What happened to noon games?

Submitted by IncrediblySTIFF on

Should we blame it on Dave Brandon?

I personally love noon games (especially against teams from the central time zone, or west).  I do wonder if Dave Brandon had any influence in this (likely if he desired to leverage game start times he could have).

Under Brady Hoke, we are 11-3 in games starting at noon.  In 2011 both our losses came during games starting at 3:30 or later, and we tallied 6 wins.  In 2012 we did not lose a noon kick-off, going 3-0.  In 2013, the lone outlier during the Hoke era, we went 1-2, with one loss @Iowa (ugh, that game) and against OSU the next week.  This year we are 1-0 at noon (AppState).

I skipped over the RR years to look back into the later half of the Carr era.  In 2007, the Horror, @WIS, and OSU all started at noon.  In 2006 we were undefeated in games that started at or before 12:30.  In the six years before that, we only lost 4 times in, well, I'm sure I could go on.

I understand the reasons behind late games (the added dollars spent in the community are hard to argue with), but it seems we should be playing earlier more often.

Thoughts?

MGoBoard
Football
Carr
Fire Hoke
noon games
death to the 330 kick
make em wake early

OccaM

November 11th, 2014 at 9:18 AM ^

Quite simple probably... Michigan pulls in more viewers at 3:30 than it does at 12:00 lol. Traditions be damned in the presence of the all mighty dollar. 

I think it also has to do with the fact that since the B1G blows, there are only a few teams that pull in the masses to watch attentively. Michigan is one of them, so why not amplify the money gained by putting Michigan games on a better time slot? 

Joined: 11/10/2014

MGoPoints: 9158

Alton

November 11th, 2014 at 9:33 AM ^

In 2008, when the Big Ten had 11 teams and 5 conference games a week, the typical November timeslots were:  noon/ESPN, noon/ESPN2, noon/BTN, noon/BTN and 3:30/ABC. 

In 2011, when the Big Ten had 12 teams and 6 conference games a week, the typical November timeslots were:  noon/ESPN, noon/ESPN2, noon/BTN, noon/BTN, 3:30/ABC and 3:30/BTN.  So the added timeslot was at 3:30.

In 2014, with 14 teams and up to 7 conference games a week, the typical November timeslots seem to be:  noon/ESPN2, noon/ESPNU, noon/BTN, noon/BTN, 3:30/ABC, 3:30/BTN and 8:00/ABC or BTN.  So the added timeslot is at night (November 1, November 8 and November 15 all have 8:00 games).

In 2008, about 80 percent of conference games were at noon.  But the timeslot was pretty much full, so any added games had to be later in the day.  By 2011, it was down to 67 percent.  Now it's only about 58 percent.

So the answer to the question of what happened to noon games is simple:  expansion of the conference is what happened.  We still have 4 noon games a week, it's just that there are so many more games now than there used to be.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 13273

IncrediblySTIFF

November 11th, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^

So you are saying that there are less noon games to go around.  And I do understand that.  However, if 58% of B1G games are at noon, why is it that we have not played one noon game in 6 matches?

And the answer to that is ratings, viewership, etc.  But it seems like Michigan should have at least some influence somewhere to say "hey, we want to play at Noon, and you guys aren't giving us any opportunities to."

Joined: 03/26/2011

MGoPoints: 7962

Alton

November 11th, 2014 at 9:51 AM ^

Let's look at the home games so far:

August 30, Appalachian State (noon, ESPN2):  this seems to have been the second most attractive B1G game of the day, so ABC passed and ESPN jumped on it.  Easy pick for that ESPN time slot at noon.

September 13, Miami NTM (3:30, BTN):  Obviously not a candidate for ABC or ESPN, but there were 2 BTN games of some attractiveness that day--WVU-Maryland and this one.  BTN actually likes its better games to be at noon, when they can draw viewers.  The dregs of the BTN get 3:30, and this was kind of it.

September 20, Utah (3:30, ABC):  Clearly the most interesting game of the day, so ABC took it for their time slot.

September 27, Minnesota (3:30, ABC):  A large number of terrible games for ABC to choose from, so they picked this.  Could have gone with Northwestern at Penn State, but that's about it.

October 11, Penn State (7:00, ESPN2):  Michigan wanted this at night, and ESPN2 was willing to pick it up.

November 1, Indiana (3:30, BTN):  Homecoming, so Michigan could pick their time slot.  Michigan chose 3:30, and ABC/ESPN were unwilling to pick this up, so it was relegated to the BTN.

There were 2 games where Michigan got to choose the time slot (Penn State and Indiana), and Michigan picked night and 3:30 for them.  The rest of them, they were at the mercy of the networks.  So no noon games after the first one.  Michigan could have made the Indiana game a noon game, but they didn't.  So obviously Michigan feels the same way about noon games as a majority (but not, I think, a huge majority) of the fans.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 13273

M-Dog

November 11th, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^

Homecoming games at 3:30 are much better for the fans in attendance, especially alums, than 12:00 games.  
 
There are lots of homecoming pre-game activities and tailgates that you can get in before 3:30.  When kickoff is noon, they all get cut short.  If you want to see the drum line and follow the band to the stadium for example, forget any real tailgating.
 
Plus a 3:30 game ends at dinner time, so the alums can go have dinner right after the game.  Some drinks after that, and they call it a day.  They're not so concerned about having extra time after the game to eat and rest up so they can party until 2:00 AM. 
 
It's no surprise that 3:30 is chosen for Homecoming.

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257470

ericcarbs

November 11th, 2014 at 9:48 AM ^

I prefer noon games over any other one. I really don't want OSU to be at night and even 3:30 is kinda late. I was really hoping for a noon game at Columbus but oh well

Joined: 08/20/2013

MGoPoints: 1168

M-Dog

November 11th, 2014 at 11:16 AM ^

Noon games are also too early if you are a parent.
 
All the mandatory kid stuff on Saturdays is usually over with by 3:30.  But it's almost never over with by noon.  I have not seen a noon kickoff for years.  
 
I was happy when Michgan-OSU was moved to the weekend after Thanksgiving, because kid stuff is not scheduled then because so many people go out of town.
 
Yay! 3:30.
 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257470

Moe

November 11th, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^

Noon games are for irrelevant teams playing other irrelevant teams up until the end of the season.  You want more noon games, then hope Michigan becomes completely irrelevant over the next few years.

 

I'll be hoping for more night and 3:30 games myself.

Joined: 10/24/2014

MGoPoints: 17624

M Go Cue

November 11th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^

We have a better noon game record because the noon games tend to be against "lesser" opponents.  Better games tend to get put at better time slots.

I personally hate noon games.  I really would rather not have to get up early on a Saturday and have to start cooking and getting ready and most tailgating food is better after breakfast time.  

Let the "meh" teams (yeah, I know) have the noon games.

 

Joined: 07/13/2013

MGoPoints: 3935

get-on-my-lawn

November 11th, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^

1.) Our record record is in no way influenced by what time our games start when it comes to the two times anyways.

2.) was everyone NOT bitching last year because we had so many noon games and hardly any 3:30 games? They just can't win can they.

3.) START TIME DOESNT IMPACT OUR RECORD! Did it not occur to you that we typically play noon games when it's shitty opponents therefore yeah, our record will look good. Regardless, a 3.5 hour difference of when we start isn't going to change our performance on the field.

YOU ARE SO DUMB, YOU ARE REALLY DUMB, FOR REAL!
3.)

Joined: 02/14/2013

MGoPoints: 1064

baorao

November 11th, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^

of noon kickoffs is that the tv lineups suck. I am not sure why everyone parted the seas and let the MAC score an ABC noon regional broadcast deal.

Joined: 08/08/2008

MGoPoints: 1075

HokelessRomantic

November 11th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^

Noon games are undesirable, archaic, and reserved for meaningless games with no impact on the overall college football landscape. That being said, why isn't Michugan playing them all at 10am?

Joined: 12/13/2013

MGoPoints: 338

Alton

November 11th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^

No.

Noon games, 1990-2014.

Find me a single noon home game before 1985 or so, when the courts forced the NCAA to deregulate televised football.  Just one.  You can't, because they didn't exist.  Noon games are a creation of the television networks.

A majority of the games in the '50s started at 2:00.

A majority of the games in the '60s started at 1:30.

A majority of the games in the '70s started at 1:00.

Games kept getting longer (because offensive strategies were changing), so they kept moving up the starting time.  But they never considered starting before 1:00 until TV started telling them to do it.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 13273

Wolverinefan84

November 11th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^

In my opinion isn't it usually less important games that are played at noon? It just seems that games against easy non-conference teams or not as competitive Big Ten games have been played at Noon in the past, at least for Michigan, which is why we might have a much stronger record in those games.

Joined: 04/05/2011

MGoPoints: 2052

Finance-PhD

November 11th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^

Playing at noon is like playing on Thursday night. It says a great deal about how much of a tv draw your school is. Alabama plays normally at 3:30 because CBS can pull one SEC game per week for that time. Kentucky on the other hand....

Works the same way in every conference.

Joined: 09/02/2012

MGoPoints: 1167