Every season, Ohio State football fans get mad about the Buckeyes playing most of their games at noon. It's worse when big games are played in that slot, as they are always the designated Big Noon Kickoff team in the Big Ten. That happened last year against Texas.
This year, the Ohio State Buckeyes will take on the Longhorns at night. That's because the game is played in Austin, and ESPN owns the rights to the game. Therefore, it will be a 7:30 pm ET kickoff. Until Wednesday afternoon, the Buckeyes only knew two kickoff times: the Texas game and the Michigan game.
On Wednesday afternoon, Ohio State announced two additional kickoff times. They learned when the season-opener will kick off against Ball State, as well as when they will take on Kent State in Week 3. Both times are what fans should have expected going into the year.
Ohio State football announces kickoff times for Ball State and Kent State
The Buckeyes announced the kickoff times for both MAC schools they will face. The game against the Cardinals will be played at the Shoe, and that game is set for 12:30 pm ET. That game will be on the Big Ten Network. With this being a game in which Ohio State is massively favored, this is not a surprise.
Obviously, the Week 2 game against Texas will be a night game. The other non-conference game, against the Golden Flashes of Kent State, will be another early game, as that one will be played at noon. That one has been announced as a Big Noon Kickoff game.
The third game time announced hasn't been fully announced, but a range of times has been given. That is the Maryland game on October 10, and that game is sometime between 3:30 and 8 pm ET. It's unclear which network that game will take place on at this time.
Ohio State football fans should have expected these kickoff times
None of these games are premier games, so fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes should have expected these times. These are games that won't pull a massive number on TV, although FOX loves to put the Buckeyes on that noon slot as much as they can. Still, this shouldn't make fans angry.
It would have been shocking to see any of these three games designated as a night game. Maryland still has a shot to be one, but that seems more like a 4 pm start from FOX. Of course, they are going to have a home night game at some point, so they can wear their black uniforms.
It's good for fans to know when the first game will be played so that they can start planning now. It will likely be a hot one, which is usually what happens for the first couple of weeks of the year. Ohio State should crush Ball State without too many problems. That's how much better they are than the Cardinals. The same can be said for Kent State and Maryland.
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