I was surprised to see ESPN picked up TCU-Minnesota on Sept. 3rd as their prime-time Thursday night game. I was pretty sure that slot would go to Utah-Michigan with both teams being pretty good (well, the jury is still out on Michigan) and, more importantly, the beginning of the Harbaugh era. But it's now extremely unlikely the game will even air on ESPN due to how the timing would have to work out.
TCU-Minnesota is set for an 8:00 start Central Time, which is 7:00 in Salt Lake City. That means, for Michigan-Utah to air on ESPN, it'll either have to start three hours earlier (4:00) or three hours later (10:00). The latter is not going to happen, especially since that would be a midnight start Michigan time, and the former is pretty unlikely as well due to the rarity of a 4:00 start on Thursday. The earliest Thursday start-time I can find for Utah was in 2012 when they opened against No. Colorado at a 5:15 kick - but even that was an hour and fifteen minutes later. 4:00 on a weekday just does not seem realistic.
So, that means ESPN2 is another option. The thing is, South Carolina-UNC is guaranteed to be on ESPN(2) and with that game playing on the east coast, likely will have an earlier start than TCU-Minnesota (probably 7:00 Charlotte time, where the game is being played) - that would be 5:00 SLC time. No way the Michigan-Utah game could air earlier, so, if it's going to air on ESPN2, it'll have to be after. That sets things for an 8:00 start Salt Lake time.
Not an unusual kick, since Utah hosted UCLA a couple years ago on a Thursday at 8:00 - but it's going to be a late start if this is the time slot the game airs in come September.
Of course, there's another option: FS1 picks up the game and airs it at 7:00 or so, which I guess is still possible.
But a game I thought was a lock for ESPN isn't going to air on ESPN - maybe ESPN2, though.
TCU-Minnesota is set for an 8:00 start Central Time, which is 7:00 in Salt Lake City. That means, for Michigan-Utah to air on ESPN, it'll either have to start three hours earlier (4:00) or three hours later (10:00). The latter is not going to happen, especially since that would be a midnight start Michigan time, and the former is pretty unlikely as well due to the rarity of a 4:00 start on Thursday. The earliest Thursday start-time I can find for Utah was in 2012 when they opened against No. Colorado at a 5:15 kick - but even that was an hour and fifteen minutes later. 4:00 on a weekday just does not seem realistic.
So, that means ESPN2 is another option. The thing is, South Carolina-UNC is guaranteed to be on ESPN(2) and with that game playing on the east coast, likely will have an earlier start than TCU-Minnesota (probably 7:00 Charlotte time, where the game is being played) - that would be 5:00 SLC time. No way the Michigan-Utah game could air earlier, so, if it's going to air on ESPN2, it'll have to be after. That sets things for an 8:00 start Salt Lake time.
Not an unusual kick, since Utah hosted UCLA a couple years ago on a Thursday at 8:00 - but it's going to be a late start if this is the time slot the game airs in come September.
Of course, there's another option: FS1 picks up the game and airs it at 7:00 or so, which I guess is still possible.
But a game I thought was a lock for ESPN isn't going to air on ESPN - maybe ESPN2, though.
