Analysis: How the Big Ten and SEC media deals cleared a path for more Pac-12 broadcasts on ESPN and ABC

As an epic Pac-12 football season hurtles toward its conclusion, numerous unknowns remain about the logistics of the stretch-run showdowns.

Will Fox and ESPN use all four of the six-day selection options in November, thereby making travel plans difficult for fans?

Will the rivalry games in cold-weather locations be played at night?

How will the networks handle the mammoth Nov. 11 doubleheader in the Pacific Northwest, when USC visits Oregon and Utah heads to Washington?

One broadcast matter seemingly has clarity:

The Pac-12 will play more games than usual on ABC and ESPN thanks to a gap year in broadcast agreements for Disney-owned networks.

For the massive exposure opportunity, the Pac-12 can thank the conference that delivered the realignment death blow: the Big Ten.

The SEC is also involved, although not as directly.

Let’s explain.

Three years ago, the SEC agreed to sell its “Game of the Week” package to ESPN, ending a long-term relationship with CBS. But the deal doesn’t begin until next season.

Meanwhile, the Big Ten signed a media rights agreement last summer with Fox, CBS and NBC – but not ESPN – that began this season.

That left ESPN and ABC with a hole in their programming lineups this fall.

They haven’t acquired the SEC’s No. 1 game, but they lost 18 games of Big Ten inventory (based on last year’s programming schedules for ABC and ESPN).

But the Pac-12 hasn’t gone anywhere (at least not yet).

Its regular-season contract with the Disney networks for 22 home games is unchanged. (ABC also has the conference championship.)

And it just so happens that the Pac-12 is loaded with elite teams, marquee games and compelling storylines.

“It’s a huge opportunity presented by forces outside our control,” a conference source said.

(The Fox programming windows are unaffected by new media contracts.)

We have already seen a subtle shift in the allocation of Pac-12 games:

•Two solid but not spectacular nonconference matchups, Washington-Boise State and Washington State-Wisconsin, were shown on ABC. In previous years, they could very well have landed on ESPN.

•By the close of October, ABC will have aired six Pac-12 home games – one more than were shown on the network all of last season. And several more ABC telecasts are expected.

•Meanwhile, no Pac-12 home games have been shown on ESPN2 or ESPNU, whereas last year there were four across the regular season.

The availability of premium programming windows on ABC and ESPN should continue in November, providing Pac-12 teams and players with elevated levels of national exposure.

If the conference doesn’t secure a playoff spot or claim the Heisman, it won’t be for lack of eyeballs.