With another relatively thin schedule this week, it is once again difficult to adhere to the idea that time slots need to be differentiated. In November, you’ll see tons of examples in which games should possess more staggered start times, but on Halloween, few scheduled kickoffs should scare you or fill you with demon rage.
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In the noon window, Ole Miss-Auburn is the sole game of note, with Illinois-Penn State being the best alternate viewing option on the table. It’s hard to look at that stack of games and say, “Whoa — I really need Game X to be moved up to 11 a.m. Eastern or Game Y to 1 p.m. so that I can see more fourth quarters and sift through various offerings.” No, it’s just not that kind of schedule.
Yes, it’s once again true that very little action takes place in the early-afternoon hours: From 12:30 to 2:30, only four games begin. Two of them are in the MAC, one in Conference USA, and one in the ACC (Virginia Tech-Boston College at 12:30). Yet, with so little to choose from in terms of high-end viewing material, this is not a week in which to get upset at that kind of light traffic in the non-traditional time slots.
One slight twist does occur in this week’s slate: At 3 Eastern, half an hour before the big 3:30 window begins, the Pac-12 is playing two games: USC-California on regular FOX, and Colorado-UCLA on Pac-12 Network. You will be able to catch the ends of those games before the 3:30 games conclude. That’s a plus. However, neither one of those games will register powerfully on a national level, unless Cal whips USC so badly that the Trojans become news for all the wrong reasons. (Don’t bet on that outcome happening, though.)
At 3:30, you’ll see a schedule fit for the 1980s, a decade when college football (mostly on ABC) fanned out across the country and gave regional viewers the most important game in their area. ACC fans have Clemson-North Carolina State. Big Ten fans get Maryland-Iowa. Big 12 fans get Oklahoma State-Texas Tech. Mountain West fans get San Diego State-Colorado State. SEC fans get The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party between Georgia and Florida. Dawgs-Gators is the highlight in that stack of five games, but the other three games from the power leagues have College Football Playoff implications, and the Mountain West game is an important barometer of where teams stand in the conference. It will also measure divisional strength. Maybe Georgia-Florida deserves that 5 p.m. Eastern window we often mention in this column, but this year’s version of the Cocktail Party isn’t in the same league as the momentous 2012 tilt or the heavily-anticipated 2008 clash.
In other words, no one should lose sleep over the fact that start times aren’t staggered this week.
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In the night window, there simply aren’t enough high-quality games to go around. It’s just not a week in which to feel cheated by the glut of games all starting at or near the same time. Consider the 7 Eastern slot: Memphis plays on CBS Sports Network. Utah plays on Pac-12 Network. Houston plays on ESPN2. Duke, unbeaten in the ACC Coastal, plays on ESPNU. Michigan plays on ESPN. Viewed narrowly, you might be upset that all these teams are playing at the exact same time. However, when you then look at their opponents, you’ll cease to be frustrated.
Memphis plays Tulane. Utah plays a bad Oregon State team. Houston hosts Vanderbilt. Duke hosts Brad Kaaya-less Miami. Michigan hosts Minnesota, days after Jerry Kill’s retirement. These games do not move the needle, so if ever there was a time when the “all-in-the-same-time-window” dynamic of college football television programming did not matter, it’s this week.
Just wait until November, though.
Then you’ll get angry again.
Put the “happy” in Happy Halloween while you still can.
