INDIANAPOLIS, IND.: NCAA Division II and CBS College Sports Network announced in late June that the Southwest Minnesota State versus Minnesota Duluth football game will be broadcast live nationwide on CBS College Sports Network. It was announced on Friday, July 18 that the game will also be aired live on Fox Sports Net North out of Minneapolis.
The game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13, will now be played on Thursday, Sept. 11 at Malosky Stadium in Duluth beginning at 7 p.m. The Division II-CBS College Sports Network partnership featured three games in 2006, four games in 2007 and has increased to at least five games for the upcoming 2008 season.
It will be the first time in school history that SMSU will play on national television in any sport. CBS College Sports Network is available in Marshall on Charter Communications Digital Channel 412 and is also available on DISH Network Channel 152 and DIRECTV Channel 610.
"This is a great opportunity for SMSU and our football team because this will give us national exposure, which can only be beneficial to the university," said Chris Hmielewski, SMSU director of athletics. "We are excited for our program to play in front of a national audience and give SMSU alumni and fans a chance to watch Mustang football."
"This is exciting for our student-athletes and our program to have an opportunity to play on national television," said Eric Eidsness, SMSU head football coach. "The impact this will have on our university and our program can not be measured."
The broadcast will also be syndicated through regional sports networks and made available via broadband at
www.ncaa.org.
"We've received tremendous feedback on the success of these televised games from member institutions," said Division II vice president Mike Racy. "The schools obviously love the exposure for their teams, but there's also a collective benefit because our programming emphasizes so much about Division II from a broader perspective. We're excited that CBS College Sports Network has agreed to increase that exposure."
Southwest Minnesota State will begin fall practice on Thursday, Aug. 7 in preparation of the season and conference opener on Saturday, Aug. 30 versus Minnesota, Crookston in Marshall. The opener will also be the first ever game play at the new Regional Events Center on the SMSU campus.
For more information on CBS College Sports Network log onto: www.sportsline.com/cbscollegesports.
A complete list of the five scheduled nationally televised games:
Saturday, Aug. 23: Fort Valley State at Valdosta State, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 4: North Alabama at Carson-Newman, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 11: SMSU at Minnesota Duluth, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 16: Western State at Mesa State, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 23: Angelo State at Tarleton State, 7 p.m.