Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said he was not aware of the Big Ten’s decision to play Friday night games, and his “knee-jerk” reaction is to stick with Saturdays.
The Big Ten said Wednesday that beginning next season it will play six prime-time games on Fridays as part of the conference’s new television agreements with ESPN/ABC and Fox. The games would be limited to September and October, and the schedule could be announced within the week.
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, however, said in a statement that Michigan will not play Friday night games because its fan base travels great distances to attend games.
Harbaugh made his weekly appearance Thursday morning on the “Jamie and Stoney” show on 97.1 (WXYT-FM) and when asked about the Big Ten’s decision he said he hadn’t heard about it.
“I say Saturday,” Harbaugh told the show. “It’s a Saturday game. I’m for traditional Saturdays. Friday night is for high school football. That’s my knee-jerk reaction to it.”
Later when asked about facing his former assistant, D.J. Durkin, now the head coach at Maryland, on Saturday at Michigan Stadium, he ended his remarks making reference to the Big Ten decision.
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“Look forward to competing on Saturday — Saturday,” Harbaugh said, adding the second “Saturday” with emphasis before laughing.
Harbaugh also told the show that he saw Michigan’s No. 3 College Football Playoff ranking and that’s about it.
“Took note of it,” he said. “I did not mention it to the team. I’m sure they saw it as well."
Michigan is ranked No. 2 in the AP poll and is undefeated with four regular-season games remaining.
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