ST. LOUIS - The Illinois State football team's game against Missouri State on Sept. 25 at Hancock Stadium was selected as one of its nationally-televised live broadcasts to be featured on Fox College Sports (FCS), as announced by the Missouri Valley Football Conference office Tuesday. The game is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. CST.
The Redbirds and the Bears will be the first matchup featured as part of the league's television package, which also includes an Oct. 9 contest against perennial conference favorites Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois. Youngstown State will then travel to square off against Western Illinois on Oct. 16 and the fourth and final televised game of the year will take place between South Dakota State and North Dakota State on Nov. 13.
All of the games are projected to be shown live on FCS (56 million national audience reach), and additional local clearances will be announced at later dates.
The Redbirds will make their 2010 television debut Saturday, Sept. 11, when they head to Evanston, Ill., to take on NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent Northwestern. That contest will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network beginning at 11 a.m., at Ryan Field and will be the Redbirds' second appearance on the network. The Redbirds' game against in-state foe Illinois in 2009 was also televised on the network.
Fans with Comcast as their cable provider can find the Big Ten Network on channel 64 and in high definition (HD) on channel 958. The Big Ten Network can also be found on DirecTV (channel 610) and on Dish Network (channel 439).
Illinois State returns 18 starters and 39 letterwinners from last year's team, which finished the season with a 6-5 overall record and its first winning season since 2006. The Redbirds will officially open the 2010 season Thursday, Sept. 2, at home against Central Missouri at Hancock Stadium. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
