jones & Brock Huard)
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA)
Monday December 31, 7:30pm ET
9 Louisiana State (10-2) vs. 14 Clemson (10-2)
TV: TSN2 (Mike Patrick & Ed Cunningham)
Gator Bowl (Everbank Field in Jacksonville, FL)
Tuesday January 1, 12:00pm ET
21 Northwestern (9-3) vs. Mississippi State (8-4)
TV: theScore (Bob Wischusen & Danny Kanell)
Capital One Citrus Bowl (Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL)
Tuesday January 1, 1:00pm ET
6 Georgia (11-2) vs. 23 Nebraska (10-3)
TV: ABC (Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer & David Pollack)
Outback Bowl (Raymond James Stadium in Orlando, FL)
Tuesday January 1, 1:00pm ET
11 South Carolina (10-2) vs. 19 Michigan (8-4)
TV: TSN (Mike Tirico & Jon Gruden)
Rose Bowl (Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA)
Tuesday January 1, 5:00pm ET
8 Stanford (11-2) vs. Wisconsin (8-5)
TV: TSN (Brent Musberger & Kirk Herbstreit)
Orange Bowl (Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL)
Tuesday January 1, 8:30pm ET
13 Florida State (11-2) vs. 16 Northern Illinois (12-1)
TV: TSN (Joe Tessitore & Matt Millen)
Sugar Bowl (Superdome in New Orleans, LA)
Wednesday January 2, 8:30pm ET
4 Florida (11-1) vs. 22 Louisville (10-2)
TV: TSN2 (Sean McDonough & Chris Spielman)
Fiesta Bowl (University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ)
Thursday January 3, 8:30pm ET
5 Oregon (11-1) vs. 7 Kansas State (11-1)
TV: TSN2 (Brad Nessler & Todd Blackledge)
Cotton Bowl (Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX)
Friday January 4, 8:00pm ET
10 Texas A&M (10-2) vs. 12 Oklahoma (10-2)
TV: FOX (Gus Johnson & Charles Davis)
BBVA Compass Bowl (Legion Field in Birmingham, AL)
Saturday January 5, 1:00pm ET
Mississippi (6-6) vs. Pittsburgh (6-6)
TV: TSN2 (Eamon MaCananey & David Diaz-Infante)
GoDaddy.com Bowl (Ladd Peebles Stadium in Mobile, AL)
Sunday January 6, 9:00pm ET
25 Kent State (11-2) vs. Arkansas State (9-3)
TV: theScore (Mark Jones & Brock Huard)
BCS National Championship (Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL)
Monday January 7, 8:30pm ET
1 Notre Dame (12-0) vs. 2 Alabama (12-1)
TV: TSN (Brent Musberger & Kirk Herbstreit)
Just a minor mistake — The Outback bowl takes place in Tampa, not Orlando. You had the stadium right, just not the city!
Thanks for putting this together. I’ve bookmarked it so I can easily check when specific games are and what channel they’re on in Canada. Hard to find all that information in one place. Good work.
Vlad
13 December, 2012 at 2:53am
This post is a mainstay for me every December. I have been looking for it every December for years now. Thanks for putting it together.
P Armstrong
13 December, 2012 at 1:24pm
Which two bowls won’t be shown in Canada? Is it simply due to a scheduling conflict?
I remember last year being surprised at one of the omissions – if I remember correctly it was the bowl in which Baylor and RGIII played (despite him having won the Heisman a few weeks prior).
Chuck
13 December, 2012 at 3:05pm
It actually looks like 3 games won’t be on in Canada.
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on the 29th between Arizona St. and Navy
Chick-fil-a Bowl on the 31st between LSU and Clemson
Heart of Dallas Bowl on the 1st. Ok St. vs Purdue
Regarding the Chick-fil-a Bowl, it does not appear on the TSN Bowl Schedule, contrary to what Josh has listed here, so I’m not too sure about that one.
Scott
13 December, 2012 at 3:55pm
No the Baylor-Washington game last year was shown because I put an extra hour on the PVR and STILL didn’t get the whole game.
I am surprised that the Chick-fil-A Bowl might not be shown. It is one of the higher profile bowls with two highly regarded teams. The only thing I can think of is that it’s because it is on from 7:30 – 10:30 on New Year’s Eve when TSN could be showing something hockey related. Without the NHL or any junior hockey I think hockey still is about 87.5% of TSN’s total broadcasting.
Mike
13 December, 2012 at 4:14pm
I am told TSN will add the Chick-Fil-A Bowl to their schedule. It just isn’t on the schedule on their website for some reason.
canadiansportsmedia
13 December, 2012 at 6:19pm
I don’t think the Baylor game was one of them; I remember watching it. I don’t think the Heart of Dallas Bowl has ever been on Canadian TV.
The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl conflicts with the Pinstripe Bowl (on theScore) and the Alamo Bowl (on TSN2). The Heart of Dallas Bowl conflicts with the other 3 New Year’s Day games (TSN2 is showing the same game as ABC).
canadiansportsmedia
13 December, 2012 at 6:16pm
Regarding the Heart of Dallas Bowl, TSN2 could have covered it and TSN could have covered Outback Bowl, instead of Capital One Bowl. Capital One Bowl is available OTA on ABC already. But I guess that is exactly the point they are making. To have simsub over ABC.
Hercules 130
16 December, 2012 at 8:22pm
Not only that, but hardly anyone would watch the Dallas Bowl anyway. Even without a simsub more people would probably watch the Capital One Bowl on TSN2 than the Dallas Bowl. TSN and TSN2 have shown those two games on NYD ever since TSN2 launched, AFAIK.
canadiansportsmedia
16 December, 2012 at 8:58pm
‘The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is being played at 3:15pm on Saturday,Dec. 29. The Score is showing the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl at 11:45am followed by the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at 3:15pm. Why is there no TSN coverage of the Hunger Bowl when the Valero Alamo Bowl on TSN2 doesn’t start until 6:45pm? The Hunger Bowl is fun to watch because they play that game at AT&T park in San Francisco which is the home field of the world series champion San Francisco Giants..
Corey Cano
16 December, 2012 at 2:54am
According to ESPN, Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl starts at 16:00 on ESPN2 while Valero Alamo Bowl at on 18:45 at ESPN. So really, the schedule is to tight between them. Therefore, unless TSN airs one of them, they cannot both be shown in TSN2 alone.
Hercules 130
16 December, 2012 at 8:26pm
That’s correct, I think. I’ve seen the Kraft Bowl listed for both 3:15pm ET and 4pm ET. 4pm is correct, I think. 2 hours 45 minutes is not enough for a NCAA game, especially when the 2nd game is one of the better matchups of the bowl season.
TSN has a Spengler Cup semifinal from 2:15pm-4:45pm ET that day and a Raptors game at 7pm ET, so it can’t show the Kraft Bowl or the Alamo Bowl.
canadiansportsmedia
16 December, 2012 at 9:02pm
I hate the fact that I used to watch most of the games on CBS/ABC or NBC and now unalbe to do so because they have been assigned to TSN2 ….when are those selfish Networks and NCAA ever going to figure out that exposure is what keeps people interested in these games…pay per view has ruined sports and entertainment, just look at boxing and wrestling….
eddy
18 December, 2012 at 3:19pm
NCAA doesn’t sell the rights to any of these games. The individual bowl games do.
As far as I know ratings haven’t dropped off much (if at all) since ESPN took over rights to the BCS games from FOX. This isn’t pay-per-view. Nobody is charging $50 to view one game like in boxing. The games still have lots of exposure. Maybe even more so than before because people who watch sports are seeing promos during SportsCenter all of the time.
Most of these games have always been shown on cable anyway. Here (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/tv_sked/) is the schedule from 2002. Only the BCS bowls and the Gator Bowl have moved from CBS/NBC/ABC to cable since then. Its not going to change anytime soon because ESPN signed a 12-year deal to show the new 4-team playoff.
TSN2 is a separate issue. IMO TSN2 has improved Canadian coverage because before TSN didn’t air many games and joined others in progress.
I miss having more games on CBS and NBC too, but I don’t think college football is suffering any for having them on ESPN. And I don’t think (with the exception of a few universities) they really care about exposure outside of the US.
canadiansportsmedia
18 December, 2012 at 4:10pm
I kinda miss that many bowl games being on FTA TV too. But that’s the reality now with ESPN can bring forth more revenue and millions of US households already have ESPN.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but one major reason why the NCAA doesn’t sell the rights is because of that 1984 US Supreme Court case NCAA v. University of Oklahoma Board of Regents that ruled in Oklahoma’s favor
Durban Sandshark
18 December, 2012 at 6:30pm
I’m not entirely familiar with the case in question, but I think that is more in relation to regular season games. Basically the NCAA wanted a monopoly on television rights from all conferences. The NCAA would sell these rights to one network (ex. ABC). That’s why individual conferences sell regular season rights.
Postseason (in all NCAA sports) is different. In college hoops the NCAA sells those rights directly because they own the tournament. The same goes for Football Championship Series and other DIvision I (and II and III) championships. CBS or ESPN holds rights to all of them. The bowls on the other hand are only sanctioned by the NCAA. They are run by organizing committees. That’s why the NCAA doesn’t sell those rights.
BTW, thought you might be interested, I saw an ad on CBC promoing the 2014 Sochi Games the other night. It had the tagline “the Olympics return home”.
canadiansportsmedia
18 December, 2012 at 11:17pm