Ask any college student what they look forward to most during the school year, and the overwhelming majority will mention their school’s football games. Boston College is no exception. Walking around at tailgates, belting Mr. Brightside from the top of your lungs in the second quarter, spending the day with your friends, and cheering on the Eagles for all four quarters is a crucial part of the school’s student culture. But not all game days are treated equally. While factors such as rivalry or the quality of the opponent will certainly influence students’ anticipation for a game, it seems that what is most important to BC students is when the game is played.
The debate of night versus day games has recently been made a talking point in the community due to the roaring success of this year’s Red Bandanna game, where we saw the student body celebrate Welles Crowther’s legacy under the lights. Considering BC hasn’t had a night game since 2022, the impact such a late fixture has on gameday culture was made readily apparent to the student body in what was an unforgettable experience.
Photo courtesy of Boston College Athletics / Facebook
When asked what he enjoys about night games, Zia Riaz, MCAS ’28, answered, “Watching our guys play under the lights is sick and it allows me to spend more time with my friends leading up to the game during the day.”
Riaz’s reasoning certainly resonates with many BC students. Later tailgate times give students more flexibility with their schedule on gameday, allowing them to sleep in after a night out, spend more time before the tailgate with friends, or study for any lingering exams they have the next week. Additionally, the prospect of watching our Eagles play under the lights has an ambiance that day games simply cannot match.
Yet some would argue that it can be difficult to stay at a night game for all four quarters, especially considering how cold it gets on the Heights in the evening. To compound this issue, Aiden Becker, CSOM ’28, mentioned that he, along with many other students who live on Newton Campus, had to walk home from the Red Bandanna Game in the rain, as there were not enough buses to get students back to Newton in a reasonable amount of time. Transportation being less accessible for not just our students who live off campus, but the community as a whole, is a credit to day games and their positive impact on student culture.
Charlotte Benson, MCAS ’28, is another student who prefers day games but for reasons other than the inconveniences later games bring. When asked, she mentioned how she loves “the unique sense of school spirit and additional time for activities afterward” that day games bring which make up for the early 9 a.m. tailgate.
Though it’s possible to interact with friends and family both before and after the game, it seems that whether students prefer to do so earlier or later in the day influences their ideal kickoff time.
While the time a football game is played certainly influences game day culture, it’s important to remember how incredible BC football games are for the student body regardless of what time they kick off. Though the time the game kicks off noticeably changes campus life before, during, and after the game, the unity and school pride it fosters make it a hallmark of the BC experience. Of course, people will still always have their preferences, but the reality is, whether you enjoy day games or night games more, both are incredible places for us to gather and celebrate the unity that makes this community so great.
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