ESPN fumbles the Holy War by forcing Utah and BYU into a dreaded early-morning kickoff for fans

The annual 'Holy War' between Utah and BYU deserves better.

Once we get to this part of the season, television networks have to obviously start picking what they think are the most opportune times to broadcast some of the most important games they have under contract.

But, that doesn’t mean companies need to sacrifice and give into the pressure of opposing conference games in order to get the better rating. And yes, I understand ESPN has the television rights to SEC and Big 12 football, so decisions like this are not easy for the programming department.

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Though, making Utah and BYU play at 10 a.m. local time feels criminal in this case, given the ramifications around this Big 12 game that has major CFP implications.

If you haven’t seen the news yet, here is how ESPN decided what was best for the November 7th slate of games that are filled with must-see showdowns.

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BYU vs. Utah: 12 p.m ET on ABC/ESPN

Texas vs. Missouri: 12 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN

Alabama vs. LSU: 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC

Kentucky vs. Tennessee: 6:15 p.m. ET on ESPN

Georgia vs. Ole Miss: 7:30 p.m ET on ABC

And, NBC will broadcast the Miami vs. Notre Dame showdown at 7:30 pm ET, while Oregon will face Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

College football fans deserved a night-game showdown in Utah

So, that left the important Big 12 game between the Cougars and Utes as the odd-teams out of this television equation that will see a plethora of top-25 showdowns take place on the same day.

Look, I get that ESPN was put into a spot, but this could have easily been handled by the network putting the anticipated 'Holy War' in the 9:30 pm ET time slot after Kentucky faced-off with Tennessee on ESPN.

It should also be noted that the Big 12 essentially gets the 3rd round pick on these weekends, and BYU just lost to UCF this past Saturday.

But, make it a 10:00 p.m. ET kickoff on the network, which is essentially what took place this past weekend when Houston played Utah in Salt Lake City.

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We should be awarding the fans in college football with a better situation than having them walk into the stadium at 8-9 a.m local time for a highly-anticipated rivalry game with so much on the line.

This almost feels criminal to make both fanbases wake up this early for a top-25 showdown with CFP ramifications.

Cougars vs. Utes should’ve been played after the SEC slate

For this, ESPN should have put this game in the late window, even if they were sacrificing some of the ratings that were undoubtably coming their way.

Did the network honestly think a large portion of the college football base would not stay up for a late kickoff that came after Notre Dame played Miami, or Georgia faced Ole Miss in primetime?

I also understand the conundrum ESPN was in regarding this kickoff time, but both Utah and BYU deserved better.

This one is a loss, no matter how the networks come out of this

I'd imagine those within the Big 12 office in Texas are fuming at this decision, and rightfully so.

Trey Wallace is the Sr. College Sports Reporter for OutKick.