It used to be commonplace to see marquee college football games on Thursday night, but as the NFL expanded its package into a season-long schedule, the primetime ESPN or ESPN2 slot lost a considerable amount of luster. Now, with the Big Ten and Pac-12 adjusting with new TV arrangements and other conferences making moves to spread out their broadcast inventory for maximum exposure, Friday night has become the new Thursday night, with a deceptively compelling lineup of games that in many cases lead fans right into the early hours of Saturday.
If you can bear to sacrifice both of your weekend nights to college football this season, you should be rewarded.