This week we've seen USC coach Lincoln Riley complain about his team's kickoff times without mentioning it might have something to do with the fact that he's in a conference that spans four time zones. On the same day Riley complained, Penn State's James Franklin took a shot at a decision Fox made about one of the Nittany Lions kickoff times last season which ruined a potential white out.
Penn State will play Oregon in a game broadcast on NBC/Peacock on Saturday night. The game will be Penn State's annual white out and Franklin is still salty that they couldn't have a white out for their home loss to Ohio State last season because of Fox's decision to make it the Big Noon Kickoff game that week.
James Franklin tonight on the impact of a primetime White Out (with a subtle jab at Big Noon along the way):
— Basic Blues Nation (@BasicBlues) September 25, 2025
“I know FOX tried to argue that a 12 o’clock White Out was the same as a 7 o’clock White Out. I think people would disagree with that…It’s just turned into a special… pic.twitter.com/BrIHFM5hty
"The white out, like a lot of things, whether its homecoming at a certain campus or whatever it may be, there's unique games," said Franklin. "And this is something that was started I think about 20 years ago if I'm right there, Chris. And it has taken off. And obviously there's a lot of factors to go into it. I know Fox tried to argue that a 12 o'clock white out was the same as a 7 o'clock white out and I think people would disagree with that. So there's been factors that have impacted it a little bit."
College football coaches probably like their enormous paychecks, but they do not seem to appreciate where all that money comes from. For conferences and schools to get huge broadcast deals, some traditions have to be altered so that the most games can be fit into various broadcast windows every Saturday throughout the entirety of the wildly popular college football schedule. Fox and ESPN both brought their pregame shows to Happy Valley for that game last year. Fox had the rights to broadcast the game and chose when it was played. It was almost a year ago, but the wound is still apparently fresh.
And it's not like Penn State didn't get to do a white out last season. They did one the very next week against Washington. Then they did another one when they hosted SMU in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as James Franklin Still Salty About Fox Ruining a Penn State White Out Last Season.
