Michigan coaches love Noon games

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Harbaugh on why he likes noon kicks over night games: "It most appeals to my football sensibility."

— Adam Schnepp (@aeschnepp) September 25, 2017

Michael Zordich: It's a beautiful thing. College football should be played at Noon every Saturday.

Don Brown: "I love the Noon games" just now on Inside Michigan Football radio show when asked about night game.

 

MGoViso

October 10th, 2017 at 11:18 AM ^

Hi Bando. I think you are right that the current situation of TV contracts funding a large chunk of the Michigan athletics budget leads to a significant influence on scheduling that won't be done away by the preferences of a few folks.

Do you think your original comment will persuade someone who doesn't see it the same way?

JHumich

October 10th, 2017 at 1:34 PM ^

elements"?

To Harbaugh's credit, I haven't heard him or the coaches do anything like blaming the time of the game. They have just been asked questions about game times and answered them honestly.

So I think we as a fanbase need to stop making any kind of deal out of this, and let the sports writers keep justifying their existence by creating false narratives.

It might be justified, if it was a night game on the West Coast, and this was actually exacerbating a physiological advantage that the West Coast team already had.

But this is a total non-story. The only thing it affects is how drunk we fans are by the time the game starts, and I actually think our fans acquitted themselves well this time around.

LKLIII

October 10th, 2017 at 4:11 PM ^

And I also assume coaches love their salaries. Those salaries don't get paid out without aforesaid lucrative TV contracts.



So maybe if the coaches were willing to take a 25-30% cut in their salaries, the schools could push back and leave money on the table and not schedule so many night games, etc.



Either way it works out though, the scheduling and the whole "bottomless budget for your program" do go hand in hand whether they like it or not.

ijohnb

October 10th, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^

we will probably have two or three more night games this season so it may be time for them to start loving night games too!!

In reply to by ijohnb

UM Fan from Sydney

October 10th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^

Just one more, likely. Obviously PSU is that game. The only other possibility is at Wisconsin. Maker help us if that is a night game.

SpikeFan2016

October 10th, 2017 at 11:36 AM ^

Wisconsin and Maryland won't be night games, as Michigan has the right to single handily veto any night games after the first week of November and it seems highly unlikely our AD/Jim would be willing to agree to one. 

 

Besides PSU, the last option is Minnesota, but that seems highly unlikely given how bad the Gophers are becoming. 

Alton

October 10th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^

One of Michigan's remaining games must be on BTN, per contract.  That will, obviously, be either Rutgers, Minnesota or Maryland.  Since Rutgers is locked into noon, there's a chance it's on ESPN2 or something like that.  Minnesota has a pretty good chance to be the BTN game.

I don't blame you if you haven't noticed, but the BTN has started showing a good number of night games.  Nobody watches, but they show them anyway.  It's the worst time slot in the conference--even worse than the noon BTN time slot--for ratings.  Everybody is watching ABC, FOX or ESPN at night.  

There is a small chance that the Minnesota game is a BTN night game.

Alton

October 10th, 2017 at 3:12 PM ^

Home/Away doesn't matter to the BTN:  they need the "big names" twice and don't care where the game is.  The rule is pretty simple:  the BTN gets 2 games from each team, and at least 1 of those 2 must be a conference game.

There are other rules as well:  some weeks BTN gets a higher choice, sometimes only the leftovers.  The BTN also gets a certain total number of conference games and total games.  But the team-specific rule is 2 total, including 1 conference game.

http://mattsarzsports.com/Contract/GameList/BigTen/2017#.Wd0bgBXyvIU

SpikeFan2016

October 10th, 2017 at 8:34 PM ^

True, although it is at Noon which goes against the BTN current. Noon slates are generally crappy, so often times it's good enough for the networks to merely have a top 5 fanbase/brand in a noon slot, regardless of who it's against. 

 

Michigan at Maryland at 3:30 would be my best bet, with the Rutgers game a close second. 

MH20

October 10th, 2017 at 11:51 AM ^

Teams have the right to veto a night game in the last three weeks of the regular season.  This means that theoretically the networks could choose to make Michigan/Minnesota a night game, although with both teams most likely having multiple losses by then, it would be a surprise. 

Regarding Wisconsin, I would be shocked beyond belief if Michigan didn't choose to exercise their veto ability, both from a stadium atmosphere standpoint (Camp Randall at night) and the coaches' professed affinity for afternoon games.

(This assumes that Maryland will not be considered for a night game given their projected number of losses.)

Alumnus93

October 10th, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^

Great, further evidence they are giving away this franchise.... the public wants night games, the recruits wanna play in night games for prime time.....  msu gets this and plays alot of them and late afternoon games and is beginning to get more on national TV.

The one thing I'd have expected Harbaugh the promoter to want is exposure, and to play at night on national TV.

Khaleke The Freak

October 10th, 2017 at 11:39 AM ^

they are supposed to love football so who cares if the game is noon or 8:00 pm...it's still a football game so don't understand the coaches gushing over noon games.