Oklahoma State Plays the Longest College Football Games in the Country

Do you ever watch an OSU game and think, “This is taking forever?”

There’s a reason for that. College football games are at an all-time high in terms of length and Oklahoma State games take the longest. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports wrote a very interesting piece on that phenomenon and its contributing factors.

Oklahoma State ranked first (or last, depending on how you look at it) in average game length at 3:57. He did qualify the two back-to-back weather delays against Pitt and Baylor. If you remove those, the Cowboys are still ninth on his list.

“An average Oklahoma State game lasts three minutes short of that four-hour mark. The Wall Street Journal in September reported it was possible to fly from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. in less time than it took to play a college football game.”

He brings a very interesting point that “fast-paced” offenses actually tend to drag the overall length of the game out. It makes senses. With each first down, each incomplete pass, each score, each change of possession you’re stopping the clock.

Another reason given is the steady increase in the use of official reviews.

“A record 727 games last season included at least one review stoppage. Through nine weeks, that record was on pace to be shattered — 765 games before the bowls even kick off.”

Big 12 commissioner and chairman of the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee offered a possible solution.

“If we decided we weren’t going to kick off anymore or only kickoff in certain situations, you save a fair amount of time then,” said Bowlsby, also the Big 12 commissioner. “That’s exactly why we put the oversight committee together — to take a holistic look at it. It’s going to continue to be on our agenda.”

Whether such drastic changes are made or not, it does not appear that game length has negatively affected TV ratings. Although this weekend’s game against Texas Tech which could legitimately last five hours might challenge that.

What about you? How do you feel about committing half of your Saturday to watch a football game? Let us know how you feel in the comment section.