Astronaut talks NASA into beaming the SEC Network to the International Space Station

There are college football fans, and then there are SEC fans.

Barry Wilmore is the latter — and he also happens to be an astronaut headed for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station starting this fall. Right in the middle of football season. What's an avid Tennessee Tech fan to do?

The Navy captain, who has logged more than 259 hours in space since joining NASA in 2000, had NASA "arrange to provide the new SEC Network in the space station," reports The Tennessean. Wilmore will watch his beloved conference matchups on the internet.

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"I don't watch a lot of sports — my wife might not agree with that — but I do like to watch football, the SEC Game of the Week," Wilmore explained. "I try to catch Tech every chance I get."

Wilmore, 51, walked on as a linebacker at Tennessee Tech, but he recorded a senior season with 143 total tackles — good for an induction into the university's sports hall of fame in 2003. So it's understandable that he might want to keep up with how his Golden Eagles are doing, even if he's stuck watching on a laptop as opposed to a big-screen TV.

The real news, of course, is that Tim Tebow's pre-game coverage could be headed for space. Godspeed, astronauts aboard the ISS.