Things may not be going Penn State or Michigan State’s way this season on the Big Ten football field, but everybody loves watching a trainwreck, right? Next week’s matchup between the Nittany Lions and Spartans will somehow get a prime spot on the broadcast schedule with CBS grabbing the game for its mid-afternoon timeslot in Week 12.
CBS announced the news for next week’s broadcast on Sunday morning. The start time for next week’s game had previously been announced by the Big Ten, but it was to be decided whether this game would air on CBS or the Big Ten Network. The good news is one of these two teams is guaranteed to pick up its first win in Big Ten play this season. Penn State and Michigan State are each 0-6 in conference play this season, joining Purdue (0-7) as the only teams in the conference without a Big Ten win after Wisconsin recorded an upset of Washington in Week 11.
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Kickoff for next Saturday’s game in East Lansing, Michigan, is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
The other option on the table for CBS would have been the game between USC and Iowa. USC is in the hunt for a spot in the Big Ten championship game and College Football Playoff and Iowa nearly pulled off an upset of Orgeon. Had Iowa finished the job against the Ducks yesterday, this likely would have been the easy pick for CBS.
Penn State is coming off a heartbreaking loss at home to No. 2 Indiana in Week 11. After storming back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to take the lead, the Nittany Lions could not finish the job with one final defensive stop against a Heisman Trophy-worthy drive led by Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and a catch-of-the-year candidate touchdown to stun the Beaver Stadium crowd.
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Instead, CBS will send its top broadcast crew to East Lansing for the battle for the Land-Grant Trophy. The stakes are high for Penn State and Michgigan State though, as the loser of next week’s game will fall to 3-7 on the season, thus making them officially ineligible for postseason play (unless exemptions are made for any teams below .500 to fill any leftover bowl spots).
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: What time and channel is Penn State’s next game at Michigan State?
