Penn State-Ohio State could have been worthy of prime time. But Big Noon got dibs

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Mike Mulvihill, Fox's president of insights and analytics, has seen photos of the white T-shirts being sold at The Family Clothesline in downtown State College.

The T-shirts displayed at the front of the store read: “Big Noon Games Suck” in bold navy blue lettering.

“How does it feel to talk to the most hated man in Happy Valley this week?” Mulvihill asked on the phone Thursday morning as he navigated through an airport after leaving Fox's coverage of the World Series in New York , before switching gears for “Big Noon Kickoff” this weekend locally in State College.

Oh yeah, he knows exactly how some Penn State fans view Saturday's noon kickoff between No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 Ohio State. But before anyone tries to disparage Fox for making this the Big Noon game, Mulvihill implores fans to listen to him.

The numerous comments surrounding the announcement of this game with Fox Big Noon and its pre-game show did not bring many fans to the station in Happy Valley. Some fans regret that Big Noon moved its showpiece home game, which Penn State had scheduled as a nighttime white-out game, to the midday TV slot instead.

You know what, they are absolutely right, we need to show up and perform at BOTH shows!! Don't forget to stop by The Family Clothesline and pick one up before you go! https://t.co/WrmnoluoNP pic.twitter.com/tazkipsydV

– The Penn State Troll 🦁🧌 (@ThePSUTroll) October 28, 2024

Here's how we got here: Fox had picks one, two, five, six and seven in the annual network draft between itself, CBS and NBC. Think of the draft like a fantasy football draft. There is a large board and the networks take turns. This game between Penn State and Ohio State was not picked in the top four.

“This game was at No. 5 for us because we have three consecutive picks, and I just can’t let this game fall to the eighth pick,” Mulvihill said. “That would almost be a malpractice on my part. … Given the way the draft turned out, it was just clear that we had to take it.”

The announcement of a Noon Kickoff this month wasn't a surprise, but Penn State fans have posted on social media that they might boycott “Big Noon Kickoff” and instead go to ESPN's “College GameDay,” which also takes place before the Beaver Stadium takes place on Saturday. Mulvihill hopes that doesn't happen, but he also knows that moving the conference's main game to lunchtime will never convince everyone.

“It’s our job to introduce the schools we partner with to as many people as possible,” Mulvihill said. “If we can provide as much exposure to our schools as possible, it should benefit not only Fox, but these programs as well. What we have found over the last six years is that it is very clear that broadcasting our best game at lunchtime attracts the largest audience for those games.”

What Fox found was that Penn State-Ohio State, which was the Big Noon game when the Buckeyes were last in State College two years ago, was about a third better in terms of lunchtime ratings performs better than if it aired in prime time, Mulvihill said.

“There's an assumption that prime time is somehow inherently better, but the analysis doesn't really cover that,” he said.

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However, that doesn't mean fans have to like it. TV ratings are often the furthest thing from their minds. They value Penn State having a team that can push an Ohio State squad with a national title or bust mentality. Saturday also marks the last time Ohio State will play at Beaver Stadium until 2028. Penn State travels to Columbus next year and then goes through games against Michigan in 2026 and 2027 before the Buckeyes return.

There is less time for the tailgate at lunchtime. Anyone heading downtown on Friday night — and this city is already buzzing with anticipation for Saturday — will likely need to report before last call. The traffic problems at Beaver Stadium that are notorious here at noon games – the byproduct of everyone arriving within a tight time window, as opposed to the traffic that flows throughout the day, as is the case with a 3:30 p.m. game or in the If this were the case at night – they will definitely occur again on Saturday morning.

“(That) 7:30 energy is always different,” midfielder Kobe King said. “We’ll get straight to the point with a lunchtime game.”

On Saturday, Beaver Stadium will host two teams ranked in the top five of the AP Poll for the first time in 25 years. As the dueling pre-game show sets of ESPN's “College Gameday” and Fox's “Big Noon Kickoff” are set up in the parking lots outside Beaver Stadium, the magnitude of Saturday's event is clear. It's a turning point for this season, for the College Football Playoff race and for a community that lives and breathes with the highs and lows of every fall Saturday.

Mulvihill understands the desire of students and fans who want to sleep in before jumping into the game in prime time. But ratings and television money are the be-all and end-all.

“I think there is a less vocal portion of the fan base that appreciates the day starts because we have heard throughout the conference from coaches and ADs that they like the logistics of the day starts,” Mulvihill said. “If you play a night game on the road, your team might not get home until 3 a.m.”

He understands why some fans still haven't bought into what was considered an unconventional idea in the spring of 2019, when Fox met with the Big Ten's head coaches and athletic directors to pitch them the idea of ​​playing the conference's top game in this one Week to win I'll slit it open at lunchtime. At the time, Penn State head coach James Franklin was one of the biggest supporters.

On Wednesday night, Franklin said with a wink that he loves starting at noon.

“I saw it all over social media,” Franklin said. “Our fans couldn’t be more excited. … Nothing beats a lunchtime game at Happy Valley.”

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With Penn State's annual white-out game taking place next Saturday against Washington (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten), Fox worked with Penn State to ensure the white-out would not occur at noon . While there is very little Penn State can do to prevent a network from picking its game, there was an agreement that by picking Penn State-Ohio State at noon, Fox would not also get the white out.

And maybe let's not forget the other part of it. As fans hunker down at home to watch Penn State-Ohio State, viewers in two key presidential election states continue to be bombarded with campaign ads during commercials. That's also a big reason why this game ended up on Fox at midday.

“The election article was absolutely part of it,” Mulvihill said. “I'm sure there's some fatigue in Pennsylvania in terms of campaign advertising because it's perhaps the most important state in the election, but we took it pretty seriously that the game was three days before Election Day, and we “We knew it would be one of the biggest games of the season and we wanted to take advantage of that promotional opportunity.”

(Photo: Matthew O'Haren / Imagn Images)