Will Oklahoma State Get a Primetime Game at Kansas State?
Oklahoma State could be set for its first game under the lights if it can win this weekend.
On Monday, the Big 12 announced kickoff times for Week 5’s slate, with all but one game pushed to the six-day window. That means most games, including OSU’s battle at Kansas State, will have their kickoff times announced after this weekend’s games.
On Saturday, OSU will kick off its conference schedule with an important matchup against Utah. As two of the highest-ranked teams in the conference, OSU and Utah will each have an opportunity to stake an early claim as the Big 12’s best team.
Although the stakes are as high as any conference opener in the country, the game is set for a 3 p.m. kickoff and will not get to host College GameDay. While it is disappointing for OSU not to get the national attention it desires in a game that could be looked back on as a playoff play-in, the Cowboys could find their way into a primetime slot next week.
If OSU and Kansas State enter their matchup unbeaten, they could have a golden opportunity to earn Fox’s primetime slot. While ESPN and ABC’s prime time slots are already spoken for in Week 5, Fox’s is still open.
A matchup featuring two high-ranked teams with significant conference title and College Football Playoff implications is typically a great combination to earn a game under the lights. However, the importance of the matchup could easily prevent the Cowboys from getting a night game.
While ESPN’s primetime slot is filled with an ACC matchup, the ABC slot is set for a matchup between top 5 teams Georgia and Alabama. Along with likely knocking the Cowboys out of a night game, that matchup almost certainly will keep College GameDay in the SEC for another week.
While the Big 12 scheduled important early matchups to get eyes on the conference, it simply cannot compete with the SEC for that attention.
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IVAN WHITE
Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.