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Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione 'Bitterly Disappointed' Over 11 a.m. Nebraska Start

The Sooners and Cornhuskers have been planning events around this game since 2012, and Joe C. says Fox Sports "denied our requests" for a later kickoff time.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione 'Bitterly Disappointed' Over 11 a.m. Nebraska Start
Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione 'Bitterly Disappointed' Over 11 a.m. Nebraska Start /

Oklahoma athletic director expressed displeasure Thursday with the decision of Fox Sports to show the Sooners’ Sept. 18 home game with Nebraska in the 11 a.m. time slot.

“We are bitterly disappointed,” Castiglone said in a statement on social media, “that the great Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry, on the 50th anniversary of the Game of the Century, will kick off at 11 a.m.

“We tried every possible avenue to proactively make our case. The Big 12 Conference also supported our strenuous efforts to secure a more traditional time that would honor this game and our fans. However, in the end, our TV partner chose to exercise its full contractual rights and denied our requests.”

The Sooners and Cornhuskers will follow Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show — which will include former Sooners head coach Bob Stoops as a studio analyst as the game originates from Norman — but it’s one of several 11 a.m. starts the Sooners have scheduled. Also Thursday, OU announced an 11 a.m. start to the season opener at Tulane, and it’s likely the OU-Texas game will be at 11 a.m. as well.

Since he signed the contract with Nebraska's Tom Osborne in 2012, Castiglione has long been planning a grand celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the epic 1971 showdown between the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams in the nation, won 35-31 by the Cornhuskers.

There are numerous events tentatively scheduled throughout the week leading up to the game, including a massive reunion party for members of both teams on Friday night.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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