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Pete Thamel responds to Ohio State raging over FOX’s noon kickoffs

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•06/08/25•

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Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ESPN’s Pete Thamel had a logical take when it came to Ohio State raging about the noon kickoffs last year and this coming season. FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff is their standard pregame show and it leads into their highlighted matchup of the week.

Generally, FOX gets a Big Ten game, or even marquee Big 12 game, and the network has carved out a nice spot to highlight a great college football matchup. Ohio State, being a great program, was highlighted a lot last season and the games drew big ratings.

Naturally, fans of the program don’t like the earlier kickoff because they want more time to pregame and have the primetime atmosphere under the lights. Thamel understood where they were coming from, but noted Ohio State was a big ratings draw for FOX at “Big Noon.”

“They do hate the noon (kickoff),” Thamel said on The College GameDay Podcast. “College GameDay went to Penn State last year, and there’s an article in The Athletic that week about the noon being unpopular. And I was like, this is like, all like self important TV … fans don’t care about this stuff. The article was well done, not dismissing that. I was just like, this isn’t real … And then I got there and I was like, ‘Oh, they really don’t like the noon.’ And of course, McAfee is throwing, like, gas on the fire … (People are) walking around with ‘Big Noon sucks’ shirts. And I’m like, what? It’s the kickoff that they don’t like. It’s not the show, which is a very good show … And then I guess, if you’re Ohio State, I think they played seven last year … 

“Again, if they played seven, 8:00 p.m. games that’s probably a lot … Their dominance has put them in that spot, right? And because their dominance put them in that spot, that it’s sort of a first world problem for them. Like they’ve been that good. They rate that well. And I give Fox credit for this. Like, that game, just from a pure ratings perspective, has been a revelation for them. They’ve really crushed it there. So they don’t want to move.”

Ohio State had seven noon games last year, which from an outsider’s perspective, seems excessive. However, they were one of the biggest draws in college football. Not to mention the fact that Ohio State and Michigan in “The Game,” always play at noon anyway, so it’s kind of built in already!

“They’ve carved a nice niche there, from a pure ratings perspective, and they’re not going to give up that competitive advantage,” Thamel said of FOX.