Game Time… Woof?!

Remember the old Chicago Bulls pre-game chant? It was in some commercial that was constantly on ESPN in the mid-90’s. Did they say “Woof!” at the end, or was it something else that I wasn’t cool enough to decipher? Was it "Hoo!"? Please advise.

Anyway, game times have been announced for 6 Michigan games this season. All times Eastern:

Sept. 2nd – Vanderbilt, Noon - ESPN (possibly HD)
Sept. 16th – at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m. - NBC HD
Sept. 30th – at Minnesota, 8 p.m. - ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2 (all likely HD)
Oct. 7th – Michigan State, 4:30 p.m. - ESPN (likely HD)
Oct. 14th – at Penn State, 8 p.m. - ABC HD (split national coverage with ASU at USC)
Oct. 28th – Northwestern, Noon - TV TBA

Thoughts, in chronological order:

-Will the Vandy game continue the tradition of opening game scorchers (as in, HOT)? With little shade in Michigan Stadium between Noon and 3:30, let’s hope for 70 degrees and partly cloudy instead of 83 and sunny.

-Our first road game, at Notre Dame, is a 3:30 start. This will be another ulcer-inducing day for me. Do we have a chance to win? Sure, why not? [Because Lloyd will go fetal on us, that’s why not!] But I’m more worried about the 5 hours I have to kill between the start of Gameday and the kickoff. That is always the worst part of the weekend for me.

-Another night game at Minnesota is a definite “trap” game. The last of three straight “revenge games” (at Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and at Minnesota), right before a home rivalry game with MSU, and at night… could be a struggle. Let’s hope it’s not as nuts as the 2003 game. But as long as we win, I’ll take it.

-The MSU game should be a great atmosphere. A 4:30 start is the latest that I can remember at the Big House. And although it will be early October (pre-Daylight Saving Time), the lights will have to be turned on. According to this article, “Sunset in Ann Arbor on the day of the Michigan-MSU game will be at 7:07 p.m., or sometime in the second half.” Sounds good to me. Even if we have a few losses going into the game (which is possible), it should still be a great atmosphere. And if we happen to be 5-0? I’ll be the guy in Section 9R (since when did they add the “R,” and what does it stand for?) breathing into a brown paper bag.

-The PSU night game stands out. Their fans are going to be bloodthirsty that night. Any sort of “PSU graduated 90% of their good players” argument just went out the window. If you think we’re gonna walk in there and blow them out, you probably thought we would beat Notre Dame last year… and the year before. I’m not saying we will lose at PSU, but it will be a close game either way.

-Northwestern at Noon is to be expected. It is Homecoming, and Michigan rarely has Homecoming kickoffs at 3:30.

So, those are the officially announced times so far. If I had to guess on the other games, I would say:

Sept. 9th – Central Michigan, 90% chance Noon ; 10% 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 23rd – Wisconsin, 50% Noon ; 50% 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 21st – Iowa, 50% Noon ; 50% 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 4th – Ball State, 99% Noon ; 1% 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 11th – at Indiana, 90% Noon ; 10% 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 18th – at Ohio State, 90% 1:00 p.m. ; 10% Noon

The guesstimates above are based on Michigan’s unofficial “policy” of not having 3:30 starts at home after Daylight Saving Time. Also, ABC has the rights to the Michigan-OSU game, and has favored the somewhat odd 1 p.m. kickoff time in recent years. I expect that to continue.

As always, check the Schedule on the right sidebar for updated times and TV stations.

Related: ABC has some more prime time games this year, all in HD. It’s about time.