All over the state–and country for that matter–fans of college football are finding that the new channel is ruining their Saturdays.

In one of the biggest upsets in college football history, fifth-ranked Michigan laid an egg against Division 1-AA Appalachian State, in an upset one would have to see to believe. That being said, it’s safe to say there weren’t too many believers at first.

See, this game was one of the first broadcasts on the fledgling Big Ten Network, which has no contract in place with the big cable companies. In prior years, a game such as the Appalachian State upset would have likely been shown on ESPN Plus.

Instead, with the exception of Big Ten Network subscribers living in the Michigan area, the only way to watch this game would have been to cram into a bar with DirecTV or Dish Network.

Talk about being upset.

Fortunately for Wisconsinites, there’s no way this should happen here in Milwaukee. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee hosts the largest number of native Wisconsin students. The city of Milwaukee itself boasts the largest population in this great state.

The Big Ten Network would have to find a way for everyone in Wisconsin to see the Badger game, right? Nope.

With so many Wisconsin residents in one area, it would have made far too much sense for the network televising the Wisconsin game against The Citadel to be accessible to the region. The BTN ignored Milwaukee’s adoration of The Citadel (or, I suppose, the Badgers), forcing fans away from the comfort of their own couches and into one of the local watering holes to watch the games.

Scenarios like these are by no means isolated incidents. All over the state–and country for that matter–fans of college football are finding that the new channel is ruining their Saturdays.

The Big Ten Network started innocently enough. There are numerous Big Ten sports that have struggled to get air time on cable, such as tennis, volleyball, softball, etc. With a channel devoted to the conference, these less popular sports will finally get the recognition they’ve craved for years. In this respect, the BTN serves a purpose.

For sports already in the national spotlight, however, such as football and basketball, the channel presents a problem. Similar to the NFL Network, the BTN has no deal with cable giants like Time Warner Cable and Comcast.

The cable companies want to place BTN and NFL Network, along with a few other channels, on a sports package separate from regular cable. This way, subscribers who don’t want to pay extra for these new channels won’t have to (yet, there is no such package for Lifetime and HGTV). NFL Network and BTN, not surprisingly, want to a part of the regular cable action.

Unlike the NFL Network, though, BTN doesn’t allow regional games to also be picked up by local affiliates, such as Fox 6. Hence, when the Packers play on NFLN, that feed can be seen locally, while the BTN doesn’t do the same for The Citadel... or the Badgers.

DirecTV and Dish Network are the only options for Milwaukee sports fans to get these two channels for the time being, but I suppose it’s a moot point. Even if Time Warner Cable did carry the new networks, they wouldn’t be around to install their services until next season, sometime between opening kickoff in week one and halftime of week four.

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