Oregon will host Arizona for a 7:30pm PT kickoff on Nov. 16, marking the "third time in six home football games this season that Oregon will play at 7:30 or later," according to Steve Mims of the Eugene REGISTER-GUARD. Oregon AD Rob Mullens said, "Obviously, we are disappointed. ... We'd love to have an afternoon game." Mullens: "We are in the middle of a contract and there are some benefits to that contract, but one of the unfortunate, unintended consequences was late TV windows." Oregon announced a sellout crowd of 59,361 for a 37-35 win over Washington State on Oct. 26 that began at 7:30pm, and it drew 50,529 for a Friday game on Oct. 11 against Colorado that began at 7:00pm. Oregon's home opener against Nevada on Sept. 7 had an attendance of 50,920 for a 4:30pm kickoff. Mullens said, "Obviously, our fans prefer afternoon games and they are very understanding of an occasional night game." He added, "We have a large part of our fan base that drives a significant amount of time and they get concerned about a game that ends well into the night." Mullens said a "few thousand" tickets remain for the game against Arizona, adding, "We have a lot of work to do to sell out Arizona and Oregon State" (Eugene REGISTER-GUARD, 11/5).
EVEN LATER? In San Jose, Jon Wilner noted California Assembly Bill 7 "threatens to play havoc" on Pac-12 kickoff times. AB 7 would "place California on Daylight Saving Time all year." That means if the bill becomes law, "late-season games on Pac-12 campuses" will start at 8:30pm. Oregon and Washington are "prepared to follow" California, meaning the "entire West Coast would skip the process of falling back, leaving it two hours behind Eastern Time from early November through early March." That would "create a problem for Pac-12 kickoffs in the final month of the season." Former ESPN VP/Programming Dave Brown, who founded the Gridiron scheduling service for college football programs, said, "Oh, boy. That would be an issue" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 11/5).
