Why are we playing UB on Friday night & not on TV???

[BGSU33]

When I first saw the schedule and that we were playing Buffalo on a Friday night, I assumed it was because of television. But looking closer at the listings, it doesn't appear we are, or ever were for that matter, scheduled to play on TV at all. Does anyone know exactly why we're playing Friday night then instead of Saturday? Or does anyone know if the game is possibly going to be picked up for TV?

[cph2133]

When I first saw the schedule and that we were playing Buffalo on a Friday night, I assumed it was because of television. But looking closer at the listings, it doesn't appear we are, or ever were for that matter, scheduled to play on TV at all. Does anyone know exactly why we're playing Friday night then instead of Saturday? Or does anyone know if the game is possibly going to be picked up for TV?

As it has been thrown around here, the speculation is because of "The Big Game" as to why it's friday night and not Saturday at anytime...why it wouldn't be televised being one of three games that night (Miami v Toledo, Fresno St. V San Jose State)...My guess is the ESPN will have Fresno, that is in fact though a complete guess. It could also not be on TV because the Mac is on earlier that week with the CMU Ball State game...you know ESPN doesn't like showing love for the Mac...

[Falcon137]

Yeah it's obviously because of the tOSU Michigan game. The question I have is why is it at 6?

[Schadenfreude]

I have no inside knowledge, but most MAC games are on weeknights at this point in the season, and I believe the point is to try to get the conference on ESPN more.

If Buffalo and Bowling Green were both looking mightier, It's possible ESPN would pick it up -- and maybe even do a double header, with Fresno State vs San Jose State as the night cap.

As it stands, ESPN is planning to air Fresno State and San Jose State at 9:30 p.m. EST on ESPN2. No word on the MAC games, but, obviously, neither are looking very fabulous.

Other factors:

-- Ohio State-Michigan the following day.
-- A Friday game gives us a full week to prepare for Toledo.

All that said, since ESPN apparently isn't going to air our game, I'd prefer a later kick, for those of us outside the general vicinity on a work night.

[hammb]

Having it at 6:00 is ridiculous. Even for those of us who only work in Toledo it will be very tough to get there much before kickoff, let alone in time to do any sort of tailgating beforehand.

[daspollak]

Jeep workers have plenty of time on their hands.

[jpfalcon09]

Is there a chance ESPN360 is picking up this game? I know it's not national TV but it seems that they've been showing a lot of the weekday games online that aren't being covered on national TV.

[BillyLP]

espn360 only picks up games that are being shown on either their networks or on a local network somewhere (i.e. the boise state game) so ours wouldn't be one to get picked up

[factman]

I'm with hammb on this one. I can handle Friday night, but who is/are the dimwit(s) that set the time at 6pm. What is wrong with 7 or 7:30pm, to give people time to get home from work, and possibly even do a little tailgating prior to the game.
Oh well, I guess it could have been 6am, which makes about as much sense!

[NWLB]

If I miss the game, it will be because it is at 6 p.m. Ridiculous time for a game to start. Nobody at home will be watching, nobody going home will be able to make it.

[BgWaRrIoR]

Ive got a better question......why is the Toledo game the day after Thanksgiving? Don't expect a ton of students at that one. I just dont understand the logic behind the scheduling. If the goal is to put as many butts in the seats as possible, they are failing miserably........they meaning not just BG but the MAC as a whole. Guess thats why we are doomed to forever be a mid-major.

[ZiggyZoomba]

...we are doomed to forever be a mid-major.

What's wrong with being a mid-major?

<back to lurking and shaking my head>

[thewebboy]

What is stopping us from changing kickoff times once the season starts? So the OSU-Mich game scares us. Why not schedule the Buffalo game for that day and leave the kickoff time as TBA until they announce the time for OSU-Mich. That kind of scheduling happens all the time with bigger schools based on TV coverage.

I can't remember the last time there was a weekday game that wasn't covered at all on TV. What's the point then? 6PM on a friday is horrible. This isn't high school football where we all can walk to the stadium after work.

[JohnnySwoop '85]

6 pm Kickoff????

Solution: Vacation day

[hammb]

Ive got a better question......why is the Toledo game the day after Thanksgiving? Don't expect a ton of students at that one. I just dont understand the logic behind the scheduling. If the goal is to put as many butts in the seats as possible, they are failing miserably........they meaning not just BG but the MAC as a whole. Guess thats why we are doomed to forever be a mid-major.

Same whining every year, and every year the attendance for that game is great. Plenty of students come back to attend the BG/UT games. Plenty of alumni/locals have the day off and use it to watch one last football game. The numbers have shown over the years the game draws great attendance on that day. It may not draw this year, but that would be mostly because both teams suck; even then I think it being Toledo Tom's last game might bring out some UT crowd.


I still think 6:00 on a weeknight is freaking terrible. I had thought the attendance would be awful for that one regardless, but being at 6:00 I'm not sure we'll get 7000 people there. I fully expect a crowd similar to the end of Blackney's tenure.

Poor Opponent, check.
Team played below expectations all year, check.
Weeknight game, check.
End of November in NW Ohio, check.
GAME STARTS AN HOUR AFTER MANY PEOPLE GET OFF WORK, check.

This is totally a setup for horrendous attendance numbers.