This may really turn out to be the year for HD football. We kinda expected the NFL to go all HD, but we were shocked to hear that all of ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN U games would be presented in HD; and we are even more shocked to hear that all 31 of FSN's College Football games will be presented in HD this year. This really just leaves the smaller providers like Jefferson Pilot in the SD world, but at this rate we wouldn't be one bit surprised to hear that it is going HD too.

Not that we're trying to rush the summer away or anything, but August can't get here soon enough. Shortly after hearing that CBS would be producing every single NFL game in high-definition, in flies word that all live 2008 NCAA College Football games shown on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN U will also be available in glorious HD. Granted, there's a shot you won't even have those four networks in HD before the season begins, but at least your local watering hole will. For a look at the current schedule (which is far from complete), check out the goods in the read link. Rest assured, we'll be geared up for the network opener (August 28, 8:00PM on ESPN HD) as NC State shows South Carolina how it's done down at Williams-Brice Stadium.

FSN's been all over HD in the last year, rolling out MLB broadcasts and even 3D NBA games, but according to President Randy Freer, HD telecasts will "skyrocket" in '09 as the network rolls over to 24/7 HD broadcasting. Wth the capability to produce all of its 3,000 MLB, NBA, NHL, college football and basketball games in HD would give it more than any other sports provider (read: CBS Sports & ESPN) in the U.S. All this HD will be made possible by the new Fox Network Houston, a 184,000 sq ft facility that it claims can handle more signal traffic than any other similar facility, with up to 40 live games in one day. HD rollouts will vary in each region based on distribution agreements, and team telecast rights, but if there was ever a time to avoid Big Ten Network-type squabbles, we'd say all this sports action in HD is one of them. We've come a long way from just 31 college games.

Sure, the University of Hawaii has a legitimate gripe for not being in the BCS Championship game -- you know, considering its undefeated record and all -- but islanders are apparently just as stoked to have their Warriors in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Oceanic Time Warner Cable (partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) announced that it ordered up (and received) some 6,000 HD DVRs in anticipation of a spike in demand stemming from the upcoming bowl game. Reportedly, over 3,000 subscribers have been on a waiting list since December 1st to get their box in time for the New Year's day matchup, and Oceanic also noted that it would be extending business hours for O'ahu residents to get their hands around a box in time for the tilt. Of course, users not on said waiting list will be helped on a "first come, first served" basis, so we'd get a move on if you're scouting one.

Despite all the BCS BS, we still love college football -- especially when it's in HD. We've grown to expect more and more HD every season, and with ESPN and ESPN2 presenting all their games in HD these days, we should've seen this coming. As of next August, ESPN U is going HD and will become the forth ESPN HD network (ESPNews is the thrid). In addition to the biggest college sport being presented in HD; basketball, lacrosse, baseball, softball, volleyball, wrestling, and hockey will also get the HD treatment with a total of 200 HD events on schedule in the first year.

With so many college football games in HD this year it can be hard to tell which games will be available in your area. As usual, we can depend on HDSportsGuide.com to figure out which games will be presented in our favorite format, but now they've added links to coverage maps. So now you're only one PDF link away from knowing exactly what ABC/ESPN college football game will be available in your area.

Considering just how zany this past weekend was in the world of college football, it's good to see that even more folks now have access to even more games. Wide Open West, which serves around 400,000 domiciles in the Big Ten's eight-state footprint, announced that it had landed a deal with the Big Ten Network to position the channel "on its expanded basic package." This agreement pushes the network beyond the "the 30 million subscriber mark within a month of its launch," but a number of major players (namely Cox, Charter, Comcast, Time Warner Cable [partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget], and Mediacom) have still refused to shake hands on terms.

NFL fans have known for some time that this was the year that CBS was doubling the number of HD games per week, but now the Tiffany Network has announced that starting September 15th, they'll also be producing all of their SEC college games in HD. CBS has always been known for the top notch picture quality -- local issues aside -- and as one of the biggest HD proponents, but recently they've taken a lot of criticism over the fact that they only produced three NFL games a week in HD, when FOX was doing five. Since many HD fans just recently joined the club, they weren't around for all the years when CBS was blazing the HD football trail while FOX was touting that their FOX Widescreen was just as good as HD. Great job stepping up your HD football coverage CBS, now, about Survivor.

Today's the first day of summer and now we can finally start looking forward to football season. First we learned that CBS is stepping up their NFL HD coverage, then the new Big Ten Network announced that they'd be delivering some HD coverage and now FSN has announced that they will also be producing 31 games this season in our favorite format. Ten of these games will also be carried by Versus to add to their eight HD games. While we're still a long way off from every college game being produced in HD, there is no doubt that we will have more HD football this season than ever before. Now all we have to do is wait...

That ESPN is airing a college football game in HD isn't news, that the game is in Hawaii and will look just as good as Lost on your HDTV, is. Due to the cost of shipping the necessary equipment to the islands, the Pro Bowl and other games relegated to 480i. Even this year, the Hawaii Bowl on December 24th will be the only ESPN bowl game not in HD, but on January 14th the 2007 Hula Bowl college all-star game will be in high definition. The reason for the switch? A poll after a recent college game on ESPN indicated 13% of viewers watched it in HD, and 32% of those people said the fact it was in HD influenced their decision to watch it. Whether or not HDTV is a viable business model for broadcasters may still be open to interpretation for some, ESPN is putting its money where its mouth is and making this happen by paying another company to ship the necessary equipment by air in time for the game. Here's hoping this attitude extends to the Pro Bowl and other sporting events in 2007.

What we're watching: Tonight is the kind of big game that you probably bought your HDTV to watch. Ohio State vs. Texas on ABC, #1 vs. #2 this early in the season is possibly the biggest game we'll see until the National Championship game. Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr., Limas Sweed, Selvin Young and all the rest, some of the best players in college football will be on display tonight, if you're a sports fan it is the only option. Well...not the only option, there's also NASCAR Racing on TNT, the US Open Women's Final on CBS, Georgia vs. South Carolina on ESPN-HD, and MLS Soccer on HDNet, but you know what our choice is. If you absolutely must have watch something non-sports tonight, you can catch four episodes of Weeds on Showtime or The Dukes of Hazzard on Cinemax.

Our traditional high-def listings continue below.