Local Boston College fans need to watch the bowl game on…MeTV?!?

MeTV, home of classic television series such as Bonanza, Matlock and Hogan’s Heroes, will soon air the Pinstripe Bowl between Boston College and Nebraska.

What in the name of Sgt. Schultz is happening here?

The exact opposite of the streaming revolution is that next Saturday, Boston College fans in New England will experience one of the most unique viewing experiences in all of sports. The bowl game, which was scheduled to air on ABC, will now be broadcast on the digital alternative channel MeTV, which, according to the Eagles website, is short for Memorable Entertainment Television. If you live in New England and are under 65, the game will also be streamed by ESPN.

Boston College’s Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl against Nebraska will be broadcast nationally on ABC. The game is scheduled to kick off at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 28th. Locally in Boston and across New England, BC vs. Nebraska will air on MeTV as the NFL moves this Saturday’s Chargers at Patriots game to 1 p.m.

The Pinstripe Bowl will also be streamed by ESPN via the ESPN app, WatchESPN.com and ESPN3. The game will not be available on YouTubeTV.

How did this happen for local Boston College fans? Like everything else on television, they have the NFL to thank for it.

The NFL has significantly expanded its flexible scheduling capabilities in recent years, and that includes Week 17, where the league moved three games to Saturday to air a tripleheader on NFL Network and NFL+. Those three games are Patriots-Chargers, Broncos-Bengals and Cardinals-Rams. With Christmas, Thursday and Monday football, that means seven games were played outside of Sunday.

NFL Network’s games are broadcast on affiliates in local markets, including WCVB in Boston, which happens to be the ABC affiliate. Since the Pinstripe Bowl between Boston College and Nebraska was also broadcast on ABC, one of those games had to be postponed. And it will never be the NFL that airs on MeTV. Hopefully regular viewers of Green Acres and The Andy Griffith Show in Boston won’t be too shocked to see a college football game in their place this weekend.