2025 Scheduling Updates

[78Cyclones]

I love the major/important games being at noon... I can watch the noon game, and then get stuff done afterwards. I don't like important games at 3:30pm. I also enjoy major/important games in prime time.

I enjoy the early kick games too. Go to your game, go to dinner, watch the late games at home with a cocktail or two. Last year, I went to the Alabama @ Wisconsin game in the Fox 11:00 am Central slot and had a blast in Madison after the game.

 

[Thiefery]

Let me guess, it got down to 55 degrees? Candy ass

the high was in the low 50s.. that morning walking toward the stadium for the tailgating? Much colder than that.. sorry if that makes me a candy ass from leaving my home which is avg mid 90s to lower 100s in temp and arriving to that in Michigan

i'll expect your surrender by the 3rd quarter after 80% of your roster are experiencing hamstring injuries and cramps

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

Doesn't this just become a math issue? I mean if Fox thinks they can get better numbers at 7pm, then they will do that. Fox's noon numbers are great when tOSU plays, but not so much for others. The first thing that matters is the match-up ... the SEC has way more inventory than the B1G. Do we really know which times lot drives more numbers? I can't imagine that Fox would purposefully put the best games at an non-optimal time slot.

As a fan, I hate noon starts. They suck. You just can't get the tailgate action going that early like you can when the game is at 3:30 or 7:30.

 

[michaeljordan_fan]

Doesn't this just become a math issue? I mean if Fox thinks they can get better numbers at 7pm, then they will do that. Fox's noon numbers are great when tOSU plays, but not so much for others. The first thing that matters is the match-up ... the SEC has way more inventory than the B1G. Do we really know which times lot drives more numbers? I can't imagine that Fox would purposefully put the best games at an non-optimal time slot.

As a fan, I hate noon starts. They suck. You just can't get the tailgate action going that early like you can when the game is at 3:30 or 7:30.

FOX likely cannot impede on NBC/CBS B1G window.

 

[Red_Alert]

Doesn't this just become a math issue? I mean if Fox thinks they can get better numbers at 7pm, then they will do that. Fox's noon numbers are great when tOSU plays, but not so much for others. The first thing that matters is the match-up ... the SEC has way more inventory than the B1G. Do we really know which times lot drives more numbers? I can't imagine that Fox would purposefully put the best games at an non-optimal time slot.

As a fan, I hate noon starts. They suck. You just can't get the tailgate action going that early like you can when the game is at 3:30 or 7:30.

The Big 10's boner for noon (CT) games dates back to when the Big 10 stadiums didn't have artificial lighting.

I believe there are still 3 Big 10 stadiums that do not have permanent artificial lights.

 

[Across The Field]

*personally i hope they move up the season to start in the middle of August.. and they put the kickoff times at 2:30pm here in Austin.. I want to see tosu and um melt under an avg August afternoon down here

#HookEm

When we played Marshall this past year it was 96 at kickoff with a heat index of well over 100. We can also whoop ass when it's single digits like when we dismantled Tennessee. Weather is not a concern. My guess is when you guys play here this season, it won't be much different than when we play in Austin the following season.

 

[Thiefery]

When we played Marshall this past year it was 96 at kickoff with a heat index of well over 100. We can also whoop ass when it's single digits like when we dismantled Tennessee. Weather is not a concern. My guess is when you guys play here this season, it won't be much different than when we play in Austin the following season.

bro it's different.. hopefully you make the trip in '26 so you can experience it yourself.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

FOX likely cannot impede on NBC/CBS B1G window.

I am sure it's out there somewhere, but it looks like Fox gets Noon, CBS 3:30 but not always, and NBC gets 7:00 but not always (ND games). I guess the Fox game makes sense if their Fox College Game Day show leads up to the noon game ... is that how it is done?

I know having more people involved makes more money, but having everything under Disney is great from a scheduling perspective. And the ABC noon, 3:30, 7:30 triple-header paid off big-time this year.

Found this, so that makes sense.

In theory, the new TV deal will feature a full day of Big Ten football games on network television with a game at noon on FOX, a 3:30 p.m. game on CBS (replacing the longtime SEC package on that network) and a 7 p.m. game on NBC. This could be impacted some weeks if FOX opts for a Big 12 game at noon or if NBC has a Notre Dame game instead in prime time.

We wanted to peruse the schedule to see which weekends will have the best Big Ten action and also try to “fantasy book” the annual draft of weekends by the Big Ten’s broadcast partners.

That process typically happens in the spring. The three broadcast networks will select the weekends where they want the first selection of games to televise. Under the old arrangement with FOX and ABC, FOX paid the highest rights fee and seemed to have the first two weekend selections before trading picks back and forth with ABC.

It has not been clarified how that process will go. For purpose of this column, we will just assume FOX continues to get the first two selections with the selections for the next 12 weekends rotating between FOX, NBC and CBS. It is expected that a handful of games in September and October could still be moved to Friday night for coverage by Fox Sports 1 or Big Ten Network.

In terms of game times, it is notable that FOX will not be taking any games emanating from the four West Coast schools for its noon Eastern time slot. That would be a 9 a.m. start on the West Coast. The network may even hesitate to take many games with West Coast teams playing at noon Eastern in the Eastern or Central time zones because the audience on the West Coast could be limited due to the morning start. FOX could still opt to carry games from the West Coast in other time slots as they come up.

Likewise, the expected FOX/FS1 late night games from the West Coast probably will not include many Eastern time zone teams because the 10 p.m. start would limit viewership by fans back on the East Coast.

 

[Collegefbfan]

I think the 3:30 slot is my sweet spot. If it’s an away game I can mow the yard, run and get food and do all sorts of things and then settle down to watch the 3:30 and 8pm games.

Yeah, you lost me there. The rest of it sounds...

 

[Wishbone]

Oklahoma Sooners have the toughest schedule in college football, per 247Sports

The league's schedule-makers didn't do the Sooners any favors last year, with a gauntlet of a slate, especially compared to conference foes like Texas, who played just two league opponents with a winning conference record. OU, by comparison, played six, not including the Longhorns themselves.

Oklahoma Sooners have the toughest schedule in college football, per 247Sports

 

[Jon Deaux]

Oklahoma Sooners have the toughest schedule in college football, per 247Sports

The league's schedule-makers didn't do the Sooners any favors last year, with a gauntlet of a slate, especially compared to conference foes like Texas, who played just two league opponents with a winning conference record. OU, by comparison, played six, not including the Longhorns themselves.

Oklahoma Sooners have the toughest schedule in college football, per 247Sports

Y'all didn't bring enuf $$$$ with ya.

 

[Red_Alert]

Oklahoma Sooners have the toughest schedule in college football, per 247Sports

The league's schedule-makers didn't do the Sooners any favors last year, with a gauntlet of a slate, especially compared to conference foes like Texas, who played just two league opponents with a winning conference record. OU, by comparison, played six, not including the Longhorns themselves.

Oklahoma Sooners have the toughest schedule in college football, per 247Sports

It's as if tejas is paying someone to give them an easy path to the playoffs.

 

[Thiefery]

Oklahoma Sooners have the toughest schedule in college football, per 247Sports

The league's schedule-makers didn't do the Sooners any favors last year, with a gauntlet of a slate, especially compared to conference foes like Texas, who played just two league opponents with a winning conference record. OU, by comparison, played six, not including the Longhorns themselves.

Oklahoma Sooners have the toughest schedule in college football, per 247Sports

lol BV was talking about "Running towards the SEC" and you landthieves were eating it up...
Now you running towards excuses.. couldn't be me #Hookem

It's as if tejas is paying someone to give them an easy path to the playoffs.

 

[ericd7633]

Some info on the Fox/B1G Friday night games:

In its first season as an 18-school conference, the Big Ten shifted nine games to Friday nights. This fall, the league is looking to place games on every Friday of the regular season, starting on Aug. 29 and concluding on Black Friday.

But deciding which games should shift from Saturday to Friday is hardly simple. It’s a delicate balancing act for the league, its three media partners and the universities. Each school has on-campus concerns the conference must consider before moving a home game off of Saturday. A sampling:

• Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa have allowances to avoid Friday home football games. Iowa’s massive hospital complex is located across the street from Kinnick Stadium, which prevents it from hosting a Friday game except on Labor Day weekend or Black Friday. With stadiums seating more than 100,000 fans, stresses on community services have kept Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State off the Friday grid. Michigan also will not play Friday games on the road.
• Schools must grant approval if the league wants to schedule either a second home or second away game on a Friday, for health and recovery reasons as well as competitive balance.
• The league wants to avoid situations of lopsided schedule difficulty like what happened last fall to Michigan State, which hosted Ohio State on a Saturday, then traveled to Oregon the next Friday.
• Homecoming remains a major event for the longtime Big Ten campuses, which often locks in those kickoffs to Saturday afternoon.

Then there’s the league’s trio of media partners: Fox, CBS and NBC. Outside of Thanksgiving weekend, the Big Ten’s Friday kickoffs appear on the Fox family of networks (Fox, FS1, BTN). But the league doesn’t want to move an upper-level game that NBC or CBS might want to draft for its showcase Saturday broadcast.

“In our mind, we’re looking for maybe the fourth-, fifth- or sixth-best game of the week to try and make sure that at least on paper, going into a season, the top three games are going to be available for selection by those three broadcast partners,” Big Ten chief operating officer Kerry Kenny told The Athletic last year.

With those variables in mind, filling out a Friday night schedule is akin to completing a football sudoku puzzle. In attempting one myself, nearly a dozen versions went into the fireplace. I’d reach the season’s final week, and somehow a team ended up with a second home Friday game or a significant competitive disadvantage. Eventually, one made it through with the principles intact.

The Big Ten’s final version — last year’s Friday schedule was set in May at the league’s spring meetings.

 

[Red_Alert]

Some info on the Fox/B1G Friday night games:

In its first season as an 18-school conference, the Big Ten shifted nine games to Friday nights. This fall, the league is looking to place games on every Friday of the regular season, starting on Aug. 29 and concluding on Black Friday.

But deciding which games should shift from Saturday to Friday is hardly simple. It’s a delicate balancing act for the league, its three media partners and the universities. Each school has on-campus concerns the conference must consider before moving a home game off of Saturday. A sampling:

• Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa have allowances to avoid Friday home football games. Iowa’s massive hospital complex is located across the street from Kinnick Stadium, which prevents it from hosting a Friday game except on Labor Day weekend or Black Friday. With stadiums seating more than 100,000 fans, stresses on community services have kept Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State off the Friday grid. Michigan also will not play Friday games on the road.
• Schools must grant approval if the league wants to schedule either a second home or second away game on a Friday, for health and recovery reasons as well as competitive balance.
• The league wants to avoid situations of lopsided schedule difficulty like what happened last fall to Michigan State, which hosted Ohio State on a Saturday, then traveled to Oregon the next Friday.
• Homecoming remains a major event for the longtime Big Ten campuses, which often locks in those kickoffs to Saturday afternoon.

Then there’s the league’s trio of media partners: Fox, CBS and NBC. Outside of Thanksgiving weekend, the Big Ten’s Friday kickoffs appear on the Fox family of networks (Fox, FS1, BTN). But the league doesn’t want to move an upper-level game that NBC or CBS might want to draft for its showcase Saturday broadcast.

“In our mind, we’re looking for maybe the fourth-, fifth- or sixth-best game of the week to try and make sure that at least on paper, going into a season, the top three games are going to be available for selection by those three broadcast partners,” Big Ten chief operating officer Kerry Kenny told The Athletic last year.

With those variables in mind, filling out a Friday night schedule is akin to completing a football sudoku puzzle. In attempting one myself, nearly a dozen versions went into the fireplace. I’d reach the season’s final week, and somehow a team ended up with a second home Friday game or a significant competitive disadvantage. Eventually, one made it through with the principles intact.

The Big Ten’s final version — last year’s Friday schedule was set in May at the league’s spring meetings.

And then there's the 'Exclusive' Peacock games, of which the Big 10 owed them 9 games last season.

Peacock was owed 5 games of pre-season Top 25 Big 10 teams. The other 4 teams were chosen at random.
iirc Iowa had two games on 'Exclusive' Peacock.

 

[huskers1217]

And then there's the 'Exclusive' Peacock games, of which the Big 10 owed them 9 games last season.

Peacock was owed 5 games of pre-season Top 25 Big 10 teams. The other 4 teams were chosen at random.
iirc Iowa had two games on 'Exclusive' Peacock.

Tenn running scared.

 

[Red_Alert]

Tenn running scared.

Not sure that says what you think it says.

 

[huskers1217]

Not sure that says what you think it says.

More to come out of this I’m sure

 

[Red_Alert]

More to come out of this I’m sure

Personally I think it's an example of the CFP hurting OOC scheduling.

Nebraska can replace Tennessee with Cracker Jack St. for sure wins in 2026/2027.

 

[gobigred]

Personally I think it's an example of the CFP hurting OOC scheduling.

Nebraska can replace Tennessee with Cracker Jack St. for sure wins in 2026/2027.

Yea having the expanded CFP is killing big OOC series