Ryan Day responds to criticism of six straight Buckeyes Noon games
COLUMBUS — Ohio State is set to play Northwestern at Noon on Saturday. It’s the Buckeyes fourth straight game in the early window of college football Saturday. The final two games of the regular season after this week’s game will also appear in the Noon window.
Yes, the Buckeyes will end the season with six straight Noon games. Five of them will be aired as part of FOX’s Big Noon Saturday, a weekly showing of the top matchup on the network.
FOX has received a lot of backlash for the run of Ohio State games, especially on Monday when it was revealed that the Buckeyes’ top-five matchup next week against Indiana will be a Noon game instead of a night game.
The Buckeyes previously played two road games against top-five teams, one at Oregon (a 7:30 p.m. kickoff) and at Penn State (Noon on FOX). Ohio State fans wanted a marquee night game at home this season — and aren’t getting one. Fans aren’t happy.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day was asked about the string of Noon games during his weekly press conference on Tuesday, and he had this to say:
“Listen, I’ve got to deal with a lot of fan backlash or other things other than the times of games,” Day said with a smile. “So I am going to leave that for other people to deal with. I’ve got other things I have to deal with. Whenever they tell us to play, we’re going to play. It doesn’t matter where it is.
“It could be at a baseball field, it could be 11 a.m., it could be at night. Whatever it is, we’re going to put the football down and go play. And I’ll worry about the team.”
Ohio State will catch a double-dose of what Day said Tuesday when it faces Northwestern at Wrigley Field — a baseball stadium — on Saturday at 11 a.m. local.
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Of course, the regular-season finale against Michigan in the rivalry game will always be at Noon. That’s been the tradition for years with very few exceptions. Ohio State fans understand that.
With three networks picking Big Ten games now, Ohio State games could be:
+ at Noon on FOX or Big Ten Network
+ at 3:30 p.m. on CBS or Peacock
+ at 7:30 p.m. on NBC or Peacock
But the Noon window has been the choice for FOX and the Big Ten Network for all six of the Buckeyes final six games.
For visual help, the full Ohio State schedule is below. Games in bold were at Noon or will be at Noon.
Aug. 31 – Akron (W 52-6)
Sept. 7 – Western Michigan (W 56-0)
Sept. 14 – Idle
Sept. 21 – Marshall (W 49-14)
Sept. 28 – at Michigan State (W 38-7)
Oct. 5 – Iowa (W 35-7)
Oct. 12 – at Oregon (L 32-31)
Oct. 19 – Idle
Oct. 26 – Nebraska (W 21-17)
Nov. 2 – at Penn State (W 20-13)
Nov. 9 – Purdue (W 45-0)
Nov. 16 – at Northwestern (Noon, Big Ten Network)
Nov. 23 – Indiana (Noon, FOX)
Nov. 30 – Michigan (Noon, FOX)
