Saturday's game between the Arizona Wildcats and Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns will not be televised, which is significant for multiple reasons. Not only do UA's seniors not get their final game televised, but it also does not give the fan base outside of Tucson a chance to see their new head coach address the crowd at halftime.
This game is also important, especially with the new Pac-12 TV deal with ESPN beginning next year. Patrick Finley had a great tweet this morning:
Today's #ArizonaWildcats game not on TV. It will be, literally, the last non-televised game in school history, given new #Pac12 media deal
Starting in 2012, fans will no longer have to worry about whether or not the game is televised or streamed online somewhere. Regardless if it's Oregon vs. Stanford or Arizona vs. South Carolina State, the game will be available to everyone in the country. It may take a little while to figure out what channel (or website) the game is being played on -- it sounds like they could be on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ABC, Pac-12 Network, ESPN3.com, FOX, Fox Sports Net, FX and the recently proposed Pac-12 media website -- but they'll be out there.
For those of you bummed about not seeing today's game, just think of next season and beyond. This new Pac-12 media deal is going to revolutionize the way we watch sports.