In this college football podcast episode, we chat with The Athletic's Scott Dochterman about the little-known, high-stakes draft process by which Fox, CBS and NBC pick the Big Ten games that each will air this season. Learn about the insane preparation, strategy, negotiations, and decisions that shape our TV experience every fall. Plus, some insight into the Big Ten's playoff positioning strategy, why the conference is pushing for four automatic CFP bids, and more.

Check out Scott's reporting on the TV draft (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6389813/2025/05/29/big-ten-football-tv-schedule-draft-fox-nbc-cbs/) and the Big Ten's push for automatic bids (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6398844/2025/06/03/big-ten-cfp-automatic-bids/)

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

04:20 - Scott Dochterman from The Athletic explains the TV game draft

11:30 - Network strategies: Fox vs CBS vs NBC

18:00 - Surprising discoveries while reporting the story

23:51 - The "Big Noon Saturday" product

27:12 - Lessons learned from previous scheduling mistakes

31:42 - Buyer's remorse over bad matchups

36:15 - TV draft crushes

38:25 - The sophisticated preparation process

42:13 - Is there corporate espionage?

44:45 - Big Ten's push for automatic CFP bids

52:05 - Closing thoughts

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