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Tulsa World Sports Columnist & Writer
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At the starting line of every season, high school football delivers meaningful match-ups.
The Friday, Aug. 30 schedule includes the third annual Battle of the Burbs — a QuikTrip-sponsored spectacle matching Class 6AI champion Bixby and Owasso.
After having twice been played at the University of Tulsa’s H.A. Chapman Stadium, the Battle of the Burbs happens this year at Owasso Stadium.
That same night, Union is in Arkansas to challenge the Bentonville Tigers. Sand Springs buses to Sapulpa for the Highway 97 Rivalry showdown. Edmond Santa Fe visits Jenks. Springdale Har-Ber visits Broken Arrow.
On Friday, Aug. 30, Hudson Ball and the Jenks Trojans host Edmond Santa Fe. That same night, OU opens its season with an ESPN-televised home game against Temple.
Owasso’s Antonio Graham isn’t the only first-year head coach for whom Friday, Aug. 30 is personally significant. Also debuting as new head coaches are Dan Bitson (whose Booker T. Washington Hornets, now in Class 5A, play at Class 6AII champion Muskogee) and Brian Thompson (whose Holland Hall Dutch team visits longtime rival Cascia Hall).
That’s the fabric of Oklahoma football: You’re at a high school stadium on Friday, you watch the OU Sooners and OSU Cowboys and Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Saturday, and after church on Sunday there are the Dallas and Kansas City NFL games.
Because everyone is so ready for football by late August, the opening weekend is glorious at any level of the sport.
There is a massive disruption this year in Oklahoma, however, because the biggest brand in the state announced a break from the typical template.
During a Tulsa World sports department staff meeting on Tuesday, Eric Bailey received a message from OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, indicating that the Sooners’ opener with Temple has been switched from Saturday, Aug. 31 to Friday, Aug. 30.
Antonio Graham debuts as Owasso’s head football coach when the Rams host Bixby on Friday, Aug. 30 — the same night during which OU opens against Temple in an ESPN-televised game in Norman. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World
On ESPN, OU gets a 6 p.m. kickoff and a 3½-hour marketing platform.
When Oklahoma State hosted Kansas State for a Big 12 game last season, it was played after Cowboy losses to South Alabama and Iowa State. It was televised on ESPN and played on a Friday night. There was a sellout crowd for a Cowboy victory.
For the record, Oklahoma State did not choose to play on a Friday night. The Big 12 Conference scheduled Kansas State-OSU for a Friday.
If OU were to play a 3 a.m. football game on a Tuesday, there would be a crowd of 84,000.
There will be a crowd of 84,000 for Temple-OU — the first Friday night game ever played at OU.
Castiglione’s statement in a university press release: “Our first-ever ‘Friday Night Lights’ will undoubtedly be one for the books, and we’re excited to open the season and our first year in the SEC in such a spectacular fashion.”
Yeah, but consider the trickle-down effect on the high school games of Friday, Aug. 30.
Because they have kids who play football or they have kids who are members of a marching band or a cheer squad — or maybe just because they are invested in their hometown team — a great many OU football fans usually are at a high school game on a Friday.
Some of those fans already purchased 2024 OU season tickets, and now they’ve got to sell or give away the Temple tickets because their child or grandchild is involved in a prep game that night.
There are football-minded people who would love to see Bixby-Owasso and would love to see Temple-OU. Before Tuesday, they could have attended both games. Now, they have a decision to make.
Perhaps that decision already is made. The appeal of OU football speaks for itself. One way or another, Memorial Stadium will be filled for the Temple opener.
If you disregard high school football, then the first weekend of Oklahoma college football is perfect. If you’re inclined to watch or even attend all three games, it can be done.
On Thursday, Aug. 29, Kevin Wilson’s second University of Tulsa season begins with a home game against an FCS opponent — the Northwestern State Demons of Natchitoches, Louisiana.
On Friday, Aug. 30, there is Temple-OU.
On Saturday, Aug. 31, Oklahoma State has a dangerous opener as the Cowboys host two-time defending FCS champion South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits bring a 29-game win streak to Stillwater.
I don’t think Joe Castiglione or anyone else at OU is a monster for saying yes to a Friday prime-time window on ESPN, but there is an unfortunate trickle-down impact on Oklahoma prep football.
If you’re keeping score, the season begins in 141 days.
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Tulsa World Sports Columnist & Writer
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On Friday, Aug. 30, Hudson Ball and the Jenks Trojans host Edmond Santa Fe. That same night, OU opens its season with an ESPN-televised home game against Temple.
Antonio Graham debuts as Owasso’s head football coach when the Rams host Bixby on Friday, Aug. 30 — the same night during which OU opens against Temple in an ESPN-televised game in Norman. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World
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