Starting Time Assignment for Cal's Home Game vs. Virginia Delayed a Week

Cal fans will have to wait another week to find out the starting time and the television coverage of Cal’s pivotal November 1 home game against Virginia.

Typically, the ACC will announce the starting times and TV coverage of games two weeks in advance, and it did announce the kickoff times and television for four November 1 contests involving ACC teams.

But the conference will have six-day hold on four other games involving ACC teams, and the ACC won’t announce the starting times and TV coverage for those games until after this weekend’s games are played.

The idea is to wait to see which games look the most appealing to TV networks, and starting times and TV coverage will be assigned based on that. These starting-time delays occur late in the season when networks want to televise matchups that have the most impact based recent results.

Cal plays Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, this Friday, and if Cal wins that game to improve to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference, the Bears’ home game against 16th-ranked Virginia will be a big one, assuming the Cavaliers get past North Carolina in a road game this weekend to improve to 7-1.

That might put the Cal-Virginia game in a prime viewing spot televised by ESPN.

If Cal loses to Virginia Tech (2-5), the Bears game against Virginia might not have as much appeal to TV audiences.

The three other November 1 contests that have not yet been assigned a starting time are Miami-SMU, Georgia Tech-North Carolina State, and Notre Dame-Boston College.

Six of Cal’s first eight games have been night games, including this Friday’s game at Virginia Tech, which starts at 7:30 p.m. in Blacksburg and 4:30 p.m. Pacific time.

The starting times for Cal’s four remaining games after this weekend have not yet been set – Virginia at Cal on November 1, Cal at Louisville on November 8, Cal at Stanford on November 22 and SMU at Cal on November 29.

Cal is coming off a tense victory against North Carolina in which Cal cornerback Paco Austin forced a North Carolina fumble at the half-yard line in the closing minutes to preserve a 21-18 victory.

Cal is an underdog against Virginia Tech, with a point spread that ranges from 3.5 point to 4.5 points in favor of the Hokies, depending on the betting site.

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