North Texas will play one of the biggest college football games in school history against No. 24-ranked South Florida on Friday night. It, unlike the University of Virginia, decided to cancel any class after noon.
The administration wants its students, faculty and fans to enjoy the pregame festivities (tailgates) and to show up for kickoff as rowdy as possible.
Although there is a pretty stark academic contrast between these two schools, one obviously cares more about college football than the other. The only question remaining is whether this decision by the Mean Green yields the same result as the Cavaliers at the end of September.
North Texas canceled classes for college football.
As things stand, the home team on Friday will enter the weekend undefeated at 5-0. North Texas beat Lamar, Western Michigan (in overtime), Washington State, Army (in overtime) and South Alabama by a combined score of 224-100.
Its opponent currently ranks inside the top-25. USF is 4-1 with only one loss to No. 5 Miami and wins over No. 25 Boise State, No. 13 Florida, South Carolina State and Charlotte.
Both of these teams could be in the mix for the ‘Group of Six’ bid to the College Football Playoff if they win out. This game effectively serves as an elimination game.
With that in mind, the Mean Green is doing whatever it can to create a rowdy environment.
The University of North Texas decided to cancel any class scheduled for 12:00 p.m. or later on Friday. President Harrison Keller made the final call.
“This adjustment allows students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to attend pregame festivities and the Mean Green’s football game against USF at 6:30 p.m. inside DATCU Stadium.”
In other words, this adjustment allows students, faculty, and staff to crush a few beers at the tailgate. Traffic on campus won’t impact the people trying to set up their tents in the late afternoon. Students won’t have to skip class or bring a double cup with them to the classroom. They can crack a cold one with lunch.
Virginia cares more about academics.
This is not the first high-stakes Friday night game of the current college football season. The University of Virginia hosted top-10 Florida State in Charlottesville on Sept. 26.
It, unlike North Texas, chose not to cancel classes on Friday afternoon. In fact, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Davis sent out a campus-wide email to explicitly state otherwise.
“The University is committed to maintaining a regular schedule for all activities. No classes will be canceled.”
The decision was lame. It was a clear indicator of how the university feels about its football program.
Fortunately, the students fought back. I know of multiple students who used (at least) one of their excused absences on that Friday to tailgate instead. The Cavaliers showed up in mass for the game. They helped lead their team to an epic upset victory and pulled off one of the most electric field storms of all-time.
Even though everything worked out in the end, Virginia proved where its allegiance lies. The administration in Charlottesville, unlike the one in Denton, doesn’t care about their college football program.