Scheduling - key games and academic breaks - Penn State (football) and Wisconsin (men's hoops)
I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this - and, perhaps the situation I'm in affords me a slightly different perspective. I'm a football season ticket holder - and, parent of a couple of students at Michigan today.
So - what's my "issue". It's the scheduling of certain games - and, aligning it with the academic year - specifically - the two breaks students have on the academic calendar which take place in both the fall and winter semester.
The fall academic break - is two days off (a Monday and Tuesday - so, the kids can head home on the Friday before) and usually takes place in October. This past year (2022) - it was the same weekend that Michigan hosted Penn State in Ann Arbor.
Spring Break begins later today - and, who is Michigan hosting this weekend for the final regular season home game, and Senior Day, this weekend - Wisconsin.
Having a spirited study body in attendance and key sporting events is part of the experience. And, it makes me wish that the Athletic Department could align with the conference to ensure Michigan can take advantage of the home venues (Michigan Stadium and Crisler) as much as possible - along with the tremendous energy and passion of the student section.
The academic calendar is published years in advance - and, it would be nice if the B1G conference administration could actually work with Michigan to ensure the schedule maximizes the opportunity for students to support their teams.
February 24th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
I will say, I never went home for fall break when I was a student. I always loved four days in A2 with no classes to worry about. But it is a pet peeve that they had home football games a number of those years, since even though I was there, plenty of students went home. Spring break is another matter; it's one thing to request a bye or away game on one specific Saturday per year, but it's a little different when the break is a week long, for a sport that typically plays 2-3 games per week.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:41 PM ^
33 - my kids stay in A2 for Fall Break. I agree that hoops is difficult - with two games per week - it was just something I noticed.
And, Michigan's Spring Break is at least a week, if not two or three, earlier than all the other schools in the conference. So, it's impossible to please everyone.
February 24th, 2023 at 4:36 PM ^
Is there a reason why you always state the name of the poster you're replying to? I don't think it's necessary.
I know someone at work who does this - she states the name of the person she's talking to over and over. ("Bob, I think it's a good idea. But Bob, I'm not sure about this aspect of it. Bob, what do you think?"). She seems to think this is endearing. The rest of it find it annoying.
February 24th, 2023 at 5:31 PM ^
jm, I think Amazin is just being courteous. Either that or Amazin is a fan of The Bob Newhart Show.
February 24th, 2023 at 5:52 PM ^
Jm - I am just trying to be polite and respectful. And, there might be a point of “whom” am I replying to - when there’s a series of responses to a comment.
My apologies if it’s annoying or appears insincere - that is not my intention.
February 24th, 2023 at 6:10 PM ^
101, ty.. I have edited my comment.
February 24th, 2023 at 7:43 PM ^
JM,
on my phone I can’t really tell who is replying to who in threads where lots of responses happen. It’s easiest for me when people say who they are replying to and then I don’t have to try to figure it out. So thanks to those that do.
February 24th, 2023 at 9:36 PM ^
It is necessary and helpful at times. Because this website is what it is.
February 24th, 2023 at 2:50 PM ^
Going home for the 2-day Fall Break is lame. It’s way more fun to stay on campus
February 24th, 2023 at 2:58 PM ^
Rick, our children stay in Ann Arbor for the Fall break, and we always visit them that weekend.
A2 is always fun, even moreso without classes.
February 24th, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^
B1G and TV Networks:
February 24th, 2023 at 2:55 PM ^
So, what, is the league supposed to make sure no one has a home game scheduled during a break? That seems like an unrealistic expectation.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:57 PM ^
For football, I think it’s fair to expect the conference to take the step of preventing home games from falling over fall break. I could be misremembering, but I’m pretty sure when I was in undergrad a few years back we never had home games during fall break.
Every school has a different fall break schedule. MSU’s is usually a week after ours, and I think(?) Penn State doesn’t even have a fall break. Plus, bye weeks usually come around the fall break time. It wouldn’t take that much effort to make sure your major brands don’t have home games over the break. Next year, we again have a home game over fall break (Indiana). I think that’s pretty ridiculous since we only have four Big Ten home games next year.
Even for basketball, I get it's not realistic to not have home games over break, but there were a couple seasons a while back where our home game against MSU was over spring break. That's also ridiculous imo, and I wish Warde would exert more pressure to prevent stuff like that. Ohio State would never tolerate it.
February 25th, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^
Looks like Ohio State's spring break is after the regular season. Maybe Santa/regents can move ours back to prevent this from happening, otherwise you're playing your last 2-3 games on the road.
February 26th, 2023 at 12:10 AM ^
As I said, I agree it's not realistic/desirable to avoid having home basketball games over spring break. But it is very realistic for the Big Ten to not schedule our home game against MSU -- our biggest home game of the year -- during breaks, which has happened in recent years.
February 24th, 2023 at 2:57 PM ^
Thanks for bringing attention to this, but I wish this was broadcasted out more widely. These misalignments are counterproductive, stupid, and unnecessary.
February 24th, 2023 at 2:58 PM ^
So, you're asking the Conference to give a F about Michigan? Amirite?
February 24th, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
So ... for the students to be around for Senior Day, Michigan would have had to play each of their last 3 games on the road. Does Michigan basketball really want that? I can't imagine Juwan and the coaches would prefer that. Besides, I'm sure other schools have their Spring Breaks around this time of year too.
As for football --- the PSU @ Michigan game was originally scheduled for October 8, 2022. But Michigan also was unhappy with having to play at East Lansing in 2022. The 2022 B1G schedule was re-worked and re-announced in January 2022. That MSU game got moved to AA, but that had a domino effect, and the PSU game moved to October 15, 2022.
Net: there are trade-offs, and, not to be rude, I don't think either of your particular complaints are overly valid.
The students may not be around for the Wisky b-ball and PSU football games, but that happened so that U-M could get something else (not having 3 straight road games to end the year, and not visiting MSU in football in 2022).
February 24th, 2023 at 3:33 PM ^
I will agree, the complaints are unworkable for basketball.
As for football --- the PSU @ Michigan game was originally scheduled for October 8, 2022. But Michigan also was unhappy with having to play at East Lansing in 2022. The 2022 B1G schedule was re-worked and re-announced in January 2022. That MSU game got moved to AA, but that had a domino effect, and the PSU game moved to October 15, 2022.
I disagree here though. Yes, in this one instance it may have been more on M than the B1G, but this isn't the only time it's happened, i.e. it's a frequent occurrence. I went back and looked, and over the eight years I spent in A2 as an undergrad and grad student, in five of those years M had a home game over fall break, with three away games and no byes. I don't think it's too much to ask for programs to get a say about one or two weekends a year when they have scheduled breaks...
February 24th, 2023 at 4:20 PM ^
That's fair as regards the historical games. I suppose it does beg the question "has U-M even been asking this of the B1G?" Maybe they haven't been.
Not that those asks should 100% be expected to be accommodated anyway. The new PSU AD made a big deal last spring about PSU's first conference game having been on the road for 7 consecutive seasons (2016-2022) and 12 seasons out of 13.
So, they re-release the 2023 schedule in July, and in the new schedule, PSU's 1st B1G game is at Illinois. So it goes - there are many moving parts and not everyone will get what they want in a schedule.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:04 PM ^
I mean... the Michigan v. Ohio State game is arguably the biggest game of the college football season and it takes place over Thanksgiving break.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:17 PM ^
Yeah that’s the way bigger concern. That’s new in the last 10 or so years.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:38 PM ^
First year of 12 games was 2006 so we are closer to 20 years than 10. But I've always wanted the first full week of football to be the weekend before Labor day so that the season finale would be the weekend before Thanksgiving. Then keep conference championships the same weekend so kids could actually get a couple days break with their families regardless of the type of season they had.
Of course that would cause other issues with move in days and when kids are actually back to campus.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:23 PM ^
330, for the Michigan v OSU games in Ann Arbor, we host Thanksgiving (at our home in the Chicago area) on Thursday - and head back to Ann Arbor for The Game on Friday morning. Usually, it’s us, our kids, and a bunch of their friends who want to experience The Game.
Needless to say, the game in 2021 was a blast for everyone.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
Still hate that it's after Thanksgiving.
February 25th, 2023 at 11:49 AM ^
I remember when M - OSU always used to play the weekend before Thanksgiving, and the conference (and pundits, and fans) thought it was a disadvantage to have every other conference play their rivalry games that weekend, while the Big Ten was done.
Recency bias and things like that, to have teams that were playing leap-frogging Big Ten teams that were done with their schedule. I think with the Big Ten Championship game, it's less of an issue. Wouldn't mind moving the last game up a week, but that's just remembering going to game as a student, then going home for Thanksgiving the next weekend.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
They should cut the student section significantly at the Big House. 1/2 full on last game of season when you’re undefeated is a terrible look.
February 24th, 2023 at 4:00 PM ^
Don't make it so difficult for students to sell their tickets. Hard to blame out of staters who want to be with family for the first time in months.
February 25th, 2023 at 11:38 AM ^
It's also hard to get into the stadium. We end up walking halfway around the stadium to find an entrance we can get in under 15 minutes most games now. They need more ticket scanners.
February 24th, 2023 at 4:55 PM ^
Making it harder for your future customers to attend games is not a wise strategy.
The better solution would be to play the Game the weekend before Thanksgiving.
February 24th, 2023 at 3:36 PM ^
1st World Problems!
February 24th, 2023 at 3:49 PM ^
I don't remember having a two day fall break in October, just the Thanksgiving break. Is this a newer thing?
February 24th, 2023 at 3:58 PM ^
Spitfire (By the way - that's a great handle),
Yes - the Fall Break is something that is place in Ann Arbor today - though, for Michigan alumni who really "experienced" CRISP - it wasn't a feature of the Fall calendar.
So, the students get a Monday / Tuesday off in October for Fall Break. For Thanksgiving, if it happens to be a home game against the Buckeyes, the kids will train home on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning - and, we'll all head back to A2 for the Saturday game (Leaving on Friday - so, the kids can show their friends around campus and begin their "pre-game prep" on Friday night.)
For the Thanksgiving break - the last day of classes is Tuesday.
February 24th, 2023 at 5:04 PM ^
When did this start? What was the reasoning for this; do they start the semester earlier now?
February 24th, 2023 at 5:55 PM ^
Potomac, IIRC, we drop off our kids in August - so they can settle in. Classes begin before Labor Day.
I honestly can’t remember when classes started when I was an undergrad - but, I think they usually started the Tuesday (or maybe Wednesday) after Labor Day.
February 24th, 2023 at 7:44 PM ^
I remember starting right after Labor Day. Not sure if it was Tuesday or Wednesday. I also noticed they are now extending the winter break out another week:
https://www.michigandaily.com/news/administration/board-of-regents-approves-extended-winter-break/
I liked being done in April.
February 25th, 2023 at 11:51 AM ^
Agree on liking being done in April - got a head start on summer internships/jobs.
February 24th, 2023 at 11:24 PM ^
Not sure when it started, but we had it my freshman year, so it's been in place nearly 20 years at least...
February 24th, 2023 at 4:08 PM ^
Fire Warde?
February 24th, 2023 at 4:19 PM ^
Michigan should just schedule a non conference tin can game that weekend in football and let the B1G schedule around it.
February 24th, 2023 at 4:28 PM ^
The Big Ten loathes us, even though we (along with OSU) are their cash cow. We haven’t had a senior day on the final weekend of the regular season since the 2015/16 season. We have ended the regular season on the road each season since then, twice at MSU. Maybe it’s just dumb luck, but this is 7 straight seasons ending on the road, which seems to be a bit more than dumb luck.
February 24th, 2023 at 6:19 PM ^
That's probably because the last week of the regular season always falls during our spring break. Playing on the road that week is the "solution" to the problem the OP is complaining about.
February 24th, 2023 at 4:38 PM ^
Spring break functionally covers two weekends and one midweek game. You'd be asking them to schedule three consecutive road games for us. I don't think that's preferable.
This year's setup really isn't that bad. Students with basketball tickets can go to the game Sunday and then go home for the break.
February 24th, 2023 at 4:53 PM ^
Uh, I didn't notice any absence of students at the PSU game. The announced attendance was 110,812.
February 24th, 2023 at 4:54 PM ^
I believe this should be one of the main functions of the AD and athletic department in general- represent the University's best interest during scheduling.
February 24th, 2023 at 4:59 PM ^
Your assumption that the big ten or the athlete department care about students is greatly mistaken. It’s all about the money, ie tv
February 24th, 2023 at 5:09 PM ^
I don’t think this effects tv money so…
February 24th, 2023 at 5:18 PM ^
They moved The Game to Thanksgiving weekend years ago, so I don’t think these breaks move the needle much. Can’t avoid them all.
I will add that Wisconsin had a winter holiday break ~2 weeks longer than M, and they had multiple home games in January without students.