(03-13-2015 07:24 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(03-13-2015 11:14 AM)Cnelson203 Wrote:  I've come to the conclusion that the schools don't have a ton of say on start times...rather TV networks peg the timing of games. I could be wrong, but that's what I think. I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm off base.

You are right. Fox, CBS Sports, and the ASN really decide our kickoff times. Although I always prefer night games, I do enjoy having almost all of our games televised.

You are spot on. I fully expect Louisiana Tech at Rice to have an 11 am kick-off for the national Fox timeslot. It will be just another Saturday at the office, and we'll all go home for the evening Halloween festivities.

(03-13-2015 07:24 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Simply put, we must find a way to climb over the MWC and AAC in terms of perception and fan interest. In regions where we overlap with the AAC, we must find a way to generate more excitement for our programs then they can. In order to push the MWC for national viewership, we must take away some of the advantage the MWC has with their late night games. Right now they are the only G5 playing late games on Saturday nights. C-USA and Fox Sports 1 should feature a late C-USA game on some Saturday nights to compete with the MWC for viewers. Call it the "Saturday Night Special". These games would need heavy promotion, in order to insure solid attendance, and a good energetic atmosphere. I could handle North Texas playing a 9p.m. (central time) kickoff once a year, if it meant having a national broadcast game with only one other game as competition for viewers.

Thoughts?

No thanks. Maybe if UTEP agrees to host the Saturday night special often. But for a central time zone team, that is asking for too much, especially in November. Rice really needs to build our crowd, which is best served by a 7 pm kick-off in September and most of October, and 2:00 pm after that.

But I do agree with you on promoting ahead of the AAC and MWC. The University of Houston will be hosting Vanderbilt on October 31. C-USA should help Rice in promoting the Louisiana Tech game, which should have conference championship implications.

(03-14-2015 10:34 AM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(03-13-2015 07:24 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Simply put, we must find a way to climb over the MWC and AAC in terms of perception and fan interest. In regions where we overlap with the AAC, we must find a way to generate more excitement for our programs then they can. In order to push the MWC for national viewership, we must take away some of the advantage the MWC has with their late night games. Right now they are the only G5 playing late games on Saturday nights. C-USA and Fox Sports 1 should feature a late C-USA game on some Saturday nights to compete with the MWC for viewers. Call it the "Saturday Night Special". These games would need heavy promotion, in order to insure solid attendance, and a good energetic atmosphere. I could handle North Texas playing a 9p.m. (central time) kickoff once a year, if it meant having a national broadcast game with only one other game as competition for viewers.

Thoughts?

No thanks. Maybe if UTEP agrees to host the Saturday night special often. But for a central time zone team, that is asking for too much, especially in November. Rice really needs to build our crowd, which is best served by a 7 pm kick-off in September and most of October, and 2:00 pm after that.

But I do agree with you on promoting ahead of the AAC and MWC. The University of Houston will be hosting Vanderbilt on October 31. C-USA should help Rice in promoting the Louisiana Tech game, which should have conference championship implications.

We all need those times, but we seldom get them. Fox and the others just don't hand out enough prime-time kickoffs to C-USA. I don't think once a year is too much to ask. If the game is for national television and it is properly promoted, it could be an attendance hit. I was at the North Texas/Rice game last season. It was like watching a game in hell. I got the worst sunburn on half of my face and had to walk around for week looking like a buffoon. I would have preferred that game was played at 9p.m.

As for the Houston/Vandy game next season, I hope Vandy is 0-7, with loses to WKU and MT going in to that game. That, combined with the division title implications, would help drive interest in LA Tech @ Rice.