Kickoff times set for Eastern Washington, Idaho and Apple Cup contests
Three Washington State football games, all three from Martin Stadium, have been selected as part of the Pac-12 Conference's early television selections, the conference announced Wednesday.
The Pac-12 television selections cover the first three weeks of the season, along with selected games later in the year.
The Cougars will open their 2016 season Saturday, Sept. 3 by hosting Eastern Washington at Martin Stadium. Gametime is set for 5 p.m. and will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Network. In 2012, WSU opened its home schedule with a 24-20 victory over Eastern Washington, the first home game of the Mike Leach-era. The Cougars hold a 3-0 advantage all-time against the Eagles. The theme for the game against Eastern Washington will be Top Gun, which was released 30 years ago, and WSU Athletics will be giving away 10,000 pairs of Cougar themed aviator sun glasses.
Following an away game at Boise State Sept. 10, with a time still to be announced, the Cougars return to Martin Stadium to host Idaho, Saturday, Sept. 17 at 11 a.m., also televised by the Pac-12 Network. The Idaho game will be part of Hall of Fame Weekend as WSU will induct a class of seven into the Washington State Athletic Hall of Fame. WSU holds a 71-17-3 series advantage over Idaho, including a 42-0 victory in 2013 in Martin Stadium, the last meeting of the series.
The 2016 Apple Cup will be played Friday, Nov. 25, as the Cougars host Washington in Martin Stadium. The game will be televised by either FOX or FS1, and will be played at 12:30 p.m. The network selection will be finalized six days prior to the game.
While television selections for the first three weeks of the 2016 season have been made, as well as all Thursday and Friday games throughout the season, all remaining television game selections and start times, starting with week four (Saturday, September 23) and running through the final week of the regular season (Saturday, November 26) will be made 12- or six-days in advance.
Additional nonconference road games will be televised as part of other conference or institution television packages. Those conferences and institutions will release their 2016 television schedule in the coming weeks. In all, every game involving a Pac-12 team is expected to be televised this season.
In addition to the selected games, the Cougars will play road games at Boise State, Stanford, Arizona State, Oregon State and Colorado. Gametime for the Boise State contest will be announced by the Mountain West Conference, though the conference has already announced the game will be televised by the ESPN Networks. The remaining home games included Oregon, UCLA, Arizona and California.
ESPN will televise on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ABC, while FOX Sports will air its games on FOX or FS1. FOX will culminate the 2016 Pac-12 season when it carries the Pac-12 Football Championship Game on Friday, Dec. 2.
Season tickets are on sale now to the general public and are available online at WSUCougars.com or by phone at 1-800-GO-COUGS. Tickets for Cougar road games are also on sale now and mini plans for home games go on sale July 11. Single-game tickets will go on sale Monday, July 18 for Cougar Athletic Fund (CAF) members and Monday, August 1 for the general public.
