Tag: pac-12 network

Big Ten Network promotes USC, but still can’t televise Trojan spring game

Big Ten Network is offering analysis of USC, but BTN can’t cover the Trojans’ spring game. Sigh.

The absurdity of USC football moving into the Big Ten but not being shown on Big Ten Network or Fox Sports for its spring game is increasingly apparent. On the day before the action unfolds in the Los Angeles Coliseum, anyone interested in watching the USC spring game is being given one last example of how much the Pac-12 has limited USC’s exposure and overall national profile.

Big Ten Network is covering a lot of spring football games this weekend, and the outlet knows that USC is going to be part of the conference this fall. Big Ten Network was able to tell its viewers that the USC spring game is this Saturday, but then the network was unable to tell viewers what channel the game was on. The graphic below is such a sad story and commentary in itself. Three other Big Ten member schools have spring football games on either Big Ten Network or Fox. They are all getting the treatment one would rightly expect from a Big Ten football school … but then there’s USC, the team which wasn’t able to be shown on either BTN or Fox.

USC fans are being subjected to one last humiliating experience, courtesy of the Pac-12 Network.

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Many people couldn’t see JuJu Watkins’ amazing game, which was on Pac-12 Network

Not only was JuJu Watkins’ game relegated to Pac-12 Network; all other Pac-12 Friday games took place at the same time.

If you have Pac-12 Network and you were able to see JuJu Watkins take a blowtorch to Stanford’s defense on Friday night, good for you. You deserved to see such a great performance from USC’s superstar player. However, if you have DirecTV or any other system which limits your access to Pac-12 Network, you were out of luck.

Women’s college basketball fans in general, but specifically those in the West, will be so happy next year. JuJu Watkins and USC will be on Big Ten Network and Fox Sports a lot more often. They won’t be on Pac-12 Network. Exposure to Watkins and the USC women’s basketball program will rise substantially.

Fans were frustrated and disappointed on Friday, not only because they couldn’t see JuJu Watkins on television, but also because other interesting Pac-12 women’s basketball games were competing with USC-Stanford.

Let’s highlight some of the details:

Pac-12 Network announcer’s attempt to say ‘crackback block’ became a very NSFW comment

This isn’t really a football term

Technically speaking, an illegal crackback block occur when a defensive player is hit below the waist within five yards on either side of the line of scrimmage.

It’s a dangerous play that all levels of football have tried to legislate out of the game. That’s not really relevant to the story you’re reading, but it was vital to start everyone off on the same page so that we can get to the main event.

On Saturday, with Colorado playing Utah in the regular-season finale, there was some discussion on the Pac-12 Network broadcast over crackback blocks. And while you’ve now read that term multiple times, it’s a bit more difficult to say aloud.

The Pac-12 Network’s Lincoln Kennedy can attest to that fact after his attempt to say “crackback block” became something else entirely.

Warning: NSFW language

Welp. He tried.

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Welcome to our world, Irish! Notre Dame gets Pac-12 Network game before the Pac-12 dies

Notre Dame fans will finally taste what #USC fans have endured for years. The Irish vs Stanford is a Pac-12 Network game.

USC football fans will not be watching the Trojans on Thanksgiving weekend because USC won’t be playing. Notre Dame football fans won’t be watching the Fighting Irish on that same Thanksgiving weekend because the Irish will be on Pac-12 Network. It has been a miserable season for USC fans, but they will sit back and munch on some popcorn when they see how much Notre Dame fans are going to hate being on Pac-12 Network.

The Irish’s game at Stanford on November 25 has been announced as a Pac-12 Network game. It’s a sign that Notre Dame, not just USC, has tasted national irrelevance this season.

Oh, man. You can only begin to imagine what the reaction was like from Notre Dame fans. Welcome to our world here at USC! You’re going to get the Pac-12 Network experience!

(h/t Geoffrey Clark of Fighting Irish Wire)

How bad have things gotten for USC football? Trojans are on Pac-12 Network vs. Cal, and no one cares

How’s this for an unexpected plot twist?

The 2023 college football season has gone from promising to painful in a very short time for USC.

A team that was 6-0 is now 6-2. A team with College Football Playoff aspirations probably will not even make the Pac-12 Championship game. USC has gone from prominent to irrelevant in one fortnight.

The two-week crash-and-burn sequence has led to a very unexpected development: The Trojans will appear one last time on Pac-12 Network this weekend in Berkeley against the California Golden Bears. If USC had been 7-1 or 8-0, the team would not have been relegated to the Pac-12 Network. Given how bad the Trojans are right now, their game against Cal simply doesn’t rate as a featured attraction on the Pac-12 slate.

What’s also notable: There has been no outrage from USC fans about the Pac-12 Network game assignment. If anything, being on Pac-12 Network this weekend gives USC fans a reason to not watch a bad football team. It’s a relief.

When USC was thriving under Lincoln Riley last season, playing Oregon State on Pac-12 Network was outrageous and a reminder of how bad Larry Scott was as the former commissioner of the conference. This season, a Pac-12 Network game in late October is drawing no real reaction. This is because USC fans are fed up with this coaching staff and want Alex Grinch fired as soon as possible, alongside strength coach Bennie Wylie.

What a time at USC. A Pac-12 Network game is a non-story for a lot of fans.

That’s a very unexpected story for us here at Trojans Wire.

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Follow Fighting Irish Wire for more on Notre Dame.

Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado.

Follow Ducks Wire for coverage of Oregon football.

Oklahoma fans were right about Lincoln Riley, at least for this specific season.

USC assistants need to be coaching for their jobs.

Lincoln Riley did not assemble an elite 2023 roster, which surprised us and a lot of other observers.

Is USC ready to win in 2024 with Miller Moss or Malachi Nelson at quarterback? Lincoln Riley has to be honest about how he answers that question.

Brent Venables is coaching Oklahoma far better this year than Lincoln Riley is coaching USC. It’s up to Riley to change that reality.

Best Pac-12 football game of Week 6 is on Pac-12 Network

It is depressing but hardly surprising.

The biggest Pac-12 football game of Week 6 is easy to identify. It’s not USC versus Arizona, a game in which the Trojans are favored by 21.5 points. The featured game for the Pac-12 in Week 6 is obviously Washington State at UCLA. Wazzu is unbeaten, and UCLA is searching for a season-saving win. The dynamics of the Pac-12 race will be significantly affected by the outcome of this game.

Unfortunately, WSU-UCLA will be on Pac-12 Network at noon, giving this game minimal visibility in spite of its importance. It’s another black mark on the Pac-12 Conference in a year when the league’s long-term existence was destroyed.

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Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado.

Follow Ducks Wire for coverage of Oregon football leading into the big game against Washington on October 14.

USC win over Colorado feels hollow because Alex Grinch isn’t doing his job.

Experts think Alex Grinch will prevent USC from making the Pac-12 Championship Game.

The coach who ripped Jordan Addison for transferring to USC is now staring at a humiliating season in Pittsburgh.

How Pac-12 Network continues to hurt USC

USC’s bad game in Week 5 was on Fox. Oregon’s and UW’s bad games were on Pac-12 Network. More people are doubting USC.

The USC Trojans did not play well — not a complete game, at least — against Colorado on Saturday. They played a good first half and a bad second half. Their defensive implosion in the second half changed the narrative surrounding this game.

Because USC’s game was on Fox Big Noon Saturday, a lot of eyeballs were watching. The national narrative was prominent because this was a centerpiece event for national and regional media. The chorus was loud and clear after the game: USC can’t be taken seriously. Oregon and Washington are better.

Yet, as Saturday continued, something interesting happened: Oregon and Washington did not play markedly better games.

Oregon was shut out in the first quarter at Stanford and led the lowly Cardinal by a meager 14-6 score at halftime.

Washington played its worst game of 2023 and barely beat Arizona, 31-24.

Yet, everyone is talking about how concerned USC should be (which is fair and fine). Few people are talking about how concerned Oregon and Washington should be. That’s the point we are trying to amplify here.

Why the difference? Oregon and Washington played their games on Pac-12 Network. The lack of visibility for those games compared to Fox Big Noon Saturday has shaped a narrative in which USC is catching a lot more heat than the Ducks or Huskies.

We talked about this at The Voice of College Football in the YouTube video below:

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Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado.

Follow Ducks Wire for coverage of Oregon football leading into the big game against Washington on October 14.

USC win over Colorado feels hollow because Alex Grinch isn’t doing his job.

Experts think Alex Grinch will prevent USC from making the Pac-12 Championship Game.

The coach who ripped Jordan Addison for transferring to USC is now staring at a humiliating season in Pittsburgh.

Kickoff time set for Oregon’s road game at Stanford

Oregon and Stanford are scheduled for an afternoon kick on the Pac-12 Network.

Oregon hasn’t made its final appearance on the Pac-12 Network after all.

The Pac-12 Conference set kickoff times for Week 5, and Oregon is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. PT start at Stanford.

This will be the Ducks’ conference road opener. It shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the top teams playing the conference cellar dweller would be on the Pac-12 Network.

Stanford is 1-2 and coming off an embarrassing 30-27 loss to Football Championship Subdivision Sacramento State. The Cardinal host Arizona this week before the Ducks come to town.

As for the Ducks, they host No. 19 Colorado before going to Palo Alto. They have a bye week following the Stanford game.

In other notable Pac-12 games, Utah goes to Corvallis to take on the Beavers for a Friday night showdown on Fox Sports 1. But the big game will occur in Boulder: USC goes to Colorado for a 10 a.m. local start on Fox.

 

How to watch, listen, stream Hawaii at No. 13 Oregon

Can’t make it to Autzen for the football game? Here’s everything you need to know about tuning in on Saturday night.

Oregon finishes its nonconference season on Saturday night as the No. 13 Ducks host Hawaii out of the Mountain West.

It would be easy for Oregon to look past the 1-2 team whose only win came last week over Albany, but the Ducks need to look good before an up-and-coming Colorado team comes to Autzen next week.

The rest of the television schedule hasn’t been announced yet, but this could be the last time Oregon appears on the Pac-12 Network. The entire state of Hawaii will most likely tune in not only to watch their team but to see some Hawaiian natives who play for the Ducks.

For those not going to the game, here’s how you can watch, listen and/or stream.

USC fans and college football viewers bury Pac-12 Network in landmark broadcast

The Nevada game was the final #USC home football game on Pac-12 Network. Fans were angry, but also glad this is ending.

It is over. The last USC football home game to air on Pac-12 Network is over.

It has been oppressive and annoying and frustrating for the Trojan fan base over more than a decade. The visibility of USC football has been negatively affected by Pac-12 Network. Not being able to easily watch USC has been a constant and legitimate source of irritation. This year, not being able to see Caleb Williams play football has been infuriating for USC fans who live outside the Western United States and the Pac-12 geographical footprint. Larry Scott’s legacy, and the network he stood by in spite of its commercial failures, is forever connected to this network, even though Scott hasn’t officially led the Pac-12 Conference for two years.

Memories run deep, and the Pac-12 Network has made it harder for USC fans to cling to memories of the Trojans on the gridiron.

Here’s how USC fans and the larger football-viewing public reacted to the last USC home football game to air on Pac-12 Network. Early-game glitches did not improve anyone’s mood, but everyone is glad this association with the network is coming to an end: