College football schedule update: Alabama vs. Texas game kickoff announced

It's official: the Week 2 clash between Alabama and Texas is getting the early kickoff, as Fox Sports announced its 2022 college football schedule.

Fox said the Crimson Tide and Longhorns will kick off at 11 a.m. Central Time on Saturday, Sept. 10 from Austin.

That's just what many fans were afraid of. While the game is one of the most anticipated of the season, the early time means that the entire game will be played in the heat of the day, which in Austin in September easily reaches into the mid 90s.

Texas football fans even started a petition asking Fox Sports to move the game to primetime, but the business of college football on TV meant otherwise.

Why the early games on Fox?

While most college football fans, and athletes, prefer major games like this to be played at night, Fox has taken a different approach.

Instead, the network believes that by playing its biggest games early in the day, it can avoid competing with other TV networks like ESPN and ABC that are also playing important games after dark.

Hence, the creation of "Big Noon Kickoff," the Fox network's premier college football property.

Using viewership data, Fox determined that airing games early in the day has done the best for their ratings. For the players, however, early day games can be taxing.

Especially in Austin, where temperatures routinely reach the 90s in early September. Which means the on-field thermometers can easily surpass 100 degrees, in particular in the second half going into the late afternoon as players are already growing more tired from the game.

Fox airing Big 12 games early in the day was such a problem that Oklahoma officials even cited the 11 a.m. kickoffs as a direct cause for their leaving for the SEC.

Despite the times being almost universally unpopular with fans, TV is king in college football and Fox is going with where the money is.

(h/t Fox Sports)

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