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NFL Network to televise Conference-USA games

CUSA Championship - Southern Miss v Western Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, KY - DECEMBER 5: Anthony Wales #20 of the WKU Hilltoppers runs the ball through the line during a game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagle at Houchens-Smith Stadium on December 5, 2015 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Hilltoppers defeated the Golden Eagles 45-28. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

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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.