Hey there, ESPN [or FOX? We’re not sure anymore]: Do you have the rights to the Week 1 college football game between Oklahoma and Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic Owls? If so, you should consider moving that game to college football’s opening* Thursday night, August 30.
College football’s opening night needs a big game. Why not Lane Kiffin vs. Oklahoma?
College football’s traditional debut day doesn’t yet have a real draw of a game.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
* Actually, six FBS teams will be playing the week before. But whatever, you know what I mean.
Right now, college football’s opening week features a bunch of real good match-ups between major programs in random NFL cities, like Auburn vs. Washington in Atlanta on Saturday, Sept. 1, and LSU vs. Miami in Dallas on Sunday. There’s even a traditional, on-campus match-up between academic champions Michigan and Notre Dame.
But Thursday night, the night usually referred to as the sport’s formal (if unofficial) opening night, is not good. Courtesy of LSUFootball.net, here’s what we’re currently dealing with:
That’s not a great lineup! Luckily, history tells us that ESPN and FOX will make a move in the coming weeks to put a more exciting game on Thursday night. And since most of the major neutral-site affairs are already locked into kickoff times and network assignments, might we propose FAU vs. Oklahoma?
ESPN [or FOX, whatever] programming executives, please consider the following:
1. Oklahoma is a national brand, the defending Big 12 champion, a 2017 playoff team, and fresh from playing in the best college football game of last season.
2. Both schools finished 2017 with superb offenses. The Sooners and Owls finished first and sixth nationally in S&P+ total offense, respectively. Take it from noted college football analyst Bill Connelly; this could be a great football game:
“FAU returns most of last year’s breakthrough team and could legitimately run the ball on an OU defense that was decent but wasn’t great. Plus OU doesn’t have the size advantage that you hope to have when playing a ‘smaller’ G5 team. FAU can muscle up with them, and that could make things interesting if OU’s new offense isn’t clicking right out of the gates.”
3. Also: Lane Kiffin.
4. Seriously though: Kiffin, but with a national viewing audience and an entire offseason to prepare some insane nonsense trick plays that will average 40 yards a pop.
5. Lane Kiffin, but Lane Kiffin being interviewed at halftime in Norman when the score is tied at 17 and he says something zesty to the sideline reporter and everyone gets to act like there’s an upset brewing before OU wins by 20.
6. Lane Kiffin, possibly tweeting a recruiting hashtag from the sidelines during the game, and then your broadcast team reads those tweets out loud on the broadcast, creating a first-of-its-kind multimedia black hole.
Thanks for considering our proposal, ESPN [or FOX]. We’ve reached out to Coach Kiffin for official comment as well.
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