After a relatively quiet stretch on the college football calendar in terms of notable matchups, Week 10 finally delivers the kind of loaded slate fans have been waiting for.
Among the weekend's biggest attractions is the top-10 "Holy War" matchup between Utah and BYU.
The fourth-ranked Utes and eighth-ranked Cougars have an unusual noon ET, 10 a.m. local, kickoff on Saturday, Nov. 7 in Salt Lake City at Rice–Eccles Stadium. Utah looks to keep its undefeated record alive while BYU looks for its second top-10 win in a matter of weeks.
When the kickoff time was announced a few weeks ago, it drew immediate backlash from fans across the college football landscape.
After all, two of the Big 12's best teams, both projected to reach the College Football Playoff based on the selection committee's first rankings reveal, were assigned a 10 a.m. local kickoff in a game many expected to occupy a later national television window.
The unusual start time quickly became a talking point online, with one fan joking that the matchup was being played during "real church hours for the Holy War."
Here's why Utah vs. BYU is being played at 10 a.m. local time:
Why is Utah-BYU being played at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday?
In short, it has to do with ESPN.
ESPN, a TV rights partner of the Big 12 Conference, announced on Oct. 26 that this year's edition of the "Holy War" between the Utes and the Cougars will kick off at 10 a.m. MT at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City and will air on ABC.
It's a noticeable scheduling outlier. Since 2016, Utah and BYU have played just two rivalry games outside of a late evening television window: a 5:30 p.m. local kickoff in 2016 and a 6 p.m. local kickoff last season. The most common kickoff slot for the series during that span has been 10 p.m. ET (8 p.m. MT), with five of the seven meetings played in that prime-time window.
The rivals did not meet in 2020, 2022, or 2023.
One possible explanation for this year's Utah-BYU kickoff time is the broader college football television schedule for Week 10.
The SEC occupies much of the national spotlight Saturday. The conference has games on ESPN and ABC in the 3:30 p.m. ET window, including LSU vs. Alabama, which marks the Tigers' first home game against the Crimson Tide not scheduled for a night kickoff since 2010. Later, Kentucky visits Tennessee in a 6:15 p.m. ET matchup on ESPN before Georgia and Ole Miss take center stage in ABC's 7:30 p.m. ET prime-time slot.
The prime-time window is also crowded elsewhere. Notre Dame, which suffered a College Football Playoff path-damaging loss to BYU just a few weeks ago, hosts No. 1 Miami at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. With so many high-profile matchups competing for viewers throughout the afternoon and evening, it's possible that ESPN and the Big 12 viewed an earlier noon ET window as the best opportunity to maximize exposure for the BYU-Utah rivalry.
USA TODAY Sports reached out to ESPN PR for comment on this story but did not receive a response in return.
Utah-BYU football start time
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 7
- Time: Noon ET (10 a.m. local time)
- Location: Rice–Eccles Stadium (Salt Lake City)
Utah and BYU are set for a noon ET (10 a.m. local time) kickoff at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 7.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: BYU-Utah deserved prime time. Here’s why it’s kicking off at breakfast
