Does The NCAA Have Us Under Some Kind of Afternoon Game Restriction?

[Judge Smails]

Does anyone have any records showing the home game times over the last 20 or so years?

I remember when they used to bring in the lights for the rare night game (before we had lights), now I'm shocked if we don't play at night.

Between the now normal morning RRS game and the now normal home night game, we are really getting the shaft. Yeah, I know it's for TV, but c'mon...

[WA. Sooner]

Morning Games all the way !

[sendbaht]

Love the night games!!

[OUinFLA]

I'm (really) old school.
Start the games at 1 in the afternoon. All over the country.

I remember when the Orange Bowl was the only night game we would play in.

It does seem like we are regularly ommitted from the 1-2pm tlime slot though.

Maybe that slot belongs to the SEC. /smirk/

[auto]

Night game rocks, I swear the team is made up of a bunch of blue hairs. Take your ensure, stay up a little past the 6:00 news.

[FirstandGoal]

Night game rocks, I swear the team is made up of a bunch of blue hairs. Take your ensure, stay up a little past the 6:00 news.

The big concern here isn't us fans not being able to stay up, but the fact that our team doesn't seem as sharp in night games as they do in those earlier games.

I get it that we had to have some evening games in early September when the heat is a factor, but we're past that now.

[zseese]

I highly doubt the time of day affects how sharp the players are, and I prefer night games so this season has been awesome for me.

[PrideMom]

I HATE night games!! Bring back the 1:30 PM games.

[MamaMia]

I heard that Coach Stoops has said he prefers day games.

Actually, it would be interesting to know whether or not the losses we have had over the last 5 years or so were night games or day games.

[odontia]

I agree that OUr team appears to play better earlier in the day. However, we should accept the fact that this is a compliment. Oklahoma football sells and people all over the country want to watch their games. College football is a business and Oklahoma football is Prime Time. Sorry I am biased.....I live in Idaho and do not get to watch as many earlier games because they are regionalized.

[cleller]

I'd take the early afternoon games, too. Waiting till night is too much angst.

[FtwTxSooner]

The schools and conferences want big and fat TV contracts from the networks. In order for the networks to be able to pay that kind of money, the networks need viewers for ad revenue and subscription charges from cable / sat providers. You get more viewers by having big games in prime time.

When we had all day games, schools didn't nearly get as much TV revenue as they do today.

[Scott D]

The big concern here isn't us fans not being able to stay up, but the fact that our team doesn't seem as sharp in night games as they do in those earlier games.

I get it that we had to have some evening games in early September when the heat is a factor, but we're past that now.

That's because apparently we don't schedule naps for them so they're tired in night games ;)

[Sabanball]

I heard that Coach Stoops has said he prefers day games.

Actually, it would be interesting to know whether or not the losses we have had over the last 5 years or so were night games or day games.

Most coaches do. Keeping the players focused all day long and into the evening is a lot more challenging than only having to do it until 1-2pm.

[Salt City Sooner]

I heard that Coach Stoops has said he prefers day games.

Actually, it would be interesting to know whether or not the losses we have had over the last 5 years or so were night games or day games.
I did a little homework just for the heck of it, & lo & behold, the big majority of OU losses have been at night:

2012- KSU was a night game
2011- all 3 losses were night games
2010- both losses were night games
2009- of the 5 losses, only the RRS & Tech were not night games
2008- RRS was day, UF was night
2007- CU was a day game, Tech & WVU were at night

That's 12 of the last 16 losses occurring at night by my count.

[badger]

The student section might stay around if it's an afternoon game... then again, I remember when we had tons of early/afternoon games and students would wuss out because the sun was too hot, boo hoo (I was in band so I did not have the luxury of leaving... or wearing short sleeves).

11 am: Students not awake yet
2:30 pm: Your best chance of getting students to stay most of the game
6/7 pm: Students leave early for drinking.

Oh wait, our campus is dry. They're going to study, not drink. Study.

[Curly Bill]

Keeping the players focused all day long and into the evening is a lot more challenging than only having to do it until 1-2pm.

This^^^^^^^

[Scott D]

This^^^^^^^

so we lock them in a room with a Tiger in a cage like Leslie does. Focus issues solved. :D

[SoonerPride]

Night games in September are fine because of the heat.

Rest of the season should be morning or preferably afternoon.

Night games in late October and November are stupid.

[tycat947]

The schools and conferences want big and fat TV contracts from the networks. In order for the networks to be able to pay that kind of money, the networks need viewers for ad revenue and subscription charges from cable / sat providers. You get more viewers by having big games in prime time.

When we had all day games, schools didn't nearly get as much TV revenue as they do today.

This ^^^^^

We are one of the premier programs of college football and have a history of having great TV ratings when we play. This results in us getting placed where we can achieve the greatest ratings, and therefore, the higher TV contracts, for the conference. It's good in a way and bad in a way also.

[Breadburner]

Day games please....But its all about the money.......

[TheUnnamedSooner]

It comes with the success. Once the night games stop, somethings wrong.

[yermom]

more interesting games are scheduled at night, that might account for some of the losses

2008 Tech was at night...

[Sooners78]

I love 11 am games. I get up, have my coffee, light the smoker, throw on the baby back ribs at 9, eat them at half-time. Game is over by 3 pm, and I have the rest of the afternoon to enjoy.

[ouwasp]

The BigXII should so something radical to address this, because it is unfair. If a program is not deemed worthy of X number of night games, they lose a home conference game. It's not right that OU bears the burden of so many night games... be nice to have some good ol' fashioned afternoon games, like Red October was.

[MamaMia]

I did a little homework just for the heck of it, & lo & behold, the big majority of OU losses have been at night:

2012- KSU was a night game
2011- all 3 losses were night games
2010- both losses were night games
2009- of the 5 losses, only the RRS & Tech were not night games
2008- RRS was day, UF was night
2007- CU was a day game, Tech & WVU were at night

That's 12 of the last 16 losses occurring at night by my count.Very interesting. Playing at night obviously didn't matter to the teams that beat us. So what is going on here?

[auto]

Very interesting. Playing at night obviously didn't matter to the teams that beat us. So what is going on here?

Exactly, plus the statistical analysis is no quite correct.

[8timechamps]

It comes with the success. Once the night games stop, somethings wrong.

Yep. Like them, or not, it's a measure of success.

When the time was announced for the Tech game, someone asked Stoops what he thought about it, he replied "Well, when you lose, they don't let you play at night."

[SoonerInLubbock]

My guess is if you were to ask Bob Stoops about this, his response would be something along the lines of, "both teams have to play at the same time, we play when they tell us to play, we don't worry about things like that".

[kbsooner21]

I did a little homework just for the heck of it, & lo & behold, the big majority of OU losses have been at night:

2012- KSU was a night game
2011- all 3 losses were night games
2010- both losses were night games
2009- of the 5 losses, only the RRS & Tech were not night games
2008- RRS was day, UF was night
2007- CU was a day game, Tech & WVU were at night

That's 12 of the last 16 losses occurring at night by my count.

How many night games have we won during that same period?

[Scott D]

Seriously, if you people want all day games, you should probably start taking a collection to hire Jim Delany away from the B1G. Then you can get all kinds of archaic things like all day games, many of them 11am starts. No games after Thanksgiving, and maybe the Rose Bowl bid as well...just remember that everyone needs to quit running the spread in favor of "Old Man Football". ;)

[tycat947]

Seriously, if you people want all day games, you should probably start taking a collection to hire Jim Delany away from the B1G. Then you can get all kinds of archaic things like all day games, many of them 11am starts. No games after Thanksgiving, and maybe the Rose Bowl bid as well...just remember that everyone needs to quit running the spread in favor of "Old Man Football". ;)

Quite true! And we see where the B1G is in terms of conference strength these days!

[colleyvillesooner]

Very interesting. Playing at night obviously didn't matter to the teams that beat us. So what is going on here?

Nothing is going on here.

Night Games Won:
2012 - 2 (so far)
2011 - 6
2010 - 8

We play alot of night games. We win most of them.

[8timechamps]

Nothing is going on here.

Night Games Won:
2012 - 2 (so far)
2011 - 6
2010 - 8

We play alot of night games. We win most of them.

WRONG. There is clearly something amiss. Look at how we have faired in games played on days that end in "day":

2011
Texas Tech - Lost (the game was played on SaturDAY)
Baylor - Lost (Again, a SaturDAY)
OSU - (yep, you guessed it...SaturDAY)

I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point!

[MamaMia]

:D Okay..everybody, including us, the players and the coaches just need to like morning games, afternoon games and night games. Thats all there is to it. It shouldn't matter.

[StoopTroup]

One of the things that affects all of this is that we are SOLD OUT every Home Game and OU has enough interest that we get TV Coverage every week. It's possible that all could go away if we started to suck but let's face it...The fact that KU really sucks and that the game is SOLD OUT and there is still enough interest in the game to get TV coverage for those of you who can't or don't want to go to the game is a blessing for you.

Bitching and moaning about the start time is just a small thing unless we really can't compete after 2:30pm. I would like to see our Team get used to night games and win, as Bowl Games seem to be played at night. If it gets down to us playing a really tough Team for all the marbles at night...maybe these regular season night games are just preparing us for a tough game later where we will wipe the field with what's left of a team that has played day games all-season long?

[Soonerfan88]

The BigXII should so something radical to address this, because it is unfair. If a program is not deemed worthy of X number of night games, they lose a home conference game. It's not right that OU bears the burden of so many night games... be nice to have some good ol' fashioned afternoon games, like Red October was.

I'm pretty sure a limit on night games per team was included in the new contracts. I'll see if I can find the details....

EDIT: Partially right but it targets the very late games only.

♦ Maximum of four games scheduled for 8:15 p.m. local time starts per season with the following restrictions: no program required to play more than twice; host more than once; play consecutive weekends; and six-day pick only with Conference consent.

[MamaMia]

We do have it pretty good. Our games are all sold out, no matter who we're playing. We get great media coverage, even if sometimes it is PPV. Our coaching staff should have our team well prepared no matter what time of day it is, and not allow the time of day to be a factor. Its only natural to have a personal preference but that shouldn't be an issue when it comes to winning or losing.

[StoopTroup]

We do have it pretty good. Our games are all sold out, no matter who we're playing. We get great media coverage, even if sometimes it is PPV. Our coaching staff should have our team well prepared no matter what time of day it is, and not allow the time of day to be a factor. Its only natural to have a personal preference but that shouldn't be an issue when it comes to winning or losing.

One PPV game is even hardly worth mentioning and I don't know anyone that didnt get an opportunity to see it all later anyway. We get great coverage and we don't have to sell ourselves to NBC or buy our own Network

[auto]

Did I mention night games rock?

[ouwasp]

My guess is if you were to ask Bob Stoops about this, his response would be something along the lines of, "both teams have to play at the same time, we play when they tell us to play, we don't worry about things like that".

This does sound like something Bob may say, but I have see Bob quoted as saying he wishes the players would have some Saturday nights off so they could spend time with their families that travel in to watch the game. Fan/media/merchant preference aside, the players should be taken into account.

Some enterprising poster should create a bar graph displaying the different start times among the Big XII...

[instigator]

Night game rocks, I swear the team is made up of a bunch of blue hairs. Take your ensure, stay up a little past the 6:00 news.

Funny.

I have to drive back to Dallas after all these night games. Getting home at 2AM sucks balls. 2:30 kicks make it easy to drive up and back in one day.

[Sooner91ATL]

We are one of the highest-rated football programs in CFB ever and we draw large viewership. Networks love to put us on prime time so they can charge more for ads. Simple as that.

[yermom]

Funny.

I have to drive back to Dallas after all these night games. Getting home at 2AM sucks balls. 2:30 kicks make it easy to drive up and back in one day.

if you had hair, it would probably be blue.

[instigator]

Damn glad I don't have to worry about that. :D

[TrueBornSooner]

The reason we lose more night games is that those slots are usually reserved for national interest games - in other words - competitive. The regional 2:30 games are blowouts

I've noticed at other schools, like LSU, the players and fans thrive at night games.

It shouldn't matter. Line up and play.