PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced that CBS Sports Network will again televise seven conference-controlled baseball games in the 2016 season.
The 2016 lineup includes five regular-season games as well as the first two games of the American Athletic Conference Championship. The five regular-season dates include three conference matchups and two key nonconference games.
The schedule, as part of The American’s multi-year agreement with CBS Sports Network, is highlighted by two late-season matchups between the top two teams in the American Athletic Conference’s preseason coaches’ poll. CBS Sports Network will carry the first two games (May 20 and 21) of the three-game series between Houston and Tulane, which will close the regular season. Houston was tabbed as the preseason favorite in The American and is ranked No. 18 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, while the Green Wave was the runner-up in the conference’s preseason poll and is ranked No. 19 by Collegiate Baseball.
Coverage on CBS Sports Network begins April 19 with a nonconference game between East Carolina – the winner of the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championship – and a North Carolina State squad that is ranked No. 10 in the D1Baseball.com preseason poll. Another in-state, nonconference rivalry will be on CBS Sports Network April 26 as Tulane hosts LSU, which is ranked No. 7 in the D1Baseball.com preseason ranking.
The first conference game on CBS Sports Network’s schedule will be the April 24 matchup between Houston and USF – both of which reached the NCAA Championship in 2015.
CBS Sports Network also will carry both games from the first day of competition at the American Athletic Conference Championship in Clearwater, Florida. The May 24 doubleheader will have the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the tournament at 3 p.m. ET, while the No. 1 and No. 8 seeds play at 7 p.m.
The American Athletic Conference enjoyed a banner year in 2015. The conference finished the season as the No. 3-rated league in the RPI and placed four of its eight teams in the NCAA Championship. Twenty-four players, including players from all eight teams, were chosen in the 2015 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
American Athletic Conference Baseball on CBS Sports Network
April 19 North Carolina State at East Carolina 6:30 p.m.
April 24 USF at Houston * 2 p.m.
April 26 LSU at Tulane 7 p.m.
May 20 Tulane at Houston * 8 p.m.
May 21 Tulane at Houston * 4 p.m.
May 24 American Athletic Conference Championship Game 1 3 p.m.
May 24 American Athletic Conference Championship Game 2 7 p.m.
* American Athletic Conference game
All times Eastern