Imagine the wind chill -- despite more Big Ten night games, Ohio State and Michigan officials say the Buckeyes playing the Wolverines in primetime isn't going to happen.
View full sizeThe prospect of more home night games for the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium is looking more feasible for athletic director Gene Smith -- as long as the game doesn't involve Michigan in late November.CHICAGO -- Imagine the moon over Ohio Stadium, with 105,000 fans huddled under their blankets, as Ohio State readies for a final drive against Michigan somewhere past 11 p.m.
So far, the athletic directors at Ohio State and Michigan can't imagine it.
The Big Ten is changing. Two days of conference meetings concluded on Wednesday with no resolution about a move to nine conference games instead of eight. But discussion will continue, and the move seems inevitable despite the objections of almost all the football coaches.
Ohio State AD Gene Smith, for one, favors that idea. But even as the league readies for 15 primetime games this season -- the most in its history, Michigan prepares to host its first night game -- against Notre Dame, and Smith is more open to night games at Ohio Stadium than he has ever been, Ohio State playing Michigan at night remains off the table.
"I'm going to fight it like mad," Smith said.
"It's not something I'd want to do," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said. "Can you imagine what the wind chill would be in the fourth quarter?"
"No," said Michigan coach Brady Hoke. "Not that one."
There remains in the Big Ten's TV contracts the stipulation that night games won't be played in November, and Mark Rudner, the senior associate commissioner who oversees television scheduling, doesn't see that ever changing, especially for the Buckeyes and the Wolverines.
"It's special to begin with," Rudner said. "You're not going to get any bigger by going to primetime."
With uncertainty at both programs, as Jim Tressel faces NCAA sanctions and Hoke ramps up just months after taking over for Rich Rodriguez, in addition to the teams now playing in separate divisions in a 12-team league, what's good for Ohio State-Michigan still matters.
Hoke, for instance, refuses to call the Buckeyes "Ohio State," instead referring to them as "Ohio" at every opportunity. Asked why he does that, Hoke smirked slightly and said only, "I don't know."
Asked if he's always done it, Hoke replied, "Yep."
"Brady's awesome," Tressel said when asked about Hoke, mentioning that he's known him for years and that Hoke visited Ohio State while head coach at Ball State. "Anything that's good for the Ohio State-Michigan game, I'm for. And Brady's good for it."
So far, so are afternoon start times.
But most of the other big games in the Big Ten are ready for primetime.
For instance, Rudner said he knew as soon as the 2011 schedule was announced last year that ABC and ESPN would be asking for Nebraska at Wisconsin on Oct. 1 and Ohio State at Nebraska on Oct. 8 to be played at night. They will be.
In fact, Wisconsin will play four night games, and Smith said he would consider having the Buckeyes play four nights in a season under the right circumstances. For now, the TV deal requires teams to play three night games, if asked, which is why the Buckeyes are playing three night games in 2011 for the fourth time in five years.
"It was hurting us to go on the road and sit around all day Saturday to play Wisconsin or Purdue at night," OSU AD Gene Smith said of his decision to embrace more home night games. "So I'd rather have us sit around at home."In the past, Smith wanted to limit night games in Ohio Stadium. In the last five seasons Ohio State has played 10 road games in primetime -- but only three at home.
No more.
"I'm flipping," Smith said. "It was hurting us to go on the road and sit around all day Saturday to play Wisconsin or Purdue at night. So I'd rather have us sit around at home. Let's be at home and let the other team do that."
One reason he changed his mind is that Smith said he has no fears about fan behavior around an intense home game at night.
"What our fans have done relative to fan behavior, we have to recognize we don't have the challenges we used to have," Smith said. "Now, we've got to stay on top of things. But if you do a survey, our fans love night games."
Two home games at night still won't happen every year, and won't happen this season. The Buckeyes are playing Wisconsin at home at night and Miami and Nebraska on the road. So far, eight Big Ten primetime games have been announced, with another seven on the Big Ten Network to be revealed Thursday night. But the Buckeyes won't have a fourth game.
Wisconsin's four will include two at home against UNLV and Nebraska and consecutive road games against Michigan State and the Buckeyes.
"I kind of got surprised by that a little bit," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said.
Rudner said he thinks the conference will top out at around 15 or 16 primetime games per year, though the networks are always pushing for more. Officials said there is a balance to strike, with the Big Ten not required to seek the extra primetime exposure because they know they get so much attention already.
Even moving the 2006 Ohio State-Michigan game, an undefeated No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, to a 3:30 start was a special circumstance, and Smith said he heard a lot of complaints from OSU fans.
"Since then I said we're playing at noon or at 1, and the league has been receptive and television has been receptive," Smith said.
If asked to move to 3:30 again for a compelling reason, Smith said he would "suck it up" if it was best for the league, because he's seen that cooperating in those situations can pay off down the road. But Brandon was the only official involved who threw in a "never say never" caveat about primetime. Everyone else was certain that an 8 p.m. start would never be best for the rivalry.
The sun may not be out for a noon start in late November, but at least the moon won't be either.
Smith supports Tressel: In an interview, Smith declined to talk about anything related to the current NCAA violations that Tressel and Ohio State are facing, even turning down questions about how national perceptions may have affected his thinking.
"I'm very supportive of Jim Tressel," Smith said, "and I believe in what we're doing. But I'm not going any further than that."
Smith said the support he and OSU president Gordon Gee expressed at the original news conference on March 8 was the same way he felt now.
Also, the Associated Press reported that Ohio State will not pay Tressel's legal fees for his representation before the NCAA. Tressel has hired former NCAA Committee on Infractions chairman Gene Marsh to serve as his lawyer at the NCAA hearing on Aug. 12.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/05/big_ten_officials_willing_to_a.html
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