Disenfranchised Football Fans May Actually Have to Listen to a Game on (GASP!) The Radio

UConn and Rutgers Fans: That Newfangled Internet Can Also Hook You Up

Rich Sandomir has a column in today's New York Times about how what have turned out to be big games are being seen on more diminutive channels like ESPNU and the Big Ten Network because of prior commitments.

That's good for the networks, bad for a lot of fans, whose cable systems don't carry those channels, or cost extra on satellite, like ESPNU does on DirectTV.

Which means fans, especially in the New York metro area, may have to get used to something that has long been alien to them: listen to the game on the radio. The horror of it all.

In New York, we've long been accustomed to seeing every major-league game on TV. You can even find many of the local college teams on the tube more often than not.

It's a stark contrast to other parts of the country, where games for some teams are still "radio only," a term rarely heard in the Big Apple nowadays.

So, a primer for fans of teams like Rutgers and Connecticut, which unexpectedly is ranked no. 13 in the BCS standings. Those teams square off Saturday night, and you can only watch if you have ESPNU. And if you live in New Jersey or Connecticut, there's a good chance you don't, because the major cable systems have kept it off.

UConn fans should be used to this by now, as this is the team's third appearance this year on ESPNU. Not to worry, the Huskies have a robust radio network whose flagship is WTIC, whose signal booms all over the Northeast and parts of Canada at night (the game starts at 7:15 p.m. ET).

But if you trashed your transistor or don't want to shiver in the car listening, WTIC.com will bail you out.

If you favor a Scarlet Knights call, you are also well-served by 50,000-watt Rutgers flagship WOR.

Who knows? This radio thing may really catch on someday.