Ohio State fans might want to start bracing themselves for another highly anticipated game to be played at noon.
In an Aug. 6 interview on WOSU’s “All Sides with Amy Juravich,” Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork hinted at the start time for the Nov. 1 game against the Nittany Lions at Ohio Stadium. Despite the uproar from fans about the season opener against No. 1 Texas being a noon kickoff due to the Big Ten’s broadcast partnerships, Bjork said that’s a likely outcome when Penn State comes to town.
And while Ohio State is asking fans to wear black for the game, expect to see it played in broad daylight.
“I think we know the Buckeyes drive Big Noon Kickoff,” Bjork said of Fox’s broadcast lineup. “That’ll be a high-powered game, so I think we probably know what’s going to happen around game time for that one. 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.”
In 2024, the Buckeyes played six straight games with noon kickoffs. Bjork was asked if he feels fans want more night games, and he said the Buckeyes have spent “a lot of time” working with Fox and the Big Ten to try and get more night games played in Ohio Stadium but with little success.
The Buckeyes attempted to move the Texas game to another time slot but were unsuccessful.
“We’ve carried the window in that noon kickoff,” Bjork said. “What we’re asking for is just a little more flexibility. Why does every one of our games have to be at noon?”
He then went on to answer his own question, pointing to the many layers that go into the decisions behind which networks broadcast which games and at what times.
“Fox has the first pick,” he said. “They own the noon window. They don’t own a night window. They don’t own a 3:30 window. 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.”
Ohio State’s season opener is Aug. 30 and will be a showdown between the two top-ranked teams in the preseason polls.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ross Bjork warns Ohio State football fans to prep for Penn State noon kickoff
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
