The noon start sucks for UK fans traveling to Ole Miss for the first time in 12 years

Earlier today, the schedule-makers at ESPN and the Southeastern Conference delivered a crushing blow to all of the Kentucky fans traveling to Oxford next week by announcing an 11 AM local start time for Kentucky’s October 1 game at Ole Miss. As one of the many Kentucky fans taking PTO and going to Mississippi to support the Cats, I’ve waited twelve long years for another shot at the Grove, ever since Kentucky last played there on October 2, 2010 (which was also an 11 AM central game, I’ll add).

So it’s been waaaaaaay too long since Kentucky fans were given an opportunity to experience the best tailgating in the country and the longtime hope was that our patience would be rewarded with a night game this time around.

But, ESPN and the SEC don’t care about Kentucky fans’ day drinking and CATS chanting, so it’s the noon timeslot and a very brief morning in Oxford for Kentucky’s traveling party.

#SECFB 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐕🔹𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭

📺 https://t.co/oPEG1GxMUa pic.twitter.com/Mi0V15pPgH

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) September 19, 2022

Rapid Reaction to Monday’s news

“A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances.”

Having prayed for a night game to football gods that don’t exist or don’t listen, I needed some time to grieve the noon kickoff announcement and what it means for a weekend that’s been circled on the family calendar for a decade. The group chat is hurt since learning the news. Now the tailgate playlist is several hours lighter on music and maybe those prepaid tailgate setups were a bad idea after all.

But I read on one of those motivational posters one time that “a positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you” and we Oxford-goers can apply that message to the bad hand we were dealt today. Sure, we selfishly wanted our circumstances to be all-day fun in the Grove, but the early kickoff just means we’ll have to get up even earlier and I’m not driving all the way to middle-of-nowhere Mississippi to sleep in. So let’s take these lemons and make some lemonade, pour a little bourbon in it, and let’s all get Blue up and moving around sunrise in Oxford on October 1.

We’ll have our all-day fun with an after party in the Grove if Kentucky can get the win on the road at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.