This week, Texas Tech football fans learned the kickoff times for four 2019 games (including the first two home contests) and fortunately, the dreaded home 11 am home kickoff was nowhere to be found.
There is nothing more frustrating for Big 12 football fans than the way that the conference goes about setting kickoff times as the league allows its television partners to wait until 13 days before each game to fill their broadcast windows. But as is customary each summer, the networks set the kickoff times for a handful of games early so this week, Texas Tech football fans learned when a third of this year’s games will kickoff.
The Matt Wells era will begin at 3 p.m. on August 31st when the Red Raiders open the season with a home game against Montana State to be broadcast on FSN. This will be the third-consecutive year that the Red Raiders’ first home game has kicked off at 3 p.m. What’s more, it will be the fourth time in the last five years that the home opener has been an afternoon game.
While many fans miss the days of the home opener being a night contest, 3 pm is preferred over the dreaded 11 am window because it still allows for fans to enjoy plenty of tailgating and gam day or family activities prior to kickoff. And fortunately, fans will not have wait long to get a taste of Red Raider football after dark.
Tech’s week-two home game against UTEP has been set for a 7 pm kickoff, also on FSN. Tech and the Miners will be meeting for the 23rd time with the Red Raiders holding a 16-6-1 advantage. It will mark he fifth time since 2013 that Tech has had an evening non-conference game at home.
In week-three, the Red Raiders will be on the road for the first time in 2019 as they travel to Arizona to take on Kevin Sumlin and his Wildcats in Tucson. Being as the game will be played in the Pacific Time Zone, fans in Texas may need an afternoon nap and a cup of coffee to make it through this one as it is set to kickoff at 9:30 pm C.S.T. on ESPN.
This may remind Tech fans of another recent game in the Grand Canyon State. In 2016, the Red Raiders fell 68-55 at Arizona State in a game that kicked off at 9 central time and did not finish until well after midnight in Texas. Hopefully this year’s trip to the state of Arizona will be more enjoyable than the night when the Sun Devils racked up 652 total yards and ASU running back Kalen Ballage tied an NCAA single-game record with 8 touchdowns.
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And we now know that Tech’s regular season will conclude with an 11 am kickoff at Texas on Friday, November 29th. This marks the fourth-straight time that Tech’s trip to Austin will close the regular season on Thanksgiving weekend.
In 2013 and 2015, the Red Raiders and Longhorns met on Thanksgiving night with UT winning in 2013 and Tech coming out on top two years later. In 2017, Tech took home a 27-24 win in Austin on Black Friday and they will hope to repeat that success this year.
We recently discussed how FOX’s decision to prioritize the 11 am window could mean that Tech may not have an 11 am kickoff at home this season. That is certainly good news for home fans who have come to lament the early kickoff.
But not having home 11 am kicks would also indicate that Tech is not nationally relevant because FOX has decided to put its most intriguing matchup of the week in the early window. That means that if Red Raider fans want their program to get back to prominence in the Big 12, we are going to have to look at the 11 am kickoff differently and embrace it as an honor rather than view it as a punishment.
Friday, it was reported that Big 12 schools will earn over $38 million from the conference media rights this year and that number is expected to surpass $40 million in short order. Therefore, fans will have no choice but to make peace with the fact that the television networks are going to continue to dictate kickoff times.
And if FOX continues to keep its premier games at 11 am, we had better start learning how to cook breakfast burritos at our tailgates if we want Texas Tech football to matter on a national scale. That shouldn’t be so bad because after all, we always seem to have plenty of tortillas on hand at Jones Stadium.