For many loyal fans, attending a college football game is an all day event. It even turns into a weekend event by getting on campus Friday and not leaving until Sunday. Anyone who has been to Ann Arbor can relate to the amount of people who tailgate with family and friends but never make it inside The Big House. They hang back and man the tailgate to get everything ready when everyone meets back after the game.
The best time to have the game can vary based on the time of year and opponent. It also depends on if you are in Ann Arbor for the game or catching it on TV. Noon will and always will be for the Ohio State game, unless someone from FOX decides to move it back in the next six plus years. The Michigan State and Notre Dame games have been played at various times over the last several years, but the talk for 2017 will be a possible night game against Sparty.
For this discussion, let’s look at a middle of the road, mid-season conference game against maybe Penn State or Wisconsin. I see the benefit of a noon game, but see also why many hate it. We asked the Maize N Brew staff what they prefer for a game time, so here we go.
David
For me, I enjoy the game time to be best when I can typically watch it. Yes, that sounds a bit undecided, but would rather be home to catch the entire game if I’m not in Ann Arbor. My kids are over with their fall sporting events by early afternoon, so I prefer the 3:30 game for 2017. We have a bad win/loss record in night games lately, so I throw that out as well. Many want more night games, but I hate waiting all day on a fall Saturday to watch Michigan. If I’m making the trip to a game, I don’t have a preference since I would be in the parking lot or golf course by 8am regardless.
Andrew
Fall is the best time of the year and although your opinion may be different, just know you’re wrong. Ann Arbor at any time on a fall Saturday possesses a suppressed electricity that erupts abruptly at kick off. At night however, this release is amplified because of the heightened anticipation built up during the course of the day.
Michigan night games are similar to going on a first date. You spend all day being productive (drinking beer and watching other games counts as productivity if you were wondering), but your mind is still on the events of the upcoming evening. Every game scenario has run through your mind 1,000 times; you and 110,000 of your closest friends nervously dawn your maize & blue armor; the entire world witnesses the showcase of the Wolverines.
As the ‘leaders and the best,’ Michigan deserves this stage. I can understand the arguments about noon or afternoon kickoffs being the best, but just know, you’re wrong.
Nick
Alright, so here’s a wrong opinion, so feel free to disregard immediately.
Maybe this is just from my time as a student who wasn’t that big on the drinking scene, but I love having Michigan games at noon with the whole rest of the day to relax around town and revel in a victorious afterglow.
I know that noon can be an early start for both students and alums, but there’s just something about the tension and timing of a noon game. As soon as you wake up on Saturday morning, you know you need to get ready. It’s exciting and visceral in a way that 3:30 games don’t manage to capture. It’s like - Christmas, every Saturday.
And while evening games are great - under the lights, in primetime - there’s a little too much waiting around and build-up before the game, plus there’s a strange feeling of it being a national, rather than personal, event. Noon games in Ann Arbor are all about the community of Michigan fans who are in it, experiencing it, together. And that truly captures the spirit of Michigan football - at least for me. So I think the best way to experience a Michigan football game - in September, October, or November, doesn’t matter - is at noon. Period.
Let’s hear from you.
Poll
What is the best start time for Michigan football?
This poll is closed
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37%
Noon
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30%
3:30pm
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18%
Night game, need more of them
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13%
Don’t care, just win.