Mike Elko Shrugs Off Early Kickoff for Texas A&M’s Playoff Showdown
With less than a week to go before Texas A&M hosts Miami in a College Football Playoff matchup, much of the conversation has centered on one thing that’s out of the Aggies’ control: the kickoff time. The game has been scheduled for noon Eastern, or 11 a.m. Central, on Saturday, December 20, a slot that many fans feel is far from ideal for a high-stakes playoff clash. But head coach Mike Elko has made it clear that this is not something he plans to lose sleep over.
The early start has largely been shaped by the NFL calendar. With professional football placing two games on that same Saturday evening, the College Football Playoff committee appears to have avoided going head-to-head with the league’s massive audience draw. As a result, one playoff game landed on Friday night, and Elko’s Aggies were handed the early Saturday window. From a scheduling perspective, it’s a business decision. From Elko’s perspective, it’s just another kickoff.
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Speaking at the start of the week, Elko brushed aside any concerns about the timing. His message was simple and direct. A football will be placed on the field, and his team will be ready to play. He emphasized the excitement of performing in front of the 12th Man and pointed out that Texas A&M has already dealt with early starts this season. According to him, the atmosphere at Kyle Field hasn’t suffered in those situations, and preparation won’t change just because the clock reads 11 instead of 7.
The numbers back up his confidence to some extent. Texas A&M has played three games this season that kicked off before noon Central, and all three ended in wins. The most notable of those came against South Carolina, a Power Four opponent, though that game required a dramatic comeback after the Aggies trailed 30–3 at halftime. It wasn’t pretty early on, but it showed that the team can respond under pressure, even at an unconventional hour.
Miami, on the other hand, has also experienced early kicks this season, all within ACC play. Those games included a loss to SMU in Dallas, which added the challenge of an adjusted body clock for the Hurricanes. So neither side enters the matchup completely unfamiliar with morning football.
Zooming out, the playoff schedule itself has been carefully arranged. Games are spread across noon, mid-afternoon, and prime-time windows to avoid overlap and limit direct competition with the NFL. This late-season Saturday overlap is possible because of long-standing broadcast rules that allow the NFL to move into Saturdays only after mid-December.
For now, though, the reality is set. The kickoff is early, the stakes are enormous, and Mike Elko seems perfectly content to let others debate the timing. As far as he’s concerned, when the whistle blows, excuses won’t matter. Only execution will.
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