Southland announces early TV selections for 2017 football season

FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference’s 2017 football television plans for the August and September portion of the schedule were announced with more than two dozen matchups set for telecast across ESPNU, ESPN3, Eleven Sports, Cox Sports Television, FOX Sports Southwest and other outlets.

For games in October and November, the Southland will reveal a majority of its television selections 12 days prior to kickoff. This will allow for the best matchups to be selected each week for various broadcast partners.

The Southland schedule begins early with a live national broadcast as Sam Houston State hosts Richmond in a matchup of nationally-ranked FCS powers on Sunday, Aug. 27, on ESPNU. Both SHSU and Richmond advanced to the NCAA FCS quarterfinals in 2016, and both are expected to be national contenders this season.

“We have some great early season football television selections, and these broadcasts should set the table for an exciting conference football race and more fantastic telecasts later in the season,” said Southland Commissioner Tom Burnett. “We are excited for many of the non-conference opportunities, including the Sam Houston State-Richmond game that all FCS followers across the country will be watching.”

The exclusive Southland-ESPN3 Game of the Week schedule also begins early, as Nicholls hosts McNeese in the season-opener for both teams on Thursday, Aug. 31. Six other games are set to stream live Saturday, Sept. 2, on ESPN3 as Central Arkansas takes on Kansas State, Houston Baptist visits Texas State, Lamar heads to North Texas, Northwestern State travels to Louisiana Tech, Southeastern Louisiana plays at UL Lafayette, and Stephen F. Austin goes to SMU.

Two games will be available on Thursday, Sept. 7, as Sam Houston State is again featured in a national ESPNU contest at Prairie View A&M, while Houston Baptist’s game against Texas Southern is set to air on AT&T SportsNet Southwest.

Saturday, Sept. 9, features the first Southland broadcast on Eleven Sports as Southeastern Louisiana hosts Bethune-Cookman. Eleven Sports is available in 70 million homes worldwide across Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. Launched in the U.S. in March 2017, the network is available nationally on DirecTV 623 and various cable systems. Games on Eleven Sports will also be available on the Southland Digital Network, consisting of Southland.org/live and the Southland Conference apps.

Sept. 9 will also see three Southland teams telecast across ESPN networks, including Nicholls taking on Texas A&M on ESPNU. ESPN3 will feature Lamar playing host to UT-Permian Basin, and Stephen F. Austin home vs. Southern Utah.

The Southland-ESPN3 Game of the Week package resumes Saturday, Sept. 16, for the opening of Wildcat Stadium as Abilene Christian welcomes Houston Baptist in the first game at the new on-campus facility. The highly-anticipated rematch of the top two Southland teams from last season, Sam Houston State at Central Arkansas, will be part of the Southland-ESPN3 set on Sept. 30.

Cox Sports Television is set to air Southeastern Louisiana at Northwestern State on Sept. 30. Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2017, CST serves the Gulf South and beyond as a 24-hour regional sports network that delivers exclusive live programming and sporting events from the prep, collegiate and professional levels. Games produced by CST will also stream live on ESPN3 outside of Cox’s territory.

Additional games from the early portion of the schedule may be selected at a later date. For games not selected by conference partners, individual schools will have the ability to produce broadcasts via traditional television or online outlets.

Southland Conference Football: Early Television Selections (All Times Central)

Sunday, Aug. 27             

Richmond at Sam Houston State, 6 p.m., ESPNU

Thursday, Aug. 31

McNeese at Nicholls, 7 p.m., ESPN3

Saturday, Sept. 2            

Central Arkansas at Kansas State, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Houston Baptist at Texas State, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Lamar at North Texas, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Northwestern State at Louisiana Tech, 6 p.m., ESPN3^

Southeastern Louisiana at UL Lafayette, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Stephen F. Austin at SMU, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Thursday, Sept. 7           

Sam Houston State at Prairie View A&M, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Houston Baptist at Texas Southern, 7:30 p.m., AT&T SportsNet Southwest

Saturday, Sept. 9            

Abilene Christian at Colorado State, 2:30 p.m., Mountain West Network on Stadium

Southern Utah at Stephen F. Austin, 6 p.m., ESPN3*

Nicholls at Texas A&M, 6 p.m., ESPNU

UT Permian Basin at Lamar, 7 p.m., ESPN3*

Bethune-Cookman at Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m., Eleven Sports

UIW at Sacramento State, 8 p.m., Pluto TV

Saturday, Sept. 16

Houston Baptist at Abilene Christian, 6 p.m., ESPN3

UIW at Stephen F. Austin, 7 p.m., ESPN3*

Southeastern Louisiana at Central Arkansas, 7:15 p.m., Eleven Sports

Saturday, Sept. 23          

Nicholls at Sam Houston State, 6 p.m., ESPN3*

Houston Baptist at McNeese, 6 p.m., FOX Sports Southwest Plus/FOX College Sports

Lamar at Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m., Southeastern Channel/Stream TBD

Saturday, Sept. 30          

Abilene Christian at UIW, 6 p.m., KCWX/ESPN3*

Sam Houston State at Central Arkansas, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Southeastern Louisiana at Northwestern State, 6:30 p.m., Cox Sports TV/ESPN3

Nicholls at Lamar, 7 p.m., ESPN3*

McNeese at Stephen F. Austin, 7 p.m., ESPN3*

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*Institutional broadcast

^Game available on The CW affiliates in Alexandria, Monroe and Shreveport markets

Other television selections will be made no later than 12 days prior to kickoff.