KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Western Michigan and the Mid-American Conference announced on June 4 that ESPN will air the Broncos versus Indiana live from Waldo Stadium on ESPNU on Sept. 8. This news was a part of the full announcement of three MAC games to air on the network during the weekends of Sept. 1 and Sept. 8 and it will mark the first of two Bronco football games to air live on the ESPN family of networks during the season.
The annual CommUniverCity Night game, originally scheduled for a 7 p.m. kick off, will now begin at 8 p.m. and air live on ESPNU. It will mark the second time in as many seasons that Western Michigan and Indiana will take the field against one another but the first time ever at Waldo Stadium. In fact the game marks the first Big Ten opponent to ever play at Waldo Stadium. The Hoosiers handed WMU a defeat in the 2006 season opener in Bloomington, Ind.
This will mark the fourth installation of the series between IU and WMU. Indiana holds a 3-0 edge with wins in 1995 (24-10), 1998 (45-30) and 2006 (39-20). The Hoosiers finished last season one win away from bowl eligibility at 5-7 and improved two games in the Big Ten standings from their 2005 effort.
WMU appeared on ESPNU once during the 2006 campaign. The Broncos traveled to Akron for the season finale and came away with a 17-0 victory, securing the program's first bowl bid since 1988. The MAC and ESPN Regional Television (ERT) worked together to televise a pair of Bronco football games as well in 2006, on the road at Ohio and a home win against Northern Illinois where the Broncos held the nation's leading rusher, Garrett Wolfe, to 25 yards. Western Michigan also appeared on ESPN360 in the third game of the year, defeating Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., 17-10, in front of a Homecoming crowd of over 60,000.
The other games to air live on ESPNU were Iowa vs. Northern Illinois at Soldier Field in Chicago and Purdue at Toledo, both of which will take place on Sept. 1. WMU vs. Indiana is the only game during the 8 p.m. slot to be announced for Sept. 8.
Under Bill Cubit, Western Michigan has a record of 7-5 in televised games over the past two seasons. The Broncos are 3-3 in games broadcast either by or in cooperation with the ESPN family of networks during the same time frame.
Western Michigan will also air live on ESPN2 later in the season when Central Michigan comes to town for a Nov. 6 showdown. Other television dates for Western Michigan football have not yet been announced.
For tickets for this or any home Western Michigan football game, please call 1-888-4-WMU-TIX (1-888-496-8849) or visit www.wmubroncos.com.
