OSU football: Cowboys headed for Sunday

Oklahoma State football already signed up for a Thursday game (Sept. 8 at home against Arizona) and a Friday game (Nov. 18 at Iowa State), and now the Cowboys are headed for a Sunday morning game. At least a Sunday morning finish.

The OSU-Tulsa game in Tulsa on Sept. 17 will kick off at 9 p.m., which means it will end after midnight. Perhaps well after midnight.

9 p.m. is not an opportune time for college football. Most fans love night games, but not that much night. Games that start that late are great on the front end; all kinds of time for fans to enjoy a Saturday and still get to the ballgame, all kinds of time to tail-gate on campus. But a 12:30 a.m. finish is fun for no one. Not fans, not ballplayers, not workers, not peace officers, not business owners, not anyone.

In OSU’s defense, at least this is a road game. For the third straight year, the Cowboys are playing a Thursday night home game, which is a drag. For the second straight year, OSU is playing a Friday night road game, which is OK for State fans.

But 9 p.m. television windows will become more commonplace as the Big 12 expands its TV footprint. More networks showing games, more games on. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe has said the goal is to have every Big 12 football game televised, but this is one of the ways it happens. By playing early and playing late.

When the Big 12/Pac-10 talks heated up last June, some fans expressed dismay at possible late-night kickoffs. The proposed Pac-16 included a likely 9 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. (Oklahoma time) kickoff, which OSU or OU would occasionally be called upon to play. Turns out, that time slot came to the Big 12, even though the league just lost its only Mountain Time Zone school (Colorado).