Penn State students express anger at FOX Sports and call for a boycott

When FOX Sports secured the Penn State-Ohio State game to be there Big start to lunchIt seemed like a very calculated move. ESPN College Game Day comes to Happy Valley for a game between the No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the country, which would normally portend a prime-time appearance.

No prime time. No white out and no bright lights of Beaver Stadium on national television.

FOX used its option to secure a BIg Ten game away from ESPN, and now the biggest matchup of the year begins at 12 p.m. This didn't sit well with Penn State fans, who now organized a boycott of FOX Sports, calling the move “unacceptable.”

“If one thing is clear, it is this: This game should be a night game,” Ben Rosenbaum wrote in Onward State, a website run by Penn State University students. “Fox has enjoyed taking the fun of tailgating and the atmosphere that Beaver Stadium offers by testing us with several noon games already. And now, in the biggest game of the year, it's happening again. Unacceptable.”

“I ask you, Penn State students, to boycott the Big Noon Kickoff. Don't come over. Imagine Urban Meyer pumping up the 'crowd.'” Folks, let the crickets chirp.

With both ESPN and FOX on site calling for this boycott, it will be very interesting to watch the TV coverage to see if anyone in the crowd migrates there Big start to lunch set, which will air an hour later College game day.

Considering what FOX Sports paid for the rights to certain Big Ten games, it will likely take more than a boycott of a single pregame show on campus to get the network's attention. Penn State students and fans must carry this torch a much longer distance and find a way to influence the advertising dollars at stake.