Oregon Public Broadcasting

This week's Civil War football game between Oregon and Oregon State will bring in big bucks for both schools, because of TV contracts. But as Ryan Knutson reports, the timing leaves some students in an academic pinch.

Thursday's game is big. The winner goes to the coveted Rose Bowl. But for students on both campuses, the timing is awful.

Corinne Flanary: "Well I have a final test on Thursday, and I don't know how I'm going to do on that because it's like right before the game, so it's going to be tough to concentrate."

Corinne Flanary is a sophomore at the U of O. She and other student-football fans at both campuses are entering a precarious time management dilemma: Study and rest up for final exams? Or watch the game?

It's a question that the faculty senates at both schools have tried repeatedly to resolve by passing resolutions urging administrators not to hold games during weekdays, or during the weekend prior to finals week, when students take the tests that largely determine their final grades for the term.

Nathan Tublitz: "When we have a football game on the weekend before exams, students tend to focus on the football game and not on the exams."

That's Nathan Tublitz, the vice president of the University of Oregon's faculty senate. He advocates putting academic priorities ahead of football.

Nathan Tublitz: "And I've seen many cases where student performance has declined as a result of a football game over the weekend or a football game during the week."

This year's Civil War timing sidelined those concerns.

Tublitz says, however, that certain faculty committees did agree to this Thursday game. Discussions about the game schedule go back more than a year, when the University of Oregon appealed to ESPN and ABC for more TV exposure.

Current Oregon Athletic Director Mike Bellotti explains why.

Mike Bellotti: "This game, the Civil War, being moved to a Thursday night, gave us, one, the opportunity to be in a fairly unique window so the entire nation could see us play. Secondly, there was a cash payout. But it also allowed us to get three other games on television that would not have been the case unless we moved this one."

And the TV contracts equal big money. The Civil War game alone will bring in more than $300,000 apiece for U of O and Oregon State.

Over the course of the season, all the televised games add up to between $3 or $4 million for each school, which goes toward the athletic department's bottom line.

Also, nationally televised games are big marketing opportunities for both schools, says Oregon State Athletics spokesman Steve Fenk.

Steve Fenk: "A lot of times it becomes an infomercial for both schools showcase not only the athletic programs but academic and what the school has to offer. It's a terrific opportunity and I think both schools have embraced that as a real positive deal to be playing on a Thursday night."

Even though the game will be played in Eugene, many Oregon State students are irritated by the timing, says OSU student body president Chris Van Drimmelen.

Chris Van Drimmelen: "Thursday games in general don't strike me as something that should be completely outlawed, but as far as when it's right at the end of the term when people are preparing for their final exams, it does interfere with the academic environment."

Meanwhile, teachers and students are dealing with the time conflict as best they can.

Jim Givens is an adjunct architecture professor at the U of O. His students must turn in a major project at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Jim Givens: "I imagine that there will be a lot of tired people. It's an interesting thing. I think that I'll likely have people straggling in late in order to turn in their notebooks. There'll probably be a lot of tired faces out there."

Jason Rood is in Givens' class.

Jason Rood: "Well I'm getting all my homework done early and getting to that game."

He says he'll be in class on Friday, and he likes the Thursday schedule.

Jason Rood: "It's good to mix it up, it definitely is. I mean, Saturday is always game day, that's just kind of what it is, but Thursday, it's kind of a little extra, sugar on top."