The NFL is getting into the college football TV business.
NFL Network and Conference-USA announced today that 10 Conference-USA games a year will air on NFL Network for each of the next four seasons.
That’s a departure for NFL Network, which has largely eschewed college football, aside from a couple minor bowl games in 2006 and its draft-related content. Getting into the live college football business gives the NFL Network a different type of programming on fall Saturdays, which are otherwise a slow time for the NFL.
Although Conference-USA is a lower level of college football than the Power 5 conferences, its teams sometimes reach the Top 25 and occasionally have first-round draft picks.
Conference-USA has 14 members: Charlotte, Old Dominion, FIU, Marshall, Southern Miss, Florida Atlantic, UTSA, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, UAB, North Texas, Rice and UTEP.