Today's topic: Noon kickoffs suck! Discuss among yourselves....

The television times have been dribbling out and the kick off times are being posted.  Needless to say, there are a few people among us who aren't fond of noon kickoffs.

Swell. More noon kickoffs...

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by RU Serious on Jun 13, 2016

No cares for the preferences of the fan base?

Your lack of empathy is a little sad but beyond that, do you really build a reliable and dedicated fan base by making things harder or less enjoyable for them?

The "game day experience" is the phrase the RU Athletic Department is using. ...but of course RU should want its customers to enjoy the product as much as possible.

As for students....getting up and to a bus to get to the stadium by noon on a Saturday morning was very difficult. I think plenty of students will wake up late and stay home bc they can't make the noon kickoff where they would have been there for 3:00.

Ultimately, they should aim to schedule at least 3 home games at 3:00 every year. Then, at least for me, 4 noon or 8 pm kickoffs would be a lot more palatable. This year, we're likely looking at 4 of 5 noon kickoffs (Illinois likely, Iowa possible) and 2 8 pm kickoffs (Mich and PSU). Not ideal.

by dbull79 on Jun 14, 2016

I lack empathy.....I am sorry. Yeah, okay.

Everything is not about the game itself... at least not anywhere college football is big time.

My friends from RU live all over the state. The three hours or so before kickoff is a time to get together, reconnect and have fun without the worries of work and life. That is a big part of the "game day experience."

Look around "BIG TIME COLLEGE FOOTBALL" whether in the B1G, SEC or at Notre Dame. Pre-game tailgating is the big time. Everywhere college football is big time. Show me a school that doesn't have great tailgating and I will show you a school that does not have a big time college football program.

by dbull79 on Jun 15, 2016

I never said we shouldn't tailgate.  I think we should encourage all the fun you can have, within legal limits.  And yet there were those who sympathized....or empathized....with my points.  Like this one directed at dbull79:

Your argument is invalid

.... the onus is on the fans to have a great tailgate whenever the game is, not the university to sit here and let that determine when the games should be played.

OSU, Michigan, West Virginia, and Mississippi State. All hosting noon games Week 1 alone (really 11 AM for some of them). Does that mean the biggest of the big time schools don't care about their fans? Give me a break.

Jersey Strong, Southern Roots

by Devils Pride 26 on Jun 15, 2016

Okay, so when are other Big Ten schools playing their games?  Is Rutgers getting dumped on with every noon start in creation?  As I said, this is June.  So, yes, we're actually doing this.

A look at the rest of the Big Ten East's kickoff times to date shows everybody has some issues with times.  While I have their full schedule, we'll just look at the home slate.

Rutgers leads all teams with three noon start times.  Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State each have but two.  Yes, we now have definitive proof of a cabal.  OSU and Michigan also have two mid-afternoon (3:30) starts while we have none.  The plot thickens.

As for night games, Rutgers, Penn State, and Michigan State lead at this point with two.  The rest have one, except for Michigan: at this point they play no night games at the Big House.

One point to consider is that the full schedule hasn't been finalized.  Among the seven division teams, there are still 22 games to be slotted into start times.  And that includes nine for MSU and Michigan alone, both of which have eight home games this season.

Just for the heck of it, let's look at a few West Division schools to see if we're getting screwed equally.  Iowa has two noon starts at home.  Oh, wait, I'm sorry.  That's noon eastern time.  Which means they have two 11:00 am starts.  As does Northwestern.

Think we travel far to get to games?  Try Iowa, which, for the record, is more than six times as big as the Garden State.

And just to wrap things up a bit, Purdue also has two noon starts at home.  Purdue also has as many unscheduled games as any school in our "study" with five.

Maybe no one wants to play them at any time.