Friday Night Fights

The counterattack began on May 14, when ACC commissioner John Swofford stood before the conference's nine football coaches at the league's spring meeting to discuss an issue he never thought he'd have to confront: televised college football on Friday nights. Two days later Swofford announced that ACC schools had voted unanimously against playing football on TV during a time slot traditionally allotted to high school games. "We hope to send a strong message that Friday night high school football is sacred," says Swofford. "I never want to bite the hand that feeds us."

The ACC action came in response to the NCAA's repeal of a rule prohibiting televised college football games after seven on Friday nights. The change slipped through as part of a wider NCAA deregulation effort; many who voted for it have admitted they didn't realize what they'd endorsed. Too late. Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference and the Mountain West have already scheduled several Friday night games for next season. "Friday night games offer exclusive national TV exposure to schools that don't normally get very much," says Mountain West associate commissioner Bret Gilliland. "While we don't disregard the impact on high school football, we also don't think it will be that significant."

Certainly, Colorado State playing UNLV on a Friday night in September won't by itself rock the landscape of high school football, but critics fear a slippery slope: The potential for a barrage of Friday night college games in future seasons threatens to do even more damage to attendance-starved high school programs. Worried that college competition could lure marginal fans, North Carolina High School Athletic Association director Charlie Adams has sent letters of protest to Division I athletic directors and football coaches in his state, as well as to the NCAA and to ESPN, which plans to air at least six Friday night games this season. "It's the most controversial situation I've faced in my 35 years in this office," Adams says. "We need to slam the door on this idea and lock it."

The Big East has joined the ACC in saying no to Friday night football on TV, and the SEC will discuss the matter next week. But in a sports world increasingly ruled by money, television and the fear of antitrust lawsuits, it may be hard to stuff this genie back into the bottle. "This is a potentially tragic blow to another sports tradition and further evidence of the Wal-Martization of America," says H.G. Bissinger, author of the acclaimed 1990 high school football book, Friday Night Lights. "They're already televising bad college games on Thursdays. How many more do we really need to see?"