Watching college football games this weekend: Week 12

College football season in now in Week 12. All four unbeaten teams are also playing, and all are favored to win. Three are expected to be blowouts -- Georgia, Ohio State, and Michigan are big favorites -- but TCU is a close favorite.

If you want to watch all of the games this season, you need access to most of the networks, which can get expensive. Of course, you might not want to be able to watch all the games.

This weekend, only one game will not be on these networks. Here are the networks carrying games:

• ABC
• ACC Network
• Big 12
• Big Ten
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• ESPN
• ESPN 2
• ESPN 3
• ESPN U
• SEC Network
• ESPN+
• Fox
• Fox Sports 1
• Longhorn Network (No games this week)
• NBC
• NFL Network
• Pac 12 Network
• Peacock
• Stadium
• FloSports
• Team1Sports

Here is how to watch these networks listed. Note the prices reflect the announced price increases for Sling TV:

ABC

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

ACC Network

• Sling Orange, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Choice, $90/month.

Big Ten Network

• Sling Blue, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Choice, $90/month.

CBS

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• Paramount+ Premium, $10/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

CBS Sports Network

• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Ultimate, $105/month.

ESPN

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

ESPN2

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

ESPN U

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.
• Fubo TV Elite, $80/month.

ESPN3

ESPN3 is usually included with a service that carries standard ESPN/ESPN2.

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

ESPN+

ESPN+ is a standalone sports programming service. It is not the same thing as regular ESPN that you get with cable or one of the live streaming services. Some content from ESPN, ESPN2, or other ESPN networks may be available on ESPN+, but often, it's content that is only available on ESPN+.

• ESPN+, $7/month.
• Disney Bundle, $14/month.

Fox

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

Fox Sports 1

• Sling Blue, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

Longhorn Network

• Sling Blue, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.

NBC

• Antenna, over the air, free.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

NFL Network

• Sling Blue, with Sports Extra, $51/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Sports Extra, $70/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.

Pac 12 Network

• Sling Blue, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• Fubo TV Pro, with Fubo Extra, $78/month.
• Fubo TV Elite, $80/month.

Peacock TV

Peacock is a standalone streaming service that carries NBCUniversal programming, including much sports from NBC as well as exclusive sports programming. Peacock Premium is $5/month, but is included with Xfinity Internet plans.

SEC Network

• Sling Orange, $40/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, $55/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Choice, $90/month.
• Fubo TV Ultimate, $100/month.

Stadium, Mountain West

• Website, free.
• Stadium app, free.
• Plex, free.
• Roku Channel, free.
• Sling Free, free.
• STIRR, free.
• Tubi, free.
• Xumo, free.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Fubo TV, $70/month.
• Stadium app, free.

FloSports

• FloSports app, $13/month.

Team1Sports

• Team1Sports app, free

This list of networks covers all the games airing today. It also covers games next week through Friday, as the early games next week are all on one of these networks.

NOTE: Longhorn Network is not needed this weekend.

To watch all the games, having an antenna won't really matter, as in order to get all the networks carrying games, the services also carry the OTA stations. So, how much to watch them all?

The services necessary will cost $98. That's $78 for Fubo TV Pro + Fubo Extra, along with $7 for ESPN+, and $13 for FloSports.

If you want college football in your Streaming Life, you have options, though it can get expensive depending just how many games you want to watch.

Antenna: avoid bad antennae when making your choice

I mentioned recently (again) about Tyler the Antenna Man. He's pretty good about keeping up with things.

If you are thinking about getting an antenna, spend some time looking at his YouTube videos. You can learn a lot from him ahead of making your decision.

He had a video earlier this week about a really popular, but really bad, TV antenna. Give it a watch, if you or someone you know is looking at getting a TV antenna.

[Direct link]

There are many antennae like this one in many stores, both brick and mortar and online. Be careful with your antenna choice. You want a happy Streaming Life. An antenna like this one can ruin it.

Choosing an antenna the easy way: let someone do it for you

Although we had an antenna in my youth, by the time I was out and on my on, cable was big, and had all the channels I wanted, and more. When I got my own place, I didn't get an antenna because I got cable. That gave me all the local channels. My parents eventually got cable, and finally took down their antenna. I don't know why they didn't just leave it, but this is what they did.

When I dropped cable back in 2011, I lost access to my local stations. I didn't often watch local channels, so it wasn't a big deal. There were some network shows I watched, but I was able to watch them on Hulu in 2011. So, I went without an antenna for a while. I put up an antenna and was able to watch local channels that way.

Years later, my mother dropped cable, and I put up an antenna at her house. This time, though, it was a little different. She lived over 40 miles from the TV towers, and you can't just get any TV antenna to work. So, I had to do a little research.

A couple of years back, I ran across Tyler the Antenna Man's YouTube channel. I watched one of his videos and, while I don't claim to be an expert, much less "The Antenna Man," I do know a little bit about what I'm doing. I did my research. But, I figured I'd watch more of his videos and see just what he was all about.

Turns out, I was impressed with his knowledge. His videos are for the general public. He doesn't exactly dumb it down for people who don't understand or care about all the things that go into picking up TV signals, but he does explain things in a way that's good for most people.

I had picked out an antenna for my mother's place, but hadn't purchased it yet. Part of the problem was finding somebody to put it up. It's not just the physical installation of the antenna an pole, but the electrical lines that ran there. Those are dangerous, and I'm not looking to play reckless games with an antenna. I needed someone to install.

Tyler's Website offers a consultation service (I think I paid around $40 back in 2020; it is still that price today) for both an antenna, but also installer options. He found someone that would install it for me.

Tyler's antenna recommendation was a good one, and he did find someone to install it, so I was happy with the decision to use his service.

The installer had antennae that would do the job, and the one he brought was one of the ones Tyler had recommended. I felt good about it all, and the setup still works. I expect many long years of service from it.

Am I recommending Tyler the Antenna Man. Yes, I suppose I am. But I'm also saying that if you do the research properly, you'll wind up with the same conclusion.

My research showed that I didn't need his services, but I'm happy enough with his services that I bought that I can feel good about recommending him. If nothing else, it ensures you aren't overlooking something, and gives you peace of mind. If that's worth $40, then it's a bargain.

An antenna is a great complement to your online viewing, and should be considered as part of your Streaming Life. I've been happy with my choice to put up an antenna.

How to stream Yellowstone Season 5

I've never watched Yellowstone. Apparently, I'm missing out on the next big thing. It seems to be a popular show.

Some friends who recently cut cable were asking me how to watch Yellowstone. As I don't watch it, I didn't know what to tell them. But, I told them I would find out.

You see, I didn't want them to jump to the conclusion that you couldn't watch it. Perhaps they couldn't, but I didn't know. I suspected they could.

First thing I had to do was find out just what it was. I mean, yeah, I had heard of it, but it was nothing more than a small blip on my RADAR as nothing more than something that existed. I knew nothing else about it.

Until now.

My research showed that it was a huge hit show for Paramount Network. Okay, that's a TV channel you can find on cable, satellite, and streaming services. But Paramount has its own streaming service, right? Paramount? Well, yes they do, but the show isn't on Paramount Plus.

Turns out that Paramount (the company) has signed an agreement with NBCUniversal some time back for the latter company to carry the show on its service, Peacock TV.

At the time, there was no Paramount Plus. There was CBS All Access, but it wasn't assured of getting content from it's parent, Paramount. And sure enough, Paramount dealt the show away to the new Peacock TV service.

Well, wouldn't you know it, but Yellowstone suddenly took off. Around that time, Paramount decided to rebrand CBS All Access as Paramount Plus and focus on streaming. And the big hit show, Yellowstone, wasn't available.

The earth cooled and time passed.

Now, it's time for Season Five, and Peacock TV has it, right? Nope. That service only has the first four seasons. Right now, the only way to watch Season Five is with Paramount Network. So how do you get that?

Paramount Network

• Philo, $25/month.
• Sling Orange, with Comedy Extra, $46/month.
• Sling Blue, with Comedy Extra, $46/month.
• Sling Orange+Blue, with Comedy Extra, $61/month.
• Vidgo Plus, $60/month.
• YouTube TV, $65/month.
• Hulu+Live TV, $70.
• DirecTV Stream Entertainment, $70/month.

Right now, this is it. The cheapest, of course, is Philo. And Philo is a great service, particularly if you don't care about watching talking news heads or sports.

The whole situation is a bit confusing, but you can get Yellowstone in your Streaming Life.

Roku's Sports Hub

Roku has launched a Sports hub on its devices. The goal is to help users find live and upcoming events. And that is something that is needed. But how well did Roku do? Not as well as I had hoped.

If you're a streamer, you may know that there are ways to watch a lot of content. Only, there is no one way to watch everything. Of course, that's true of cable and satellite as well.

Some games are available over the air, and most cable systems will carry those, but satellite can be another matter. And, depending on where you live, and how easy it is to put up an antenna, you may or may not be able to watch live local channels for free. This is true of streaming as well.

A lot of various networks may be necessary to watch your favorite team. In fact, it's likely that you'll need to be able to watch multiple networks to catch all your team's games. And that can lead to a lot of frustration.

I'm using football as an example because it's football season, but this is generally true for any sport. One thing you can do is check each week and see who's carry your team. And that's what a lot of people have to do. My weekly posts about how to watch the college games the current weekend are some of my most read posts. But wouldn't it be nice if there was another way, an easier way, to just sit down and find your game?

That's the idea of the new Roku Sports hub. They call it the Sports Experience. And it does okay, but it's not perfect. They carry information about a lot of games.

Currently, our new sports experience includes pro and college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, baseball, and soccer from DIRECTV, FOX Sports, FuboTV, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video, Sling, The Roku Channel, TNT, TBS, and truTV, as well as games coming over the air through an antenna connected to Roku TV models, with more sports and viewing options expected in the coming months.

Checking this weekend's Top 25 games, I see it falls short. And yes, a new CFP Top 25 will come out tonight, but the current listing is close enough to show my concerns.

Using the Roku Sports Experience, I don't see the Georgia-Kentucky game listed. Georgia is the number one team, but the game isn't listed. Yes, it's on CBS, but livw local CBS is included with Paramount+ Premium service.

Number two Ohio State's game with Maryland isn't listed either. That game is carried on ABC, but isn't on the Roku hub.

Number three Michigan's game with Illinois is there, and it's on ABC ahead of the Ohio State game. So, one game on a certain network shows, but another game involving a higher ranked team, carried on the same network, is not.

Number four Texas Christian vs Baylor (on Fox)? Nope.

Number five Tennessee vs South Carolina? Nope.

I won't go on, because my point is made. The project needs work. However, it is better than not having it. Just realize that it's not perfect. Still, it's an important thing for a Roku user's Steaming Life.