Notre Dame-Texas this weekend "represents college football's first foray" into a Sunday primetime slot on ABC, according to Daniel Uthman of USA TODAY. The game "only came onto ESPN's plate in April, and it gave the network one extra premier matchup than it had room for in its Saturday timeslots." This year's five day stretch of Thursday through Monday is "considered one of the best kickoff lineups ever." When asked about how Notre Dame-Texas got the Sunday night spot, ESPN VP/Programming & Acquisitions Nick Dawson said, "I really have to give some credit here to the schools; Texas expressed some early interest to us and being willing to play that game on an alternate day other than Saturday. Once we sort of identified that we had this sort of unique opportunity on Sunday night, we took it to them. They were interested from the start. Notre Dame expressed interest as well, and we really worked with the two schools so that it could happen. Everything I've heard from the schools, they're thrilled by the opportunity to kind of be the only game in town on Sunday night on a big stage." ESPN Dir of Programming & Acquisitions Kurt Dargis added, "Where it became a really wow moment for us is we also have the Oklahoma-Houston game ... and at the time that was done two or three years ago, nobody expected Houston to be coming off the season they just had." Dargis added, "(With) the emphasis the CFP's putting on the strength of schedule, we'll see that hopefully grow over the next few years as we try to set up more of these neutral site games into the late teens and twenties" (USA TODAY, 8/29).
STAN THE MAN: SI.com's Richard Deitsch noted ESPN's Stan Verrett "will host college football Saturdays on ABC," replacing the late John Saunders. Verrett, who co-hosts the L.A.-based editions of "SportsCenter," said, "There had been some discussion about me as a possible candidate before I spoke to anyone about it. ("SportsCenter" Exec Producer) Mike McQuade asked me if I was interested, and I told him I was. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it." Verrett added, "I will remain based in Los Angeles. ... I will still be on the show during the season, just not every night. Flying across the country and back each week will be a challenge, but the college football team and the 'SportsCenter' team are very supportive in giving me what I need to make it work" (SI.com, 8/28).
