College football scheduling is always a balancing act for schools, conferences and TV networks.
For the Big Ten, it gets even more difficult when you have members across multiple time zones and Fox, CBS and NBC all paying billions of dollars to broadcast games. Still, some games are meant to be played at night, and Nov. 2’s game between Ohio State and Penn State at Beaver Stadium is one of those games.
Yet, Fox had different ideas, and fans aren’t happy — for good reason.
The top-4 matchup was selected for next week’s Big Noon Saturday on Fox (and presumably the Big Noon Kickoff pregame show). That means that a game, which typically would have been a White Out under the lights, will be played in the day’s earliest window.
Week 🔟 kick times and network designations 👀
𝘛𝘉𝘋𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘬 9 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴. #B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/QkXWWyOJnu
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 21, 2024
Fox, as the primary rights holder, gets priority in selecting its preferred matchups. It was obviously going to pick Ohio State-Penn State, but Fox opting against using a night-game exception was a mistake here. You want to showcase the sport at its best, and a Penn State White Out at night is top-tier college football. Under the current agreement, the primetime window belongs to NBC.
So while this does mean that Ohio State gets to avoid a night game at Beaver Stadium, the rest of the college football world had plenty to complain about.
This was how Twitter/X reacted
Ohio State @ Penn State will be a Noon kickoff as expected
Fox Big Noon Kickoff is the worst thing to happen to CFB in a long time pic.twitter.com/uom6vL6c44
— LandonTengwall (@landon_tengwall) October 21, 2024
I’m not even mad anymore. Just disappointed.
Penn State will host Ohio State in a potential top 5 matchup on Big Noon Kickoff.
Get the Big Ten out of this Fox contract.
— Dear Old State (@_DearOldState) October 21, 2024
i will defeat big noon kickoff. i will be the one who brings hope back to college football. https://t.co/IHyuxA4MKk
— Bill DiFilippo (@billdifilippo) October 21, 2024
Penn State fans definitely love #bignoonsaturday https://t.co/hVRSJkyNBz pic.twitter.com/KcLZnpClpe
— Hayden Lewis (@15haydenlewis) October 21, 2024
I love listening to Joel Klatt and Gus Johnson but FOX has ruined the matchup between Ohio State and Penn State, especially when Penn State is hosting. Should be a night game. https://t.co/d85qWmymkX
— Richard Kimball (@rkimball10) October 21, 2024
We should try Big Noon Kickoff at The Hague. https://t.co/SsMROsuJTG
— Michael Drapcho (@M_Drapcho21) October 21, 2024
Big noon kickoff is the worst!! This should be a white out at night 100% https://t.co/gl4CW2NXRD
— ⚡Tre'⚡ (@Trorie8) October 21, 2024
Big noon kickoff saved us from a Penn state whiteout game https://t.co/nr8pHU5Yob
— MW 🌰🐶 (@MW_THFC) October 21, 2024
Do any actual fans enjoy having the biggest #B1G games at noon or is it just the FOX execs? https://t.co/w8VFLsR5y1
— Speakeasy Sports (@speaksportshq) October 21, 2024
Big Noon Kickoff is the worst. This should be a night game and a white out… https://t.co/oGSW1g31Ea
— Robert Dalton (@RobertDalton02) October 21, 2024
