Through a series of miscalculations, the crucial Big 10 battle Saturday between Illinois and Michigan in Ann Arbor will not be televised.
ABC Sports, which has network rights to league contests, and the Big 10 Game of the Week, which has syndication rights, had previously made commitments to other games.
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ABC will televise the Michigan State-Indiana game, while the Big 10 Game of the Week shows Ohio State-Iowa.
Because both ABC and the Big 10 hold exclusivity agreements, that leaves the Illinois-Michigan game blacked out.
”The conference policy is that no team can be on (ABC) more than five times,” explained a network spokesman. ”Two weeks ago, it was decided that Minnesota-Michigan would be on TV (Nov. 5) and that the Michigan State-Indiana game the Saturday after that would be the most attractive.”
Which meant that the Wolverines, with a visit to Ohio State on tap as the first game of a Nov. 19 double-header, have already filled their dates.
Both the Big 10 Game of the Week and the ABC game plan cutaways to show highlights of the Illinois-Michigan game.