I was understanding when the first home football game against an FCS opponent was deemed worthy of the 11 a.m. time slot. After all, the decision is made based on opportunity for ratings, correct?
I wasn't going to complain that the 4-3 Tigers vs. 3-4 Arkansas was in the 11 a.m. slot. Two struggling programs playing in a less-than-emphatic environment, I could see the reasoning for that selection.
Looking at the Auburn football schedule, I figured the only other opportunity for an 11 a.m. game was against a struggling Idaho on Nov. 21. Boy was I wrong.
When the announcement was made that the Ole Miss game was to be played at 11 a.m. on Halloween, I was livid. Not only was this Auburn’s third 11 a.m. game of the season and second in a row, this was a big game for both teams. Ole Miss was still in the hunt for the SEC West title while Auburn was trying to bounce back from a 4OT loss at Arkansas.
This game had the story lines, the implications and environment of a “primetime” game, not to mention the weak slate of games that weekend.
With most students rolling out of bed and heading to the game, the stadium is not nearly as electric as it could be. The groggy fans sleepwalk to the stadium and wake up at halftime. One of the biggest games of Auburn’s season, and the SEC chose to take the crowd out of the equation.
It was then announced that the Georgia game would also be an 11 a.m. kickoff, and I just thought to myself, why?
I understood both teams were struggling, I understood this game didn't have the SEC Title implications one hoped for at the beginning of the season, but this is Auburn-Georgia, the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. Nobody can argue this decision is about ratings, as Auburn and Georgia have been ranked in the top 10 for best college football fans year after year.
The decision of an 11 a.m. Auburn vs. Georgia game is taking a great rivalry shrouded in tradition and throwing it to the curb. A game that most fans, from both sides, marked on their calendars every year was just another Saturday. People who flew in from all over the country weren't able to experience one of college football's greatest rivalries.
Earlier this year, while tailgating for the Mississippi State game, our tailgate was interrupted by a group of young men who were wearing matching shirts and traveling from tailgate to tailgate. This group of guys graduated from a small school up North with no true football traditions. One of the guys was getting married in the near future and they decided that instead of doing a normal bachelor party, they wanted to take a trip and experience an SEC game day.
Experiences like this happen every weekend across the SEC. I even heard about a wedding taking place at a tailgate in Tuscaloosa. These early games are taking away the lure of traveling and spending money to attend a game that cuts out half of the fun.
Auburn has had four 11 a.m. games scheduled, three of them home games. Alabama didn't have any 11 a.m. games scheduled this season, including its mid-November matchup against Charleston Southern.
They are not the only ones either. LSU has only had one 11 a.m. game, but that was on the road. Vanderbilt and Kentucky have only had one 11 a.m. game each. In fact, the only school that leads Auburn in early kickoffs is South Carolina with five.
The distribution of 11 a.m. games shouldn't be decided only by performance. They should take into account tradition, fan base and previous 11 a.m. games that season.
My solution to this problem is quite simple. If the time slot needs to be filled, use teams in the SEC East. It is simply more fair to use the teams on Eastern time when scheduling earlier games.
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