It’s the kind of game that makes TV sports executives drool – a showdown of the two top-ranked college teams.
Ohio State and Michigan, undefeated and first and second in the Bowl Championship Series ratings, tangle Saturday (1:30 p.m., KMGH-Channel 7). Winner goes to the national championship game.
ABC/ESPN is throwing everything it’s got at pre-game coverage of “The Game,” played between the two schools since 1897. OSU, playing at home, is a 6 1/2-point favorite.
Kirk Herbstreit, a former quarterback for OSU whose father, Jim, captained the Buckeyes in 1960, is an analyst for Saturday’s game. He promises he’ll play it straight.
“It’s natural for people to ask,” he said during a media teleconference call this week. “I’m not looking at what school I happened to attend. I’m looking at two teams analytically. That’s my job, to tell why things are unfolding the way they are.”
He did go on to say, “(The game) is all I’ve lived for my entire life. It’s beyond exciting.”
Preps square off
The 5A high-school quarterfinal playoff football game between Douglas County and Mountain Vista will be on our screens live (6:30 p.m. Friday, FSN Rocky Mountain).
Tim Neverett does the play-by-play, sharing the booth with ex-CU quarterback Joel Klatt and Charissa Thompson on the sidelines.
It’s part of a growing commitment from FSNRM for prep sports in Colorado. Next year, the all-sports network will carry the 4A and 5A football championships at Invesco Field at Mile High and the 4A and 5A boys and girls basketball championships.
Dash for the cash
Driver Jimmie Johnson holds a 63-point lead over Matt Kenseth as the NASCAR Nextel Cup series comes down to its last race at Homestead, Fla. (noon Sunday, KUSA-
Channel 9). Only Johnson, Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have a mathematical chance to be champion.
Paring the field to the top-10 pointgetters for the final 10 races hasn’t been the TV ratings bonanza NASCAR hoped. Last Sunday’s race from Texas, for example, drew 16 percent fewer viewers than last year.
Around the dial
Reminder: The Broncos and the Chargers get the NFL “flex” game on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” (6:15 p.m. Sunday, KUSA-Channel 9). Next week’s move to primetime pairs Philadelphia and Indianapolis. KCNC-Channel 4, the real home of the Broncos, will carry its usual Sunday night programming, including “The Amazing Race 10.” … Ex-CU linebacker Kanavis McGhee guests on “FSN Live at the Barbershop” (6:30 tonight, FSN Rocky Mountain). … Quotable: “Baseball is what we were, football is what we have become.”
– Mary McGrory
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
