Pete Thamel on the set of College GameDay Built by the Home Depot. Photo by Joshua R. Gateley / ESPN Images

College football fans love to complain, but there may be one topic that revs the engines more than any other: TV windows.

That conversation has hit warp speed ever since Fox introduced Big Noon Saturday in 2019. For the network, it was a brilliant move. Fox decided to leverage the one time of day that was traditionally reserved for games that were “less-than,” and put a marquee matchup in its spot. Big Noon proved itself a ratings juggernaut, and the rest is history.

But now, entering Year 7 of Big Noon Saturday, some fanbases have grown tired of playing their biggest games so early in the day. Last year, Penn State was frustrated to play a marquee game against Ohio State in broad daylight. Ohio State fans also voiced their displeasure with having seven noon kickoffs throughout the season.

This year, it’d be wise of fans to expect more of the same. Ohio State is already scheduled for at least two Big Noon games, with many more likely on the way.

And while fans might be upset about the early kickoffs, one prominent college football reporter at a rival network had nothing but praise for Fox. ESPN’s Pete Thamel, a regular on College GameDay, took to a recent episode of The College GameDay Podcast to express support for Fox’s programming strategy.

“They’ve carved a nice niche there, from a pure ratings perspective, and they’re not going to give up that competitive advantage,” Thamel said, as transcribed by On3.

Thamel also described fanbases like Ohio State’s or Penn State’s complaining about noon kickoffs as a “first world problem” because those teams are only slotted into that window because they’re successful programs.

“Their dominance has put them in that spot, right?” Thamel posed. “And because their dominance put them in that spot, that it’s sort of a first world problem for them. Like they’ve been that good. They rate that well. And I give Fox credit for this. Like, that game, just from a pure ratings perspective, has been a revelation for them. They’ve really crushed it there. So they don’t want to move.”

Perhaps there’s some incentive on Thamel’s part to keep Fox’s best games in the noon window. After all, that means ESPN’s premier SEC games don’t have to compete with the most important Big Ten game of the week.

Those benefits aside, it’s clear that Fox and ESPN have simply found a more efficient way to schedule college football games. One where both networks are able to maximize viewership.

And in modern college football, where exposure in premier television windows is incredibly valuable, it’s a bit rich for fans of some of the best programs in the country to complain about what time kickoff is.

Can seven noon kickoffs be overkill? Sure. But there’s no question, Buckeyes fans would take seven noon kickoffs over national irrelevance any day of the week.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.