With a not-very-sexy slate in week eight of the college football season, should anything be different from a programming standpoint, relative to previous weeks?
Let’s examine that question.
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The noon window is anchored by the Clemson-Miami game, one Al Golden almost surely has to win in order to have any reasonable hope of saving his job. That’s a big game on a day with few marquee attractions. Nothing else emerges as appointment television in this window, so it has to be acknowledged that the principle of differentiating game windows doesn’t retain the same degree of urgency in this situation.
Sure, some might want to see the feud between Gus Malzahn and Bret Bielema when Auburn takes on Arkansas (SEC Network), but Auburn’s precipitous drop takes a lot of the starch out of that particular contest. Northwestern’s two straight (blowout) losses have turned that nooner in Nebraska (11 a.m. local time, but noon in the East) into an object of mild curiosity, and little more. With a slate this ordinary, fans really aren’t getting cheated by the typical pile-up of games in one window, with one shared kickoff time.
In the 3:30 window, the reality is very similar.
I can’t imagine many fans would stomp their feet in outrage, saying, “DARNIT! Duke-Virginia Tech and Texas Tech-Oklahoma are starting at the same time!” Tennessee-Alabama on CBS is a game which is simultaneously attractive and yet could become a TV dud in 45 minutes. Storied rivalries — in the absence of bigger games on a given Saturday — should get network TV slots, and Vols-Tide is a deeply cherished rivalry in both the Deep South and all of college football. Yet, Alabama could blow the lid off that game before halftime. There’s no real crisis in terms of the traffic jam of 3:30 and 4 p.m. starts this week. There are no two games in this window which cry out for sustained or exclusive attention.
This is where the week-eight TV schedule becomes a problem.
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Precisely because the noon and 3:30 windows are light on significant games, it’s noticeable that in the 7 Eastern window, two games compete with each other: Texas A&M-Ole Miss airs at 7 on ESPN, and Utah-USC airs at 7:30 Eastern on FOX. These are the two most attractive contests on a relatively thin Saturday, and yet they share the same window. That’s exactly the kind of unforced error college football makes all too many times.
Since CBS wanted Tennessee-Bama, it’s fair to say that the A&M-Ole Miss game should be a night kickoff at 7. FOX, on the other hand, could give the Pac-12 a showcase 3:30 window, but apparently chose not to. An added granular detail to mention is that since A&M-Ole Miss starts 35 to 45 minutes before Utah-USC, a close game in Oxford will blot out Trojans-Utes for some viewers across the country. Put Utah-USC at 3:30 or 4, and it would own unquestioned No. 1 status as a viewing option in that window.
