2025 Football Schedule

[BCPanther]

Of all of the times, 1pm is the absolute worse because it overlaps with the 11am and 2:30pm Iowa/ISU start times.

Also pretty much eliminates the chance for the youth sports crowd to get there.

[UNIAlum95]

Boo!

Kaplop

[kochrab]

How much of this is on our end, and how much is out of our hands? I guess I'm not in the know enough to understand how time setting works fully.

[FOTY]

It’s 100% on the AD and new coach (his has input). Completely agree on the misstep; curious if they had any interaction with fans before setting time, or even had access to all the surveys the prior ADs completed.

Kills the chance to get kiddos in after sports and kills my tailgate (I know, some tailgaters will like 1:00, but to tailgate 4 hours I have to leave by 6:45am, which then also kills my Friday evening prepping and packing). Sucks.

[06panther10]

This is a mistake. I expect an attendance decline this year because of this after making a nice step forward last year.

Such a needless self inflicted wound. Still time to fix it, if they can come to their senses. Anyone that has ever followed this program for any extended period of time would know this is a mistake. Disappointing.

[clenz]

Not a single family from CR/IC, Dubuque, or Mason City/Clear Lake with kids who have any sort of youth fall activity - soccer, football, fall baseball/softball, volleyball, etc. - will be attending UNI games this year, it seems. The 4 pm kick gives us a shot to get lucky to get a early/mid morning event, cleaned up, and on the road to be in the Dome by 4. That will not happen with a 1 PM kick. We don't have the fan base of Iowa/Iowa State, where 11/230 kicks don't matter for crowd size.

I live in the CR area and between my two kids and events, I have a limited ability to get us to any games, but a 4 pm kick gave us hope. That will never happen with a 1 pm kick unless we find that magical .01% overlap of a day where there are no youth sports for some reason AND there happens to be a UNI game. It's not just me that feels that, there are a large number of people around here this impacts in the same way. Hell, soccer alone in the CR area has roughly 2,500 kids between 4-14 years old that play in the AYSO Core league, which plays league games on Saturdays starting at 8 AM and wrapping up about 4 pm, and then some on Sunday, but the vast majority are Saturdays. That doesn't include the number of kids in various football, volleyball, or fall ball leagues. The numbers won't be as high for the CL/MC or DBQ areas, but they'll run into the same. But hey, why would we want as many kids in the dome as possible, building the connection with UNI and getting to games? We need to focus on the late 20s, early 30s crowd of single people, or DINKs, who need to get back to Des Moines to get their "weekend started" and go out to drink/spend money in Des Moines, not in Cedar Falls. We need to make sure they aren't getting back to Des Moines at 10 pm. That's too late for them. When I'm able to get my kids to a game we leave about 200-2:30 and get home about 10. I don't give a damn how late it is. It's a Saturday night. They can rest on Sunday. I'll take the getting home at 10 because we're waiting to get onto the field after the game and then hit Culvers, as is tradition after a UNI game, when the game gets over just after 7. It beats the alternative of not getting to a game at all because we can't get to CF at all.

I get 1 pm is Todd's thing. I get that Megan is going to try to do things. We were 3 and ****ing 8 last year and averaged 10k. We are opening a newly renovated bowl. New HC. New optimism. Yet from the start, we are taking a hacksaw to the knees of our fanbase outside of Cedar Falls, and to be honest, even a fair number of people in CF with kids in sports.

Beyond that, playing at 4 gives us the slightest competitive edge for whatever you want to believe in that. Everyone in the Valley kicks off between 11 (YSU, ISUb traditionally) and 2:30 (NDSU). The others sit at either 1 or 2 for most home games. By playing at 4, we make the opponent sit in their hotel a few extra hours on game day, or get to the dome and sit in their locker room extra time. Does it offer a large advantage? I don't know that I could prove it, but I'm guessing there is an increase in win% for teams that play "non-standard" kick off times later than their opponents are used to. I guess the flip side is we go on the road and are used to a 4 pm kick rather than a 1 pm kick, but I would guess getting in and out sooner has less impact than sitting in a hotel room 3 more hours.

[Blue42]

Always liked the 4 pm kick. Not a fan of 1 pm. Agree it will not help attendance.

[run&blade]

Best part of UNI football for over a decade has been tailgating all afternoon. It sure as hell hasn’t been the product on the field.

congrats to UNI for going out of their way to F that up also.

also kills the Iowa and ISU fans that watched them on TV and then went to UNI game.

[ronfitch]

1 p.m. kickoffs … ooof. They didn’t just miss an easy layup, they missed the entire backboard.

[Newsbreaker]

I don't care for the 1pm kicks, either. I think the best argument against them is youth sports; it shuts a lot of families out, and for that reason, very late afternoon or evening start times make the most sense to me.

Trying to plan against the broader college football world has become nearly impossible. The Big Ten used to be an 11am league, and with their NFL-ish TV model, it's impossible to counter-program Iowa. ISU is no better; they played one game that kicked before 2:30 last year. Unfortunately, the days of trying to live off people attending around Iowa and ISU are probably over.

(FWIW, it looks like the SEC is moving many of their top games out of 2:30 and into primetime this year. I don't think that was considered here, obviously, but there is an afternoon argument to be made, with the top Big Ten game at 11 every week. In that case, though, kick at 3 and get 'er over before primetime.)

[UNIAlum95]

It kills the limited tailgating though. Fewer folks are going tailgate at 10am than noon for a 4pm kick.

There's another drawback, the post game tailgate at 7pm after a hot day was awesome. When I get out of a game at 4pm, I'm heading home.

As others have said we had our niche spot and I don't think is this going to help drive attendance in any way so why make the change? This is a miss by the AD and hopefully gets fixed if not for this season, then next.

[clenz]

To "defend" Megan a bit with the 1pm kick she came in last year after David had already set the schedule/kick times, and we had multiple 1pm kicks. We all *****ed about it the same way last year, but it was before Megan and David didn't give a ****. Combining that with Coach Stepsis apparently preferring a 1pm kick and I understand why they went with it like they did. I'm hopeful that both will see the reaction on social media, and even here, if they browse, and be open to the traditional 4pm kick. Give me the 4pm kick over the "pregame cheer" every single time, but I'm not taking this thread down that path.

D+ kicked off at 12 or 1 every game last year except the home opener at 6:30 on a Thursday. Same story in 2023. 2022 had every game kick at 1. 2021 every game kicked at noon except the home opener at 6 on a Thursday.

As much as I hope we get the 4pm kick back, it certainly seems like the 1pm kick is here to stay as the primary kick sadly.

[UNIAlum95]

To "defend" Megan a bit with the 1pm kick she came in last year after David had already set the schedule/kick times, and we had multiple 1pm kicks. We all *****ed about it the same way last year, but it was before Megan and David didn't give a ****. Combining that with Coach Stepsis apparently preferring a 1pm kick and I understand why they went with it like they did. I'm hopeful that both will see the reaction on social media, and even here, if they browse, and be open to the traditional 4pm kick. Give me the 4pm kick over the "pregame cheer" every single time, but I'm not taking this thread down that path.

D+ kicked off at 12 or 1 every game last year except the home opener at 6:30 on a Thursday. Same story in 2023. 2022 had every game kick at 1. 2021 every game kicked at noon except the home opener at 6 on a Thursday.

As much as I hope we get the 4pm kick back, it certainly seems like the 1pm kick is here to stay as the primary kick sadly.

The good news is we kept it for a few and if the fan response is significantly different between the kick times, hopefully there is a willingness to move. We have so little in this state that is our own and that 4pm timeslot should be one of those few things.

[7YrsOfCollegeDownTheDrain]

i get that it's a change...i don't hate the 1pm kick. brunch food at the tailgate, bottomless mimosas if you feel it's too early for beer. Show up, enjoy, support the school and the squad. I'll be there somwhere in one of the lots south of the dome unless i up my PSC donation to parking pass level.

[BCPanther]

The Wyoming game will kick at 3:00 our time and be broadcast on the Mountain West Network (streaming).