Bacho: College football is no longer about students

This holiday season, you as a student at the University of Toledo should be very thankful that the Rockets are members of the Mid-American Conference.

If you haven’t guessed yet, things are about to take a very sarcastic turn.

On the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 19, almost every major parking lot on UT’s campus closed down for the rivalry matchup between the Rockets’ football team and Bowling Green State University. It was the first time since 2010 that the game was played on a Wednesday night.

By the end of UT’s triumph over the Falcons, the remaining crowd couldn’t properly fill a Toyota Prius. The brave students that did attend and stay from start to finish can thank the MAC for the 8 p.m. kickoff. I hope it didn’t take too long to thaw out for class the next morning.

And anyone with Wednesday evening classes who had to park in outlying lots? Now you know which direction you can tip your caps in gratitude. I hope it didn’t take too long to trek back and forth across campus in the frigid conditions.

The crazy part is that it’s not the only mid-week game Toledo played this season against a major conference opponent.

The Rockets’ sole MAC loss was to Northern Illinois at

8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The only difference between that evening and the BGSU game is that fans waited until halftime to leave the Battle of I-75.

It’s yet another scheduling decision that should earn the MAC bigwigs a thank-you card this winter.

At least no NIU night students were misplaced, since the Rockets’ loss to the Huskies took place on a national holiday. But this game was huge for both sides and it should have been treated as such when the conference and schools decided on a date and time.

Unfortunately, it all comes down to money. The MAC’s scheduling decisions are strongly influenced by the ongoing partnership with ESPN. It’s a deal that may help the conference’s bank account, but the goal of creating exposure for its schools is now achieved at the expense of the fans.

By the way, how much exposure do you actually get on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. on a Wednesday in November, or at the same time and channel on the previous Tuesday?

In any case, this is an issue that others have already talked about. But the voices that have cried out about this problem, while good-intentioned, are not those of actual students.

Nighttime kickoffs in the middle of the week hurt worst for the fans that actually still attend college. They can’t possibly go to these games, or want to, when the weather is horrible and there are classes to attend the next morning.

College football is supposed to be a leisurely spectator activity for students at the end of the week. The MAC’s decision to choose the money of television over packed stadiums only proves how outrageously divided college athletics and college academics have become.

Nowadays, the only thing a university shares with its football team is a logo and a color scheme.

The MAC will realize the error of its ways far too late, probably after enough cameras showcase empty stadiums to the desired national television audience. In the meantime, students will be so disgusted with the mistreatment that even Saturday afternoon games will have lost their appeal.

In pursuit of financial gain, the Mid-American Conference has decided to flip the bird at over one hundred years of tradition. In the process, the MAC has shown that students — who are supposed to be the reason college football exists — are no longer a factor in major decisions or changes.

While ESPN and the MAC profit, the students will suffer in ways the conference probably hasn’t even thought about, such as the parking inconveniences born from a midweek rivalry game. It will come back to bite the schools and conference in the end, but the student bodies get the immediate short end of the stick.

The truth is that college football is no longer about college students at Mid-American Conference schools. Now you know whom to thank for that.

Blake Bacho is a fifth-year communication major, and is the Sports editor at The Independent Collegian.