By Kimberly Nordyke (Reuters) —

LOS ANGELES - The Big Ten Network and Time Warner Cable have reached an agreement for the channel to be carried on TWC lineups in the eight states in which the college athletic conference schools operate.

The agreement in principle, announced Monday, follows the year-old channel’s distribution deal with Comcast, which was inked in June. It will ensure that TWC’s customers in those states, mostly in the Midwest, will have access to Saturday’s Big Ten college football season openers and all future Big Ten programming on an expanded basic level of service, the network said.

The deal gives Big Ten access to about 3 million more television homes, mostly in Ohio and Wisconsin, but also some located in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

The deal follows contentious talks between the network and cable operator. Ohio State fans in particular had called for a resolution before the Buckeyes’ opener Saturday against Youngstown State, a football game that will air exclusively on the Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten Network is a joint venture of the conference and Fox Cable Networks.

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