Football
Cougs again looking like Night Stalkers in the Pac-12
By Cougfan.com 6/3/2018
WHEN IT COMES TO kickoff times, how does
Washington State compare to the rest of the Pac-12? Last season, eight of 12
Cougar games kicked off at 5 p.m. or later and Wazzu looks well on its way to
repeating its late night ways in 2018.
The early results have WSU with more late
kickoffs (4) than anyone other than Utah. We don’t have the complete picture
with the bulk of TV/times to be set 6- and 12-days in advance -- but the first
three weeks of the Pac-12 schedule, and all Thursday (2) and Friday (7) games,
have been announced.
WSU is tied with the Arizona schools for
second-most kickoffs after 5 p.m. but that's by design. Because of the heat,
the Arizona schools typically schedule their home games late. The Cougs are also one of only two Pac-12
teams (Arizona) with an 8 p.m. start for a game (Week Two; San Jose
State).
The logic behind the high number of Pac-12 night
games is plain: There's a lot of money at stake, and TV networks want as large
a night game inventory as they can get.
Here's how the early returns breaks down for the
Pac-12 North and South:
WSU: 5 games set, 4 kickoffs at 5 pm or
later.
UW: 4 games set, 2 kickoffs at 5 pm or later.
Oregon: 4 games set, 1 kickoff at 5 pm or later.
Oregon State: 4 games set, 1 kickoff at 5 pm or
later.
Stanford: 5 games set, 3 kickoffs at 5 pm or
later. *Four if considering 4:30 pm or later.
Cal: 3 games set, 1 kickoff at 5 pm or later.
USC: 4 games set, 3 kickoffs at 5 pm or later.
UCLA: 4 games set, 2 kickoffs at 5 pm or later.
Arizona: 5 games set, 4 kickoffs at 5 pm or
later.
ASU: 4 games set, 4 kickoffs at 5 pm or later.
Colorado: 5 games set, 3 kickoffs at 5 pm or
later.
Utah: 5 games set, 5 kickoffs at 5 pm or later.
NOTABLE NOTES:
Cal is the only Pac-12 school to play all 12 of
its regular season games on Saturdays this year.
WSU plays two Friday night games this season
against USC and UW. Three other Pac-12
schools play two Th/Fri games: Stanford,
UCLA and Arizona. Schools that have one
Th/Fri matchup on the season: UW, Oregon, Oregon State, USC and ASU.
Both Utah and Colorado play three games on
Thursdays/Fridays this season.
2018 WSU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (all times Pacific)
Sept. 1 – at Wyoming (TV: CBSSN, 12:30 p.m.)
Sept. 8 – San Jose State (TV: Pac-12 Network, 8
p.m.)
Sept. 15 – Eastern Washington (TV: Pac-12
Network, 5 p.m.)
Sept. 21 – *at USC (TV: ESPN, 7:30 p.m.)
Sept. 29 – Utah (Homecoming)
Oct. 6 – at Oregon State
Oct. 13 – BYE
Oct. 20 – Oregon
Oct. 27– at Stanford
Nov. 3 – California (Dad's Weekend)
Nov. 10 – at Colorado
Nov. 17 – Arizona
Nov. 23 – *Washington (TV: Fox, 5:30 pm)
*Friday game
