It’s Friday. You just came home from work and are ready for the weekend. Maybe you go hang out with your friends at the local bar, or maybe you just kick back in your recliner and crack open a cold one while flipping through the channels to see what’s on TV.
You take a peak at the guide and pass by all the mindless movies and reruns of old TV shows, and then all of a sudden, you see……college football? On a Friday night? Sold! Before you know it, you will spend the next three hours (or more) completely locked into the game. And whether you have a rooting interest or not, it doesn’t matter because football is on TV.
Move over high school football because Big 12 football is coming to a TV near you on Friday nights! And if you like a Thursday appetizer, don’t worry, the Big 12 has a few treats to throw your way as well. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the Thursday/Friday schedule for the 2024 season.
Thursday, August 29th
North Dakota State at Colorado (ESPN) (8 PM ET)
Friday, August 30th
TCU at Stanford (ESPN) (10:30 PM ET)
Friday, September 6th
BYU at SMU (ESPN2) (7 PM ET)
Thursday, September 12th
Arizona State at Texas State (ESPN) (7:30 PM ET)
Friday, September 13th
UNLV at Kansas (ESPN) (7 PM ET)
Arizona at Kansas State (FOX) (8 PM ET)
Friday, October 4th
Houston at TCU (ESPN) (7:30 PM ET)
Friday, October 11th
Utah at Arizona State (ESPN) (10:30 PM ET)
Friday, October 18th
Oklahoma State at BYU (ESPN) (10:15 PM ET)
Friday, November 15th
Houston at Arizona (FS1) (10:15 PM ET)
Friday, November 29th
Oklahoma State at Colorado (ABC) (12 PM ET)
Utah at UCF (FOX) (8 PM ET)
After looking at this, I am sure you are asking yourselves, “Why?” Aren’t Saturdays for college football?
Well, yes and no. Let me explain. There is only so much real estate on a Saturday. The SEC will dominate ESPN, while the Big Ten will have FOX. Meanwhile, the Big 12 will be in the crosshairs.
When you look at the list of games (especially in the non-conference), some of these games would likely be on ESPN+ if they were on a Saturday. For instance, Arizona State/Texas State and UNLV at Kansa are two good examples of that. Instead of having those games on ESPN+, why not play them on Thursday or Friday night and put them on ESPN? You are going to get a lot more eyeballs on ESPN than ESPN+ and you won’t have to fight for primetime airtime like you would have to if the game were played on Saturday. I am no mathematician, but ESPN/FOX > ESPN+.
This is exactly why the Big 12 should be open to more Friday night games. It’s a chance to showcase your product in front of a national audience during prime time. Just think about when Colorado plays on a Friday night, and you can advertise it as “Prime Time on Prime Time” (you’re welcome ESPN and FOX).
This would not only be a win for the Big 12 but also for ESPN and FOX. They need games on Friday nights, and the Big 12 has an opportunity to own real estate that the other conferences won’t have. Just look at what the NFL is doing. They already have Sunday, Monday, and Thursday, and this year, they will even have a few games on Friday and Saturday. And when there is nobody else to compete with it, then why not do it?
If I were Brett Yormark, I would be all in on the Friday night slot. In fact, I would have at least one conference game a week on Friday night, and during some weeks, I would have two. Imagine a Big 12 double feature where two teams from the Eastern time zone play, followed by two teams from the Mountain time zone. That’s over six hours of Big 12 football on ESPN or FOX!
While I consider myself a college football traditionalist, I do understand the value of Friday night games. And whether you like this or not, Friday night is going to end up being a big part of the Big 12 product moving forward. This isn’t 2004 anymore, it’s 2024. Times are changing, and so is college football. If you aren’t adapting, you are falling behind. Don’t hate it, just watch, and enjoy it.
