Heels fanatics face TV dilemma

UNC basketball, football overlap

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina's football team plays at Maryland on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC/ESPN.

UNC's basketball team tips off against Penn at the Smith Center a half-hour later on Fox Sports Carolinas.

What's a Tar Heels fan to do?

"How about using that split picture stuff, and just turn the volume down, and listen to Woody Durham?" football coach Butch Davis suggested Monday.

That's one of many options UNC has come up with.

For the first time anyone can remember during the regular season, both teams play at the same time -- and in key games. The 17th-ranked football team is trying to keep its ACC championship game hopes alive; the top-ranked basketball team may have to play its season opener without reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough.

"Fortunately, this is why they make DVRs," said Steve Kirschner, UNC's associate athletics director for athletic communications.

The reasons for the overlap center mostly around TV scheduling.

Carolina and Penn agreed last summer to play the basketball game this weekend. But because Carmichael Auditorium is undergoing renovations, forcing the women's basketball team to play at the Smith Center this season, the only day available to play the Quakers is Saturday -- the women are hosting the preseason WNIT on Friday and Sunday.

The only time Fox could broadcast the game was 4 p.m.

"We tried to get the game moved to Saturday night or Sunday night, but Fox had no slots," Kirschner said.

Knowing that, UNC approached the ACC office in August about trying to schedule this weekend's football game at noon or later in the evening. Michael Kelly, the league's associate commissioner for basketball operations, said he did pass the request on to ESPN. But under the league's television contract, the networks have the right to choose the game times.

"It is certainly a good thing that both of the programs are highly regarded and on TV as much as they are; it helps the programs, it helps recruiting," said athletics director Dick Baddour, who plans to attend the football game and get basketball updates via cell phone. "... We'd love to have it work out that we can have our cake and eat it too. And hopefully, this won't happen too often."

But when it does, like Saturday, UNC has come up with a few options for anxious fans.

The football game will be broadcast on the Tar Heel Sports Network stations, as usual, with announcers Woody Durham and Rick Steinbacher updating listeners on the basketball score during breaks.

Meanwhile, the basketball game -- with announcers Jones Angell and Eric Montross at the Smith Center -- will be broadcast free and live on tarheelblue.com. It will also be replayed on Tar Heel Sports Network stations that night, with pregame beginning at 8 p.m. and the game starting at 9 p.m.

"I didn't want to make our fans choose: I wanted them to be able to get both games," said Gary Sobba, the general manager of Tar Heel Sports Marketing.

Fans at the Smith Center can also follow the football score via the video boards.

Although some will likely be more creative about getting updates than others.

Defensive tackle Marvin Austin's suggestion: "Get one of those little portable TV's and come to the game, so you can watch the basketball game and football game at the same time. Or you can get an iPhone or something like that, and get an update of the [basketball] game. But you definitely need to be at football, at the Maryland game, if you need to pick and choose."