Black Friday games benefit networks more than fans

Raise your hand if you are going to Columbia, Mo., for the Arkansas-Missouri game Friday. Watching on TV?

It appears that based on past ratings and attendance many of you will be doing something else Friday –shopping, traveling, hanging Christmas lights or going to work; something other than watching a manufactured rivalry between a better-than-average football team and a very bad one.

There is only one winner when this game is moved from Saturday to Friday yearly: CBS. The only reason the game is moved is to accommodate TV, so CBS can cater to a small segment of college football fans that may be at home for the holiday weekend.

The shifting of the game allows CBS to make room for more games…