Late Washington Football games creates angst for Coach Petersen

The Washington Football team finds itself losing for winning. Due to the team’s competitiveness, games are routinely rescheduled for evenings. Fans are not thrilled over the results, and neither is Coach Petersen

The Washington Football schedule is subject to the schedule of television programming. Winning games is one thing. But all too few of those games make it to the most important audience of all. Those east coast writers and coaches who hold the ultimate power – the NCAA ranking system.

As much as the NCAA works with their formulations, and tries to create objectivity, the system is buried under so much subjectivity that there is a mirage of what truly is an objective system.

Coach Petersen apologizes

On one hand, it’s too late for families to enjoy the game. Children who had been so much of the tradition of attending an afternoon game sleep far too early in the evening to attend games which carry the event to midnight or later.

The matter is so significant, that Head Coach Chris Petersen apologized for the situation during his press conference on Monday.  That was after the schedule changed once more. Now, the game against California airs at 7:45 p.m. PT.  The following week, the game at Arizona State airs at 7:45 p.m. PT as well.  For east coast viewers, those games begin at nearly 11:00 p.m. ET.

Petersen’s apology was heartfelt and spontaneous:

"“I just want to say something to our fans: we apologize for these late games. And I’d also like to reiterate it has nothing to do with us or the administration,” Petersen said. “We want to play at 1 p.m.”"

Late Pacific games lose national audiences

On the other hand, that’s awfully late to attract much of a national audience.  Petersen made that point as well.  And much of that national audience holds the keys to post season invitations.  Check out this recent “power ranking” from FoxSports Joel Klatt:

And there is the rub. He has limited data about the Washington Football team. The Huskies played the Scarlet Knights to open the season. That is likely his only impression of the team. While the Washington Football team continues to pile up the victories, few pundits see them. The only game caught by the eastern seaboard was the Washington Huskies win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.  That was, by many accounts, the least impressive win of the season.

Losing a legacy

But there more than national rankings at work right now in the television scheduling of Washington Football games. There is that legacy factor:

There will always be trade offs and compromises in life. A television deal adds revenue to both school and conference coffers. But the timing of games is surrendered. Ultimately, Saturday afternoons become “killing time” for teams awaiting the green light on a camera.

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But there is a generation of Washington football fans and potential players who, by the hour of televised games, lose the opportunity for the “in stadium” thrill.  East coast teams stop playing after 4 p.m. ET. West coast teams pick up the slack afterwards. There must be a better way to get this done.  Stadiums on the west coast cannot become antiquated thanks to the east coast appetite for prime time football.