Ohio State is asking fans to wear black for its Nov. 1 home game against Penn State, but that doesn’t mean the game will be played under dark skies.
During his appearance on WOSU’s All Sides on Wednesday, Ohio State athletic director Bjork was asked whether the blackout was an indicator that the game could be played at night. While Bjork didn’t want to fully confirm that the game would be played at noon, he acknowledged the strong likelihood that Ohio State vs. Penn State will be another marquee 12 p.m. game at Ohio Stadium.
“I think we know the Buckeyes drive Big Noon Kickoff. That’ll be a high-powered game. So I think we probably know what’s going to happen around game time for that one,” Bjork said. “FOX, they love the Buckeyes. And Big Noon is a big deal. They’ve invested in that time slot. So we’ll presume it’s a 12 noon kickoff.”
While FOX has not officially selected Ohio State vs. Penn State as a Big Noon game yet, Bjork has good reason to assume it will be. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions are both ranked in the top three of the preseason Coaches Poll, making their Nov. 1 clash one of the Big Ten’s three most anticipated regular-season games alongside Ohio State’s season opener against Texas and regular-season finale against Michigan.
FOX has already announced it will air both of those games as Big Noon games, but it gets the top three picks in the Big Ten TV network draft held between FOX, CBS and NBC. As such, it would be shocking if FOX doesn’t use its third selection on Ohio State vs. Penn State, especially given that Oregon at Penn State – the one other game that could have drawn consideration for the third pick – has already been confirmed as a night game on NBC.
Assuming FOX goes through with that selection, Ohio State’s Sept. 13 game against Ohio – a 7 p.m. game on Peacock – could be the Buckeyes’ only home night game this year. The only other possible home night games for Ohio State this season would be its homecoming game against Minnesota on Oct. 4 or its mid-November games against UCLA and Rutgers. Ohio State’s homecoming game has traditionally been played in an afternoon time slot, while it typically does not play regular-season night games after the first weekend of November.
Bjork knows Ohio State fans are eager for more home night games against marquee opponents, which is why he pushed for the Texas game to be moved to Sunday night – a proposal that FOX agreed to but Texas did not. He wants future Big Ten TV contracts to include more flexibility so that Ohio State doesn’t get selected to play so many noon games, but there are still five years to go on the current contract, which means Ohio State will likely continue playing Big Noon games frequently through the end of the decade.
“We've spent a lot of time kind of working with Fox, working with the Big Ten to understand, look, we know why we're chosen for Big Noon Kickoff. We know it. Our brand is the biggest brand. We have the most viewership. We have the biggest fan base. We've carried the window in that noon kickoff. What we're asking for is just a little more flexibility,” Bjork said. “Why does every one of our games have to be at noon? Right? But the TV contracts, the way they're laid out is Fox has the first pick. They own the noon window. They don't own a night window, they don't own a 3:30 window. They have the first pick. And then it goes to sort of a pooling of NBC and CBS and the Big Ten Network. CBS owns the 3:30 window and NBC owns the 7:30 window. There's not flexibility within that. Fox can't just say, ‘Hey, for this game, we want a 7:30 window, and for this game, we want a 3:30.’ So the lack of flexibility that was kind of built into this, to me that's the part that we have to continue to chip away at.
“So when the CBS and NBC contracts come up in 2030, which seems like a long time (away) but it'll go fast, how can we create flexibility within our TV partners? How can we create more just movement within – why do we always have to play at noon? Why can't we have more adaptability throughout? And so that's what we're asking for. That's what we're really kind of pressing with the Big Ten. But right now, there just is no flexibility. So Fox is going to pick the biggest game. And if you look week by week, we're going to be in that window a lot.”
While Bjork understands fans’ frustration about the lack of night games, he still expects a raucous environment inside Ohio Stadium this season, with Ohio State implementing numerous changes to improve its gameday atmosphere.
“It should not matter when we play,” Bjork said. “We're asking our fans to show up, be loud, support the team, create a home-field advantage. And then we'll work on that stuff (pushing for more night games in the future) off the field.”
