What’s Wrong With Playing College Football on Friday Nights?

As it turns out a lot.

Oklahoma State fell to Iowa State last night, in an epic double overtime thriller. #2 in the Country, on the road, got knocked off their spot and the door has been seemingly taken off its hinges.

Let the 1-Loss Beauty Pageant begin. BCS chaos. Ratings gold, right?

Thing is last night was a Friday night.

I think we’re missing the bigger picture here.

Didn't Friday night used to stand for High School Football?

College Football on Friday night just does not sit right with me, and I’m one of the biggest college football fans around. For everything that ESPN has done to promote and accentuate college football, I believe there is an equal or lesser part where they have detracted from it, and this is Exhibit A.

In their hunt for the story and ratings and the truth, ESPN is always one of the first to stick their cameras or mics in the face of someone when there is a controversy or scandal. I’m all for the truth and getting a story out that is corroborated and backed up. But this time I’m pointing that light on them. Maybe it’s a moot point as many Americans will probably not see it my way, but bear with me for 2 seconds.

If we are trying to promote good core family values and expect people to have some moral and ethical backbone (which seems to be in question a lot these days), then should we not also give a family a simple Friday night with uninterrupted time to watch, enjoy and support their high school football program.

Imagine for a minute that you’re an Oklahoma State graduate living in Iowa. You have 2 boys playing high school football. They have big game lined up for Friday night, and guess who is in town. Your alma mater, ranked #2 in the Country. You’re torn. You’re an OK State season ticket holder and you try to never miss a game. You’ve got your boys in the playoffs, and you’ll be there supporting them. Of course, family first. But you’re taking your phone and you’re going to keep an eye on it.

With all the time in the week, I find this just flat out wrong. It sends the wrong message.

We should not even be having this conversation, but ESPN in their quest for more EVERYTHING has disrupted the beautiful balanced ecosystem that once existed coast to coast. Now in its goal for a game to be in every crevice of the week and more ratings and more money, they have left us with this seemingly unbalanced Friday night situation.

I’m all for giving Friday nights back to the kids and families, so here is my vote to take back Friday night.

With all due respect, ESPN, please back off Friday night.

Don't get me wrong, I love ESPN. I remember watching the first College Football GameDay show. I remember Herbie's first show. They have one of the best on campus and in the studio shows ever put together. I've been a supporter for years.

But in this case, I think they've gone off the tracks.

It has been said often, “It’s all about the money”. Well friends, I disagree. Sometimes it should NOT be all about the money.

This time…it should be about the kids.

WEEK 8: 1st & Ten

1. LSU - Looks like the Tigers will be minus a few players with Auburn coming to town Saturday afternoon (3:30 CBS). Tyrann Mathieu (CB), Tharold Simon (D-back) and Spencer Ware (RB) will be sitting this one out. Don't sleep on Chizik. Will Michael Dyer (RB) and Emory Blake (WR) be enought against a stout LSU defense? Crazy enough, this could be a good thing for LSU. I see them getting in some good reps for the backups building better depth, who could very easily be starting elsewhere.

2. Alabama - Bama hosts TN Saturday night. Without Tyler Bray the Volunteers are looking very thin at QB. Look for Sims to be dismantled, and somebody better warm up the 3rd string QB. Could be a really, really long night for Dooley and company. Saban is 16-1 since October '07.

3. Oklahoma - Nation's longest home winning streak plays center stage Saturday night in Norman (39 straight home W's for Oklahoma). OU is tuning up for next week's matchup against a Kansas State team which is in the midst of a revival.

4. Oklahoma State - Noon kick in Columbia as talk of the SEC swirls. This one is on upset alert. Missouri is banged up, and Gundy has Oklahoma State out to a 6-0 start. Can they stay focused? The tigers in loosing efforts gave Oklahoma and K-State a run for their money. Weeden + All-American Blackmon = Dangerzone. Weeden is completing almost 73% of his passes with 16 TDs.
Blackmon has caught 7 of those.

5. Boise State - At home, heavy favorites. Last time Boise lost a home conference game was 1998 - that's 46 straight conference home game wins.

6. Wisconsin - 8:00 PM in East Lansing will be a sight to see. Two heavyweights in the B1G square off, and these 2 could be squaring off again for the B1G Championship Game at the end of the season. The Spartans are coming off an emotional thrashing of in-state rival, Michigan, and Coach Dantonio will have them on point for a home game against The Badgers - just without #2, William Gholston. He's the 2nd leading tackler on the team - a difference maker.  I'm just not sure how long Michigan State's defense can hold up with bone crushing style Wisconsin has been flexing all year.

7. Clemson - Clemson is some of the hottest action in the country right now. They have reeled off 7 straight wins and are enjoying being the BCS limelight. Boyd, Sammie Watkins and Ellington have absolutely been sensational. Between the 3 they have racked up 2012 passing yards & 19 TDs (Boyd), 740 rushing yards (Ellington) and 728 receiving yards & 8 TDs (Sammie Watkins).

8. Stanford - The Cardinals (6-0) host Washington (5-1) Saturday night (8:00 ABC). The Huskies remain right on Stanford's heels. Their only loss of the season came to Nebraska, and they will have thier hands full against Andrew Luck. He has 18 TDs and just 3 interceptions. With Coach Harbaugh gone and causing a stir in the NFL, one has to wonder if anyone can derail Stanford's season.

9. Arkansas - Coming off a bye week, Arkansas (5-1) heads to Oxford to face a 2-4 Ole Miss squad that is reeling. The Razorbacks will descend upon the Grove. How Ole Miss has won an SEC game this year is beyond me. They are not very good - at all. Look for Petrino to make life miserable for Coach Houston Nutt.

10. Oregon - Oregon (5-1) heads into Boulder, CO to enjoy a nice road game at Folsom Field. Too bad for Colorado - they are a grease fire. They are 1-6 this year ,and they have yet to even sniff a PAC-12 victory. Look for the trend to continue for the Buffaloes. They will be 1-7 come Saturday evening.

US Justice Department Reviewing Legality of BCS

At the heart of the matter, we are talking about the Sherman Antitrust Act. As Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah) eloquently wrote in a letter to President Obama in October 2009:

“After a careful examination of both the written and oral testimonies presented at this hearing, I believe a strong case can be made that the BCS is in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Therefore, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division look into this matter,”
(Courtesy http://hatch.senate.gov)

The Sherman Antitrust focuses on preventing cartels and monopolies, and with the track record of the BCS, undefeated teams can win all their games but still not have a chance to play for it all. As we saw this last year as Utah went undefeated but was outside looking in. Again this year we saw it happen again, another undefeated team was left out of the national championship discussion, Boise State. Neither of these teams have the popularity, enriched history or prominence on the college football scene, but both of those could have very easily played it down to the wire - if given the chance.

The system (BCS) as it stands is a series of rankings and ratings, with the sole purpose of putting #1 versus #2. This boils down to a beauty pageant. A beauty pageant which is inherently flawed. And Senator Orrin Hatch is doing his part to resolve this issue.


Imagine for a minute, at the close of the past December 5th, as we knew all the conference champions. We could have taken 8 conference champions and played a true playoff bracket to truly determine the winner. Imagine coaching staffs, athletes, and teams controlling their own destiny. Teams rewarded for winning their Conference and taking a seat at the after-party.

Here is the playoff bracket if you take the conference champions:



Hopefully, this will continue to move forward and real progress can be made, as the only way we can truly know who the actual champion is, is to first ensure that there are not multiple teams undefeated at the end of college football season. A playoff quite simply would achieve this.

For more information on the latest, please read all about it at Senator Orin Hatch's website.