Believe it or not, the scheduling of NCAA football games has gotten a lot of media attention this year. Former NFL-star-turned-NFL-pundit J.J. Watt is just the latest to chime in with his thoughts.
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In America, it was tacitly agreed long ago that Fridays were reserved for high school football, Saturdays for college football, and Sundays for the NFL.
College football programs have been playing on autumn Saturdays for decades. Nowadays, those games are generally scheduled at 12 pm, 3 pm, and 7 pm (all in EST), with a few exceptions. Just like in the NFL, the NCAA will often save its marquee games for the evening window at 7 pm or later.
However, this season has seen many big games being played early in the day at 12 pm, which is 9 am for those fans on the West Coast.
While Watt is generally on the East Coast serving as an analyst on CBS’ The NFL Today, he is still a little bit peeved that the best games are being played so early in the day.
While speaking to Pat McAfee on The Pat McAfee Show, he was noticeably frustrated when McAfee informed him that Ohio State vs. Indiana, the No. 2 and No. 5 programs in the nation, respectively, will be played at noon this Saturday.
“What are we doing, man. It’s just frustrating. It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating… I understand why, I understand the ratings, I understand how it all works. It does feel like we are hurting ourselves by not having the best games at night.”
"Indiana and Ohio State being at noon is frustrating..
I understand how it all works but it does feel like we are hurting ourselves by not having our best games at night" ~ @JJWatt #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/fOuOgmCmjD
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 20, 2024
McAfee revealed that Ohio State, one of the biggest names in college football, has played at noon for seven weeks in a row. The former NFL punter also noted that a lot of players “work to get under the lights.” It means a lot of players look forward to playing in the evening, in primetime when everyone is watching.
McAfee then pointed out that Fox has paid a lot of money to air big games during their noon broadcast, and that even when there are marquee games at noon, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other fixtures scheduled for the evening.
Deion Sanders had a different take than J.J. Watt on the matter
Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders also commented on the early kickoffs. He has turned his team around from a 4-8 program last year to an 8-2 unit in 2024. They’re now ranked No. 16 in the nation, so, clearly, when the Buffaloes play doesn’t matter much to Coach Prime and his brood.
“We are happy and elated when we get the opportunity to play in the morning. Why?…It’s a regular schedule for us. Our kids are over here by 6 in the morning, getting their bodies warmed up, and getting treatment. Seems early for you all but when I took my walk on campus early and I think the alcohol consumption was just as enormous as later in the day.”
Sanders gets to the heart of the issue here: when the game is played doesn’t matter to the players as much as it does for the fans. No matter the time, players must stick to their routine, getting done what they need to whether they play at 7 pm at night or 9 am in the morning.
