Written by Chris Solari at USAToday.com
When the Big Ten announced in November that it would play six games on Friday nights in 2017, it caused a ripple of backlash from high schools across the Midwest.
It also did not sit well with some of the league’s 14 members.
Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips, whose school had two games scheduled for Fridays, managed to convince the conference last month to move them both to Saturday. One of them was the Wildcats’ home game against Michigan State, which was shifted to Saturday, Oct. 28.
“I think part of this has to be the local politics, if you will,” Phillips said Monday at Big Ten headquarters. “What does it feel like in Evanston versus what does it feel like in Lincoln or feels like in Iowa City or Columbus, Ohio. And the more we can allow those schools to locally have influence over what we do on Friday nights, the better off we’ll be.”
Administrators from a number of high school associations in the Midwest met for two hours Monday with the 12 Big Ten athletic directors, who are having their annual meetings at conference headquarters. Phillips said it was vital for the college representatives to hear the high school perspective on the impending Friday night move.
The Big Ten’s new television agreements with ABC/ESPN and Fox stipulates the conference will play six Friday games per year over the next six seasons. MSU’s only Friday game in 2017 as part of that pact was the since-moved game against Northwestern.
The Spartans are scheduled to host Bowling Green on Saturday, Sept. 2 at Spartan Stadium, which was initially planned for the following week. MSU has opened iots season with a Friday night game over Labor Day weekend for the past six seasons, five of them at home.
To continue reading this article, click here.
