Mark Stoops is Ready to Move Away from Night Games

Every year you will hear college coaches spend time voicing their frustrations over kickoff times. Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff has been a frequent point of contention for Big Ten teams who would rather showcase their atmosphere to recruits for a primetime game under the lights. Lane Kiffin was irked LSU got the late-night TV slot over Ole Miss when the Rebels will host No. 2 Georgia at 3:30 pm EST.

“LSU gets to play at night again, I guess?” Kiffin said. “Shocker. So that’s 2-for-2 for them. It is an advantage. I feel bad for our fans to not have one night conference game, it’s really unfortunate for them. So, whatever. It’s just really disappointing. But it is what it is.”

While most coaches want to play under the lights, Mark Stoops is tired of waiting around for late kickoffs. Neyland Stadium is going into “Dark Mode” for the 7:45 pm EST kickoff between the Cats and the Vols on the SEC Network.

“We have a great challenge ahead of us, once again, going on the road to play Tennessee in a great environment, a very hostile, very tough environment,” the Kentucky head coach said on Wednesday’s teleconference.

“It’s a night game, once again. I think that’s our fourth straight 8 o’clock Eastern (time) game. Thank you for that. That’s a lot of fun,” he said sarcastically.

Kentucky recorded its signature win of the season during an 11 am local time kickoff at Ole Miss. Over the last three weeks, Kentucky has been outscored 92-43 in three losses, all of which were broadcast in the late SEC Network kickoff window.

Mark Stoops is now one of us, and when I say us, I mean media members who would prefer to go to work at the start of the day, rather than stay up to the wee hours of Sunday morning writing about the games, which have all been losses as of late.

The good news for Stoops? Kentucky will get a break next week with a bye. They return to Kroger Field on Nov. 16 for an unusually-timed 1:30 pm EST kickoff on SECN+ against Murray State.

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