Round 1/Round 2 Game Time Complaints (Evergreen Post)

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Once again, the FCS and/or ESPN don't care enough to stagger the FCS 1st round/2nd round games so that fans can actually watch more than one game at the same time. There are 3 2PM games on at the same time in Round 1, and in Round 2, it's truly awful - seven out of the eight games all start between 2 and 3:30 PM!

It would be so fiendishly simple for some knucklehead to figure out that you can have almost thirteen straight hours of coverage if you stagger the start times (Eastern): 12, 1:30, 3, 4:30, 6, 7:30, 9, 10.30. Casual fans could watch an hour and a half of the conclusion of each game, and hardcore fans of a particular school can watch more games than just the one involving their own school.

Instead, during Round 2, there is one mess of games all at once, and if you're a fan of the team in the playoffs, or attending the game in person, it's a zoo trying to follow them all.

[JayJ79]

there aren't enough viewers for them to really care.
I'd bet they just let the schools set whatever times worked best for them facilities-wise

[Bisonoline]

ESPN sets the times.

[BEAR]

Yeah, games at UCA at night be like:

http://www.buckmanager.com/media/images/2008/02/deer-fence-top-2-wires-01.jpg

[Lehigh Football Nation]

there aren't enough viewers for them to really care.
I'd bet they just let the schools set whatever times worked best for them facilities-wise

It's sort-of circular logic: there aren't enough viewers because they haven't really tried to make it into a NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament sort-of environment, and since it's not made into an NCAA Men's Basketball sort-of environment, it doesn't attract more viewers (and fans showing up at the game, too).

Even if Lehigh were out of it, I'd still have my TV tuned in to hours of FCS college football coverage Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend in December. I can't be the only fan that feels this way.

Here's another thought. Why not stagger the games on Friday and Saturday?

1st Round

2x 12PM kickoff Friday, 2x 3:30 PM kickoff Friday, ESPN3
2x 12PM kickoff Saturday, 2x 3:30PM kickoff Saturday, ESPN3

2nd Round

2x 7PM kickoff Friday, 2x 10:30 PM kickoff Friday, ESPN3/possibility for multiple ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPNNews games
2x 12PM kickoff Saturday, 2x 3:30PM kickoff Saturday, ESPN3

This sort-of setup literally fits perfectly in the ESPN broadcast infrastructure, doesn't compete with other games that generate any sort of draw (I'm assuming ESPN doesn't give a hoot about the numbers of Idaho/NMSU, etc.), and you get an additional game of broadcast TV content.

[Professor Chaos]

ESPN sets the times.
The only kickoffs they really care enough about are the ones on their networks though so when NDSU says "We want to kick off at 2:30" ESPN just says "Whatever, go ahead."

I agree that staggering kickoffs is better for the fans but I'm sure these schools take input from their coaching staffs (who couldn't care less about when other games kick off) and I think almost every coach in the country prefers early-midafternnon kickoffs to evening kickoffs.

[Professor Chaos]

It's sort-of circular logic: there aren't enough viewers because they haven't really tried to make it into a NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament sort-of environment, and since it's not made into an NCAA Men's Basketball sort-of environment, it doesn't attract more viewers (and fans showing up at the game, too).

Even if Lehigh were out of it, I'd still have my TV tuned in to hours of FCS college football coverage Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend in December. I can't be the only fan that feels this way.

Here's another thought. Why not stagger the games on Friday and Saturday?

1st Round

2x 12PM kickoff Friday, 2x 3:30 PM kickoff Friday, ESPN3
2x 12PM kickoff Saturday, 2x 3:30PM kickoff Saturday, ESPN3

2nd Round

2x 7PM kickoff Friday, 2x 10:30 PM kickoff Friday, ESPN3/possibility for multiple ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPNNews games
2x 12PM kickoff Saturday, 2x 3:30PM kickoff Saturday, ESPN3

This sort-of setup literally fits perfectly in the ESPN broadcast infrastructure, doesn't compete with other games that generate any sort of draw (I'm assuming ESPN doesn't give a hoot about the numbers of Idaho/NMSU, etc.), and you get an additional game of broadcast TV content.
I say this every year but I wish they'd take ESPNU or ESPNEWS and dedicate it to FCS football from noon to 10PM the Saturdays of the 1st and 2nd round games and switch from game-to-game depending on situation like CBS used to do when they had the NCAA Basketball Tournament all to themselves. This would require kickoffs to be more staggered since always having at least two games going at once would be a good thing. They wouldn't need to invest much into it except airtime and a studio crew since they're already producing all the games for ESPN3.

I think it would really help draw in casual college football fans.