STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Mike Mulvihill, Fox’s president of insights and analytics, has seen photos of the white T-shirts being sold at The Family Clothesline in downtown State College.

The shirts displayed at the front of the store read in bold navy blue letters: Big Noon Games Suck.

“How does it feel to speak to the most hated man in Happy Valley this week?” Mulvihill asked on the phone Thursday morning as he navigated an airport from Fox’s World Series coverage in New York before switching gears for “Big Noon Kickoff” on location in State College this weekend.

Ah yes, he knows exactly how some Penn State fans view Saturday afternoon’s start for No. 3 Penn State versus No. 4 Ohio State. But before anyone tries to smear Fox for making this the Big Noon game, Mulvihill begs fans to listen to him.

The reactions announcing this game with Fox Big Noon and the accompanying pre-game show have left the network without many fans in Happy Valley. Some fans are lamenting Big Noon for taking their home game, which Penn State wanted as the nightly White Out game, and instead putting it in the afternoon TV slot.

You know what, they’re absolutely right, we need to appear on BOTH shows!! Don’t forget to stop by The Family Clothesline and pick up one of these before you go! https://t.co/WrmnoluoNP pic.twitter.com/tazkipsydV

— The Penn State Troll 🦁🧌 (@ThePSUTroll) October 28, 2024

Here’s how we got here: Fox had selections one, two, five, six and seven in the annual network draft between itself, CBS and NBC. Think of the draft as if you were doing a fantasy football draft. There is a large board and the networks alternate. This Penn State-Ohio State game was not selected in the top four.

“This game was at No. 5 on the board for us when we have three straight picks and there’s just no way I can drop this game to the eighth pick,” Mulvihill said. “That would almost be malpractice on my part. … With the draft as it played out, it was just clear that we had to take it.”

The announcement of a noon kickoff this month wasn’t a surprise, but Penn State fans have posted on social media about possibly boycotting “Big Noon Kickoff” and instead going to ESPN’s “College GameDay,” which is also on location outside Beaver Stadium takes place. on Saturday. Mulvihill hopes that won’t happen, but he also knows that putting the conference’s big game at noon will never win everyone over.

“Our job is to bring the schools we work with to the attention of as many people as possible,” Mulvihill said. “If we can get as much exposure to our schools as possible, it should not only benefit Fox, but those programs as well. What we’ve discovered over the last six years is that it’s very clear that playing our best game at noon gets the biggest audience for those games.”

What Fox found was that Penn State-Ohio State, the Big Noon game the last time the Buckeyes were in State College two years ago, performs about a third better in ratings than when it airs in prime time, Mulvihill said. .

“There’s a belief that prime time is somehow inherently better, but that doesn’t really match the analysis,” he said.

GO DEEPER

Andy Kotelnicki is the offensive architect Penn State has long been waiting for

However, that doesn’t mean fans have to like it. TV ratings are often the furthest thing from their minds. They think it’s important that Penn State has a team that can push an Ohio State roster with a national title or a failure mentality. Saturday also marks the last time Ohio State plays at Beaver Stadium until 2028. Penn State heads to Columbus next year and then runs through games against Michigan in 2026 and 2027 before the Buckeyes return.

There is less time to reload at noon. Anyone heading downtown on Friday night – and this city is already full of anticipation for Saturday – will probably have to turn in before last call. The traffic problems at Beaver Stadium that are notorious here for afternoon games – the byproduct of everyone arriving in a tight time frame, as opposed to all-day traffic like a 3:30 p.m. game or a night game – will will undoubtedly occur Saturday morning.

“(That) 7:30 energy is always different,” middle linebacker Kobe King said. “We’ll just get started on it right away with an afternoon match.”

Saturday marks the first time in 25 years that Beaver Stadium will host two teams ranked in the top five of the AP poll. As the dueling ESPN “College Gameday” and Fox “Big Noon Kickoff” pre-game show sets are built in the parking lots outside Beaver Stadium, the magnitude of Saturday becomes clear. It’s a turning point for this season, for the College Football Playoff race and for a community that lives and breathes with the ebb and flow of each fall Saturday.

Mulvihill understands the desire of students and fans who want to sleep in before diving into the game in prime time. But ratings and television money are king.

“I think there’s a less vocal portion of the fan base that appreciates the daytime start because we’ve heard from coaches and ADs throughout the conference that they appreciate the logistics of the daytime start,” Mulvihill said. “If you play a night game on the road, your team may not get home until 3 in the morning.”

He understands why some fans still haven’t wrapped their heads around what was considered an unconventional idea in the spring of 2019, when Fox met with Big Ten head coaches and athletic directors to pitch them the idea to host the conference’s top game that week to win and place at noon. At the time, Penn State head coach James Franklin was one of the biggest supporters.

On Wednesday night, Franklin said tongue-in-cheek that he likes an afternoon start.

“I’ve seen it all over social media,” Franklin said. “Our fans couldn’t be more excited. … Nothing better than an afternoon game in Happy Valley.”

GO DEEPER

Penn State QB Drew Allar could be the decision in the game against Ohio State, James Franklin says

While Penn State’s annual White Out game takes place this Saturday against Washington (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten), Fox worked with Penn State to ensure the White Out would not take place at noon. While Penn State can do very little to prevent any network from selecting its game, there was an understanding that by selecting Penn State-Ohio State at noon, Fox would not also take the White Out.

And maybe let’s not forget the other part of all this. As fans hunker down at home to watch Penn State-Ohio State, viewers in two key presidential election states will continue to be bombarded with campaign ads during commercials. That’s also a big reason why this game ended up on Fox at noon.

“The election piece was definitely part of it,” Mulvihill said. “I’m sure there’s some fatigue around campaign advertising in Pennsylvania because it’s arguably the most important state in the election, but we took that pretty seriously: the race is three days away from Election Day and we knew it was a of the most important elections. the biggest games of the season and we wanted to take advantage of that advertising opportunity.”

(Photo: Matthew O’Haren / Imagn Images)