Missouri decided to move the start time of its college football game to avoid extreme heat. However, the high temperatures in Columbia are pretty standard for the rest of the SEC.
And to make matters worse, the Tigers move the game up… not back.
I am not a meteorologist but I can confidently say that it would be much cooler to play a college football at night than during the day. Meteorologists agree!
Missouri is scared of the weather.
The University of Missouri officially left the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference on July 1, 2012. It is the northernmost school in a conference that starts with the word “South” and it shows.
A heatwave is expected to hit the midwest this weekend. Temperatures will approach the record of 99º, which was set in 1939.
Don’t get me wrong— hot is hot is hot.
However, the Tigers decided to move Saturday’s college football game against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (or whatever it wants to be called these days) from 3:30 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. Kickoff will take place three and a half earlier than originally scheduled.
According to multiple weather forecasts, the temperature will exceed 90 degrees right as the clock hits noon. It will not dip back to 90 until 7:00 p.m. Therein lies my next question.
Why not play college football at night?
John Ross of ABC 17 News confirmed what we already knew. The Columbia-based meteorologist agrees that it will indeed be less hot at 7:00 p.m. than at 12:00 p.m.
Who woulda thunk?
That makes me wonder why Missouri decided to move its game up and not back. Television rights prevented a later kickoff but still… This is why Mizzou is the ugly stepchild of the SEC.
First and foremost, these kinds of temperatures are the standard for mid-September at most schools in the SEC. Oxford, Mississippi is going to hit 94º on Saturday. Austin, Texas will hit 97º. Baton Rouge the same.
And those numbers don’t even include the humidity. The Tigers are soft!
With that being said, I totally understand not wanting to play at the hottest time of the day. I would not want to play at 3:30 either.
In that case, Missouri would be smart to move the game to 7:30 p.m. as the sun goes down. Even 6:00 would be better. The difference in temperature between 12:00 and 3:30 will be negligible. What’s the point?