Ohio State will play Texas in a College Football Playoff rematch to open the 2025 season. And to the consternation of most college football fans, especially in the Buckeye State, it looks set to once again be a Big Noon Saturday 12 p.m. ET kickoff time.
This has led to an outcry of anger from Ohio State fans and even attempted legislation in the Ohio Statehouse. After ending last season with several Big Noon games in a row, another season seemingly shackled to the timeslot and carrying the Fox franchise is causing Buckeye fans to boil over. The case against Big Noon has been well documented by fans as they feel it hurts the stadium environment and a night game would give more energy and a better homefield advantage, not to mention other intangibles like recruiting efforts.
However, Fox curiously has not yet confirmed what we all assume, that the mammoth Ohio State-Texas clash will be a Big Noon game. The game is listed on both schools’ websites with a TBD start time. And now we might know why.
According to longtime Texas football insider Chip Brown at 24/7 Sports, there was a push from Ohio State to move the game to the Sunday of Labor Day weekend on August 31st where it could have a new and improved timeslot. However, Texas reportedly turned down the offer to stick to its currently scheduled Saturday playing.
So, when a game time wasn’t part of FOX’s announcement on May 12, speculation began that perhaps Ohio State was trying to move the game to a later time slot.
The answer is, yes, Ohio State officials were trying to move the game – to the late afternoon or evening of Sunday, Aug. 31 on Labor Day weekend, multiple sources close to the situation told Horns247 late Wednesday night.
Those sources said Ohio State’s attempt to move the game has failed because Texas wouldn’t agree to moving the game off of its contracted Aug. 30 date.
“Texas said no,” a source close to the situation told Horns247.
So, look for confirmation soon that Texas and Ohio State will, indeed, kick off at 11 am CT (12 pm ET) on Aug. 30 as part of FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff.
Similar reporting has come from the Ohio State side at their 24/7 Sports site, Bucknuts with a primetime Sunday timeslot suggested.
This is incredibly fascinating on a number of levels.
First, Texas turning down the offer to play this game on Sunday in late afternoon or primetime speaks to the theory that playing at Big Noon is a competitive disadvantage for the home team. Sure, maybe Steve Sarkisian didn’t want to upset his team’s rhythm and go into their second game of the season on a short week. But Texas is at home to San Jose State, UTEP, and Sam Houston in the three weeks after this for glorified preseason games.
Second, it shows that Ohio State isn’t all that satisfied being the Big Noon flagbearer for Fox Sports. To the best that I can find, the Buckeyes have never played a game in the Horseshoe on a Sunday, so this would be a totally new experience for them. But if there was a weekend to do it, it would be Week 1 of the schedule without NFL competition.
In fact, there are only currently two college football games scheduled for the Sunday of Labor Day weekend – Virginia Tech at South Carolina at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN and Notre Dame at Miami at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. OSU-Texas going up against these games would be much less competition than a stacked opening Saturday that includes games like LSU-Clemson and Alabama-Florida State.
It’s easy to see that playing the game on a Sunday could provide a unique national showcase in what could very well be a clash between two Top 5 teams to start the season. One wonders where Fox Sports might be in all of this, although it’s likely if Ohio State made the ask then the Big Ten television partners were on board. And it wouldn’t be the first time the network reportedly intervened in early season SEC-Big Ten matchups.
Ironically, Texas fans are no strangers to their own frustrations over playing on Fox at noon as they once populated the timeslot as members of the Big XII. But this time, it appears they are just fine with a Big Noon Kickoff in Columbus.