How to get Michigan football games

BTN games are exclusive to BTN and not carried on ABC/ESPN and vice versa, so you'll still have the regional coverage problem.  You can still get these regional games from the ESPN Gameplan PPV thing.

BTN does replay all Big Ten games throughout the week, even the ABC/ESPN ones, at least it did last year.

and my experience (this was before Comcast had BTN) was that Michigan games were not that hard to get.  Last season I watched Notre Dame, Penn State, Illinois, MSU, Wisconsin, and OSU that I can remember, and maybe Minny and Purdue as well, not sure.  The nice thing about the regional deal is the time difference.  If, say, the Wisconsin game is at 12:30 or 1:00, there won't be any competing West Coast games so the networks will show whatever's out East.  This year it should be even better with BTN because you'll get all those MAC games that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Big Ten programming is especially easy to find on ABC/ESPN.  There are four major BCS conferences in the East.  The SEC is on CBS mostly.  The ACC and Big East try to put a lot of their better matchups on Thursdays.  So Saturday mornings, it's not uncommon to find the Big Ten on ESPN and again on ESPN2.

Bottom line, I would say you'll see the following M games:

- Any game on BTN, likely to include the two MAC matchups and Northwestern

- Notre Dame on NBC

- Any conference game scheduled for 12:30 or 1:00 Eastern.

- OSU

If it's on ESPN or ESPN2, you'll see it.  ABC is your only real worry and thus, the worries on the calendar right now are Utah, which is 3:30 Eastern and on ABC, and Penn State, scheduled for 4:30.  You will miss Utah, as USC/Virginia is on ABC at the same time and you're in Pac-10 territory.  There are two other tantalizing games the weekend of October 18 (PSU) that ABC might pick up instead: OSU/MSU and Wisconsin/Iowa.  If ABC takes one of those two, you're in the clear and can then watch the PSU game on ESPN(2).

that a lot of what I said makes more sense when you remember that ABC/ESPN get first three cracks at game selection, and only then does the BTN get its game.  You will:

- Always see any BTN game, because they're not in the business of showing two at once.

- Always see any game on ESPN(2) because those two networks always televise nationally.

- Always see Notre Dame.

- Likely see any game on ABC that doesn't conflict with Pac-10 programming or is pre-empted by something really big like Texas/Oklahoma.