College Football Game Dates

[Ethnic history of the Vilnius region]

I thought it would be useful to have a listing of some major college football games that could potentially impact college quizbowl scheduling, attendance, logistics, etc. This list basically begins in mid-September and goes through the weekend before Thanksgiving, which seems to cover most of the fall quizbowl season. I have an explanation for this list in the post below. When planning tournaments, teams (especially in the Southeast) may wish to look at this list to see if, say, Alabama has a huge game that weekend that would possibly keep them from coming to your tournament. Obviously teams shouldn’t not host a tournament just because a potential attendee has a big game that weekend, but perhaps it’s something to consider when picking a date.

September 17:

Oklahoma at FSU
Tennessee at Florida
Ohio State at Miami

September 24

Arkansas at Alabama

October 1

Alabama at Florida

October 8

No real conflicts

October 15

Ohio State at Illinois
Iowa State @ Missouri (Missouri won't come to your tournament if you host on this day)

October 22

Tennessee at Alabama
Southern Cal at Notre Dame

October 29

Florida at Georgia

November 5

LSU at Alabama

November 12

Miami at FSU
Auburn at Georgia
Alabama at Mississippi State
Michigan at Illinois
Florida at South Carolina

November 19

Nebraska at Michigan
Penn State at Ohio State

[Ethnic history of the Vilnius region]

The games listed in the post above basically involve major programs with a focus on the Southeast since that’s the region that seems to have the most conflicts with football and because it’s the region I’m most familiar with. I also have sprinklings of Big 10 games and a few others that caught my eye. I only included games for schools that I know or suspect of having quizbowl programs. I tried only to include major rivalry games and games projected to have national implications. Although I too don’t like to miss too many games, I would hope that quizbowl programs would bite the bullet and prioritize quizbowl over games featuring secondary rivals or Georgia State or Coastal Carolina. Also, although it’s common sense that schools like Florida, Georgia, and Alabama might want to think twice about hosting tournaments on home game weekends due to traffic and parking chaos, I didn’t include those games on the schedule because I assume those teams know when their home games are. Finally, I omitted some major games in which quizbowl schools’ teams played on the road(like Florida at Auburn) that didn’t quite rise imo to quizbowl conflicts.

Anyway, I hope this list helps. It’s definitely possible I forgot about some major games when skimming over the schedule, so feel free to post about other games I missed and I’ll edit the schedule if I think it’s reasonable. It’s also possible that some games not listed will all of the sudden become important as the football season progresses and that some games listed will decrease in importance. Also, some games might move to Thursday night during the season as well.

Some thoughts:

Alabama seems to have a lot of big games, so they might have to skip a few to play a quality fall quizbowl schedule.

September 17 seems like a bad weekend to host anything in the State of Florida.

September 24, October 8, and October 15 seems like a good possible fall novice weekends.

October 29 would potentially result in Florida and Georgia not coming to your tournament.

Also, it's hard to believe we're going to see Nebraska at Michigan.

Most weekends only seem to effect 1 or so teams in a given region. Of course, even one team missing a tournament can have a big impact on a tournament, but I don’t see enough conflicts to make me think that football and quizbowl can't flourish together.

[Cheynem]

Depending on your campus layout, even teams with middling programs can have football games that totally screw things up. Minnesota's football stadium being so close to campus would raise some red flags in the hosting of tournaments (although we have hosted some smaller scale tournaments on game days).

[Rococo A Go Go]

Depending on your campus layout, even teams with middling programs can have football games that totally screw things up. Minnesota's football stadium being so close to campus would raise some red flags in the hosting of tournaments (although we have hosted some smaller scale tournaments on game days).

WKU is basically in this situation, because we have an on-campus stadium and the gameday festivities (tailgating, team parade, etc.) close down roads and generally would make things a hassle to host. I find it extremely unlikely that we'll ever host a quizbowl tournament on the same day as a home football game.

[alexdz]

You can add to the list:
October 15:
Iowa State @ Missouri (not usually a big game, but it will be the official 100th anniversary of homecoming. Not just Mizzou homecoming, mind you, but of the celebration of homecoming as a concept)

November 26 (I realize this is past your date):
Mizzou vs Kansas (at Kansas City) - RIVALRY!

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

Those really aren't problems, Alex, nobody hosts anything right after Thanksgiving and Iowa State doesn't have a team, so I expect us at MU to literally be the only people affected by such a conflict.

[The Goffman Prophecies]

Depending on your campus layout, even teams with middling programs can have football games that totally screw things up. Minnesota's football stadium being so close to campus would raise some red flags in the hosting of tournaments (although we have hosted some smaller scale tournaments on game days).

WKU is basically in this situation, because we have an on-campus stadium and the gameday festivities (tailgating, team parade, etc.) close down roads and generally would make things a hassle to host. I find it extremely unlikely that we'll ever host a quizbowl tournament on the same day as a home football game.

It's the same way in Blacksburg; our stadium is on-campus and the entire town shuts down on gameday.

Also, hotel room price/availability is something to consider; it may be prohibitively expensive or virtually impossible for teams to travel long distances on those days.

[Broad-tailed Grassbird]

EFT was the same day that OSU played @Illinois (that was the weekend that Wisconsin "stubbed their toe" against MSU, and I missed it). It worked out perfectly fine for EFT. I think FIST was on the same day as a Michigan home game. Basically, this thread is irrelevant other than that if you are hosting a fall tournament check your school's football schedule. Make sure your campus won't be a shit show (at least in the area of your tournament), and that your teams can make it to campus (which usually isn't a problem at 8 AM).

[evilmonkey]

I mean, its a decent idea; however, its a discussion that should probably be happening between heads of clubs within a circuit. However, if someone wanted to arrange a Google Doc sorted by region with football schedules for schools that both would have difficulties hosting or attending tournaments on a home football weekend and have quizbowl programs, that would probably be a good resource.

I don't know if they intend to try to host a fall tournament, but Notre Dame literally cannot host a tournament on any home football Saturday, and unless it happens to be a particularly weak opponent (think Western Michigan), probably won't be able to muster a team for any surrounding tournaments. If you're still updating the calendar up there, that nixes ND for Sept. 3 (USF), Sept. 17 (Mich. St.), Oct. 8 (Air Force), Oct. 22 (USC), Oct. 29 (Navy), Nov. 19 (Boston College).

[Ethnic history of the Vilnius region]

Those really aren't problems, Alex, nobody hosts anything right after Thanksgiving and Iowa State doesn't have a team, so I expect us at MU to literally be the only people affected by such a conflict.

I went ahead and added that game anyway. I'm not sure what the plans are for that area of the country, but if a team is hosting and is really counting on Missouri to bring a team, then that would be important I reckon.

Basically, this thread is irrelevant other than that if you are hosting a fall tournament check your school's football schedule. Make sure your campus won't be a shit show (at least in the area of your tournament), and that your teams can make it to campus (which usually isn't a problem at 8 AM).

I mean, the point of this thread is for hosts to check dates when potential attendees might have a big game that would cause them to stay home instead of traveling to your tournament. For example, if you plan to host a tournament on October 29th (which is a traditional ACF Fall weekend, if I remember correctly) and are counting on Georgia and/or Florida to be there, well, you might want to consider rescheduling because that's the weekend of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Both of those schools have indeed missed tournaments on that weekend in the past. By checking this list, you can potentially avoid those conflicts (though conflicts may be inevitable, of course). As someone who has spent lots of time in the past checking football schedules against tournament hosting, something like this would have helped me pick dates quicker. Perhaps it will help other schedulers, especially in the Southeast.

I don't know if they intend to try to host a fall tournament, but Notre Dame literally cannot host a tournament on any home football Saturday, and unless it happens to be a particularly weak opponent (think Western Michigan), probably won't be able to muster a team for any surrounding tournaments. If you're still updating the calendar up there, that nixes ND for Sept. 3 (USF), Sept. 17 (Mich. St.), Oct. 8 (Air Force), Oct. 22 (USC), Oct. 29 (Navy), Nov. 19 (Boston College).

Like I said, I would expect the hosts to be familiar with their own football schedules soas not to host something on a gameday weekend if that makes your school a logistical nightmare. And like I said, this calendar is only showing major opponents. If Notre Dame's team literally can't skip watching a game against Navy or South Florida to attend a tournament, that's fine, but clearly they aren't prioritizing quizbowl and a scheduler at another school shouldn't reasonably be expected to take Notre Dame's potential attendance into account when deciding what weekend would be good for hosting.

[Matt Weiner]

If no one else is gonna say it: Maybe the South wouldn't be such a joke in the college quizbowl realm if its quizbowl players didn't routinely miss tournaments to watch football on television? It's not like they are ON the football team. No one wants a conflict with other events when hosting something, but you can't just block off the entire fall semester because School X's team is too disinterested to show up to a tournament when sports are happening.

[The Ununtiable Twine]

If no one else is gonna say it: Maybe the South wouldn't be such a joke in the college quizbowl realm if its quizbowl players didn't routinely miss tournaments to watch football on television? It's not like they are ON the football team. No one wants a conflict with other events when hosting something, but you can't just block off the entire fall semester because School X's team is too disinterested to show up to a tournament when sports are happening.

I mean, the point of this thread is for hosts to check dates when potential attendees might have a big game that would cause them to stay home instead of traveling to your tournament.

I daresay the point of this thread is to help increase attendance at tournaments (not just in the Southeast!) by scheduling around football games as much as possible. For the most part, we can do this if we have a schedule of big games available to us so we can try to plan around them, because those are the ones that teams are likely to want to watch in person, hence missing that weekend's quizbowl tournament. Again, we are trying to increase attendance at events throughout the country here, not just in our region. This means smart scheduling on the part of the editors and regional coordinators, which is why this thread is useful, Matt. I'd like to think attendance in our region in particular will increase because of such smart planning.

[Wendish Crusade]

Those really aren't problems, Alex, nobody hosts anything right after Thanksgiving and Iowa State doesn't have a team, so I expect us at MU to literally be the only people affected by such a conflict.

We have a team! Granted, our good years are well in the past at this point, but we still have an interesting player or two.

... oh, you mean a football team? Yeah, it's a fair cop. (I do actually lose a player or two to marching band, but they're not coming down to Missouri as far as I know, so yeah, that date only affects you.)

[Ethnic history of the Vilnius region]

If no one else is gonna say it: Maybe the South wouldn't be such a joke in the college quizbowl realm if its quizbowl players didn't routinely miss tournaments to watch football on television? It's not like they are ON the football team. No one wants a conflict with other events when hosting something, but you can't just block off the entire fall semester because School X's team is too disinterested to show up to a tournament when sports are happening.

I mean, the point of this thread is for hosts to check dates when potential attendees might have a big game that would cause them to stay home instead of traveling to your tournament.

I daresay the point of this thread is to help increase attendance at tournaments (not just in the Southeast!) by scheduling around football games as much as possible. For the most part, we can do this if we have a schedule of big games available to us so we can try to plan around them, because those are the ones that teams are likely to want to watch in person, hence missing that weekend's quizbowl tournament. Again, we are trying to increase attendance at events throughout the country here, not just in our region. This means smart scheduling on the part of the editors and regional coordinators, which is why this thread is useful, Matt. I'd like to think attendance in our region in particular will increase because of such smart planning.

Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely NOT saying, “Let’s block off the entire fall semester to watch football.” That sentiment is not even remotely in anything I posted. I personally, and the South Carolina team generally, have never skipped a tournament because of a football game, and I know that Alabama, Florida, and other teams also skip big games to go to tournaments. But I also live in the real world, and in the Southeast especially, college football is kind of a big deal. Though not normally a major problem, there are a few weekends that would possibly be impacted by college football (see: September 17th in Florida). So all things being equal, I don’t see any reason to host a tournament one weekend if there’s a strong chance 2-3 teams would miss it when you could host the same tournament another weekend where everyone will attend.

Another thing to consider is that, in college quizbowl, there seems to be a big emphasis on trying to attract new players. This is especially true in the fall (i.e. football season). New recruits and novices are oftentimes a bit more casual than long time players, and from experience it can be harder to get them to go to a tournament if they have to miss a huge game. So why not try to plan around them when possible? That's why I decided to post this thread in the tournament scheduling forum.

[mhayes]

If no one else is gonna say it: Maybe the South wouldn't be such a joke in the college quizbowl realm if its quizbowl players didn't routinely miss tournaments to watch football on television?

I'm a huge college football fan, but I never understood skipping a nearby tournament to watch a game. It was one of the most frustrating aspects of running fall tournaments in the South.

[Matt Weiner]

I daresay the point of this thread is to help increase attendance at tournaments (not just in the Southeast!) by scheduling around football games as much as possible. For the most part, we can do this if we have a schedule of big games available to us so we can try to plan around them, because those are the ones that teams are likely to want to watch in person, hence missing that weekend's quizbowl tournament. Again, we are trying to increase attendance at events throughout the country here, not just in our region. This means smart scheduling on the part of the editors and regional coordinators, which is why this thread is useful, Matt. I'd like to think attendance in our region in particular will increase because of such smart planning.

Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely NOT saying, “Let’s block off the entire fall semester to watch football.” That sentiment is not even remotely in anything I posted. I personally, and the South Carolina team generally, have never skipped a tournament because of a football game, and I know that Alabama, Florida, and other teams also skip big games to go to tournaments. But I also live in the real world, and in the Southeast especially, college football is kind of a big deal. Though not normally a major problem, there are a few weekends that would possibly be impacted by college football (see: September 17th in Florida). So all things being equal, I don’t see any reason to host a tournament one weekend if there’s a strong chance 2-3 teams would miss it when you could host the same tournament another weekend where everyone will attend.

Another thing to consider is that, in college quizbowl, there seems to be a big emphasis on trying to attract new players. This is especially true in the fall (i.e. football season). New recruits and novices are oftentimes a bit more casual than long time players, and from experience it can be harder to get them to go to a tournament if they have to miss a huge game. So why not try to plan around them when possible? That's why I decided to post this thread in the tournament scheduling forum.

But like, the only date listed between September 7 and Thanksgiving that doesn't have a conflict with a "major" game is October 8? Can we host more than 1 tournament, or what?

[Ethnic history of the Vilnius region]

But like, the only date listed between September 7 and Thanksgiving that doesn't have a conflict with a "major" game is October 8? Can we host more than 1 tournament, or what?

Like, I totally said in my first post that teams shouldn't not host solely because there is a big game on a weekend. But perhaps these things should be at least considered when scheduling a particular tournament. We can host tournaments on any weekend we want, Matt, but why not schedule tournaments on the most optimal weekends? Why host a tournament for novices on September 17th if you want a bunch of Florida teams when every college in Florida has a huge game that Saturday? More power if someone wants to host that tournament on that weekend, but I'd personally pick a different date if possible. I've never picked tournament date solely because of football, but it is one of many factors I consider.

[evilmonkey]

Like I said, I would expect the hosts to be familiar with their own football schedules so as not to host something on a gameday weekend if that makes your school a logistical nightmare. And like I said, this calendar is only showing major opponents. If Notre Dame's team literally can't skip watching a game against Navy or South Florida to attend a tournament, that's fine, but clearly they aren't prioritizing quizbowl and a scheduler at another school shouldn't reasonably be expected to take Notre Dame's potential attendance into account when deciding what weekend would be good for hosting.

Let me address the more relevant point first. If Notre Dame's expected attendance at the novice level tournaments on a home football weekend is 0-1 teams, and on a non-football weekend is 2-3 teams*, then it helps the hosts objective of maximizing profit to know whether Notre Dame has a home football game on a given weekend would actually be useful information to hosts, especially in conjunction with knowing the schedules of other football schools in the region.
EDIT: To make more explicit - the reason why this information SHOULD be aggregated is to aid hosts in estimating how many teams they could expect from a school.

Now, to the off-topic point. In defense of potentially skipping tournaments for a team like USF (in the minds of any ND fan who actually graduated from the school, Navy is the third most important opponent on the schedule) - I'd say roughly that for the more committed members, the reasons are usually not actually related to the "watching" of the game, and more of doing something to contribute (Marching Band, Irish Step Dancing, Concession Stands for fundraising in their other club, etc). I recognize the prioritization of something else is still there, but its not the football that is placed above the quizbowl. For me, I spent four years having to weigh an entire season of marching band vs. the one or perhaps two quizbowl tournaments that I would miss as a result. Side note: If I had known that that choice would leave me at 2.6 tournaments played over the past two years, I would have been much, much, much more likely to ditch band (and the conflicting football games).

*(Yes, I know what actually happened first semester last year would seem to contradict that point, but the non-attendance at EACN and single team attendance at ACF Fall were actually the result of internal fuck-ups at least 50% attributed to me, that I believe should be sorted out for the upcoming year; if you're really dying for details, email me, I don't want to derail this thread with it)

[grapesmoker]

The problem is that other clubs also have constraints, like other tournaments they want to host or attend. Not constraints that involve watching college football. I know Eric's goal is to aid in scheduling and to that extent this information is useful, but at a certain point we can't be accommodating every single game day, or maybe even 3 game days, because other people are trying to run other tournaments. So yeah, some people are going to have to choose between watching football and playing quizbowl. Obviously I believe you should choose the latter, but you will have to choose, because moving every tournament is not a feasible solution.

[Mechanical Beasts]

It's exactly the same as standardized testing dates in high school. The constraints that matter the most are those that affect the most teams; as long as we don't get so obsessed with the constraints that we have a single tournament per semester because it's the only one everyone can attend, there's no big problem.

[evilmonkey]

The problem is that other clubs also have constraints, like other tournaments they want to host or attend. Not constraints that involve watching college football. I know Eric's goal is to aid in scheduling and to that extent this information is useful, but at a certain point we can't be accommodating every single game day, or maybe even 3 game days, because other people are trying to run other tournaments. So yeah, some people are going to have to choose between watching football and playing quizbowl. Obviously I believe you should choose the latter, but you will have to choose, because moving every tournament is not a feasible solution.

I don't think anyone is asking to accommodate all of the game days. My purpose (which I realize now may not have been exactly Eric's purpose), is to provide information for potential hosts. I know that part of the date selection process when I've hosted a tournament is to seek to maximize the number of teams. If you have two viable days, and you know that on one of them many of the local football-heavy schools have a non-trivial game that may lessen the number of teams they bring, and this is not true of the other date, then this information becomes very useful.

I can't think of a good reason to skip a tournament to watch a game on television (although, if USC-ND were not a night game, I'd be getting game updates as often as possible).

[dbeshear]

To "watch the game"? Sounds like the old "I'm washing my hair that night" excuse. Even back in the 90s, we had these boxes called VCRs to record a game on magnetic tape if we weren't home to watch it.

On some campuses, you don't have a choice but to schedule around football, especially when the parking pigs are SELLING the parking spaces that your participants would use, traffic has turned all inbound and outbound roads into parking lots for 60-90 minutes after the game, and there are no hotels for your participants to stay because they're booked solid and have been for months.

When I was at Oklahoma, even when the football team SUCKED (see 1996, the "Curse of the Jumbotron", when the student council only gave us $100 because of all the money spent on aforementioned Jumbotron, promptly followed by 9 wins in 3 years) we still had to schedule around the home games to avoid logistical nightmares.

Our best weekend to hold tournaments: OU-Texas, because EVERYBODY left Norman to go to Dallas.