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ESPN released kickoff times for nearly 70 games today, including 4 Pitt games, starting with the season opener against Youngstown State. The game against YSU will kickoff at 6:00 P.M. from Heinz Field and will be shown on ESPN3.
After traveling to take on Cincinnati on a Thursday night in Week 2, Pitt comes home for the biggest game on the home slate against Virginia Tech. Pitt will take on the Hokies at noon at Heinz Field on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU. A little surprising that this game wasn't pushed to at least a 3:30 kickoff considering the relatively weak slate of games that week, but Pitt will be on national TV so no argument here. It will be the 5th time in 2012 that Pitt will be shown on national TV, along with games against Cincinnati, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and UConn.
Pitt then will face their second FCS opponent of the 2012 schedule in the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at 3:30 from Heinz Field. The last game announced was the game at Buffalo, a 3:30 kickoff on October 20th. Both games will be on ESPN3.
So far, here are the game times announced:
September 1st: Youngstown State at 6:00
September 6th: @ Cincinnati at 8:00
September 15th: Virginia Tech at 12:00
September 22nd: Gardner-Webb at 3:30
October 5th: @ Syracuse at 7:00
October 20th: @ Buffalo at 3:30
November 3rd: @ Notre Dame at 3:30
November 9th: @ Connecticut at 8:00
That still leaves games against Louisville, Temple, Rutgers, and South Florida available to be picked up by various ESPN networks. Expect Temple and Rutgers to be noon games. Louisville could be a later game if the Cardinals start well and Pitt is able to beat Virginia Tech or Cincinnati (or both). South Florida will likely also be at noon since that is Championship Weekend. The important thing here is that Pitt is not playing nearly all noon games like they have in the past few seasons. Yes, most of them come on the road, but it's better than the alternative.