Michigan Will Have a Night Game in 2013

Submitted by MichiganMan2424 on

According to Nick Baumgardner and others on Twitter, Dave Brandon has announced that there will 100% be a night game in 2013 at Michigan Stadium.

Nick Baumgardner @nickbaumgardner

Brandon says UM will host a night game in 2013

Nick Baumgardner @nickbaumgardner

No ifs and or buts there -- UTL will return to Michigan Stadium against someone next season.

Nick Baumgardner @nickbaumgardner

Brandon -- night game No. 2 has to be special with special opponent.

Great news after the success of the first UTL. Commence speculation on who the opponent will be.

Leonhall

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:34 PM ^

A week argument on B1G's part, at The Game last year it was still fairly warm, I like The Game to kickoff at noon though. Has to be ND again or RR's rival Indiana. Minnesota should be better next year....

MGoHail

August 22nd, 2012 at 2:45 PM ^

His point is that the ohio game my freshman year was 20 degrees and sleeting. Just because it was warmish last year doesn't mean it won't be really, really cold this year.  

Leonhall

August 22nd, 2012 at 3:41 PM ^

The point Bill, just didn't think it was necessary to look back at the past 40 years to prove a point to bloggers. It's not like the game is played mid-December and we live in Green Bay for goodness sake. We are talking about football....that can't be played in colder weather? And your point about the game your freshman year being played in the sleet isn't effective because I'll bet it didn't deter 100,000 people from coming out nor did it disappoint any of the players. The fact that the B1G won't play night games in November is one of the many examples why this conference is always late to the "dance'.

Leonhall

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:27 PM ^

Its either ND, Nebraska, or Ohio. Night games in November? Does that happen? Wasn't there some stupid B1G argument against this??? Or just myth....???

MGoShoe

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:28 PM ^

...Detroit Economic Club. Hopefully an MGoUser is present and can provide a summary. In the meantime, besides UTL in 2013, DAB also stated that Michigan is inviting Cooper Barton and his family to a game this season and plans to show him on the big screens. He also bought Cooper another Michigan shirt that when turned inside out, still shows a Michigan logo.

Needs

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:29 PM ^

Given a quick glance at the schedule, there's pretty much only one "special" opponent that fits the Big Ten's night game constraints (no night games in November). 

Our home schedule in September and October is Central, ND, Akron, Minny and Indiana. Either Minny or Indiana is likely to be homecoming, as they seem to like to do that in October, so that's out, and neither really meets the "special" criteria, unless Brandon really wants to hype up the Little Brown Jug. 

The answer is obvious.

Akron.

 

 

justingoblue

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:34 PM ^

8/31: CMU

9/07: ND

9/14: Akron

9/21: @ UConn

9/28: Bye

10/5: Minnesota

10/12: PSU

10/19: IU

10/26: Bye

11/2: MSU

11/9: Nebraska

11/16: @Northwestern

11/23: @Iowa

11/30: Ohio

 

turd ferguson

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^

PSU and MSU are both road games.

Call me whatever you want, but I really wish we had that schedule this season (in Denard's senior year).  I'd be thinking 11-1 - or maybe even better - rather than the 8-4 or 9-3 that seems more likely this year.

Needs

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:42 PM ^

Ok, everyone beat me to the corrections.

It's too bad we'll be breaking in a new QB and likely 3/5 of the offensive line (if Lewan leaves) because that's about as easy as our schedule gets. 

MGoShoe

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:36 PM ^

...according to Mike Rothstein and Angelique Chengelis:

  • Rothstein: "Brandon calls college football playoff a 'slippery slope'... Says players at end of season are 'beat up'. Michigan would have been in 'deep trouble' [depth-wise] if [they] had to play a game after [the] Sugar Bowl."
  • Rothstein: "Brandon brings up Appalachian state game. Said he hears a lot about it -- 'everyone has an opinion about that game.' That's why he liked it."
  • Chengelis: "Brandon on UCONN game: 'We would prefer to play the game in another place.' Michigan has made proposals to move game. With [Conn] state $$ [used] to improve stadium, politics are in play. Says would need waiver from state legislature. 'My attitude - let's go to state legislature to move game.' Realizes this is gonna be tough to accomplish."

turd ferguson

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:45 PM ^

Thanks for posting this.  Here are my two (six?) cents...

On the slippery slope thing:

That's after a month of rest.  If anything, wouldn't you expect guys to be more beaten up at the end of the regular season / conference championship game?

On the Appy State game:

My impression of Brandon's scheduling philosophy is that he'll do whatever he can to generate a little extra interest, especially for those cupcake-looking games.  In some cases, that will probably be cool (e.g., a game against a service academy and, who knows, maybe one of those HBCUs with a bad-ass band).  In this case, it's just annoying and gimmicky.

On UConn:

I'm sure that I'm in the minority on this, but I really like that game.  It'll give next year's team a taste of a road environment without, hopefully, presenting too much threat of an actual loss.  From a competitive, non-$ standpoint, I think it's an almost ideal out-of-conference game.

Needs

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:54 PM ^

Problem with moving the UConn game is that there's no better stadium option within Connecticut, so moving the game, would almost certainly entail taking the game to the Meadowlands or Foxboro. Getting that through the state legislature (loss of income to local business and sales/hotel/restaurant taxes to the state) would seem a non-starter. 

I hope we just keep it there (and certainly hope we don't pull out of the game). It's a small stadium (40,000). We don't get the revenue anyway. Who cares.

It's going to be a tough ticket if it's there, though, given the alumni base in the Northeast. I just  checked and this year's UConn season tix go for as low as $96 for the season. If they stay that low, might be worth just buying the whole season in 2013 rather than buy tix on the secondary market.

mackbru

August 22nd, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^

B10 rules prohibit night games in November. So, unless the nation suddenly craves a night game against Minny, Indiana, CMU or Akron, the choice has to be ND again. Which is all well and good, but can't we mix it up a little? Nobody wants predictable.

Might it be possible to get a one-time waiver for Nebraska? I doubt OSU would go for the switch -- unless they could be allowed to do the same the following year. But once the league starts making exceptions, everyone will want one.

So. Could it be that Brandon is trying to wriggle out of the UConn game?