I'm sure a lot of Michigan fans will worry about the thought of the Wolverines playing in front of a crowd craving an upset that has had all day to imbibe, leading to a bigger than normal home field advantage.
But I'll take comfort in Michigan's strong performance in night games. Michigan has a 21-10 record in their history in night games. However, that includes a 2-6 record in bowl games that started after 6 p.m. local time. So that means the Wolverines are 19-4 in regular season night games, an .826 winning percentage. That's even more impressive when you consider these were all road games. And who knew that Lloyd Carr is 10-1 in regular season night games, with the only loss coming in Madison in 2005.
Michigan could play more games at night in 2007; the starting times for the Northwestern, Michigan State, and Wisconsin games have yet to be announced. Of course there will be no home night games in Ann Arbor again this year. But considering Michigan's stellar record under the stars, maybe there should be.
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Climate differences indeed - only 31 games total under the lights!?! It's so hot down here until early Nov that it seems most of our homes games are under the lights until then.
You guys don't know what you're missing not playing home night games. They're something special.
Unfortunately, It looks like U of M is piling up more Fulmer Cup points.
Two yet to be released named players were pulled over this weekend and the police found some drugs in the car.
ugh!
I totally agree that we need to start playing home night games. In addition to the added atmosphere, we need to take advantage of the national stage. While most of our games are already nationally televised via ESPN or ABC, the Saturday night games are the most watched, and we need to be part of more of them.
USC is in 5(!) Saturday night games this season, and people will wonder why they will get so many top recruits again. I know there's more to recruiting, but the "free" advertisement of playing on Saturday nights is an aspect we are missing out on by not playing home night games.
As an Illinois fan, let me apologize in advance for how tOSU-like the crowd will be on October 20th. An entire day of drinking filled with flashbacks of the 2000 UM-UI night game in Champaign can only lead to bad things. I will be there and on my best behavior, but I'll be shocked if there aren't reported incidents that cast Illinois fans in a bad light.
Additionally, let me cast my vote with the Michigan crowd clamoring for night games in Ann Arbor. That would certainly make for a rockin' atmosphere at the Big House.
I just don't get the Big 10 obsession with early games. In the South we curse a game that doesn't have at leat a 7 p.m. start, and especially the poor fuckers who get the noon game (on regional Lincoln Financial telecasts) every week.
The 3:30 games are OK because they're nationally-televised on CBS, but that can still pose a problem with sunburns and the like.
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