How hot is too hot? After football opener, NC State probably can answer that question.

To those who teeter on the issue of climate change, let me offer one way to sway you: Attend a Saturday noon college football game anywhere in the Southeast during the month of September.

N.C. State players and fans were subjected to the blistering elements Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium, as were neighbors to the south at both Clemson and South Carolina. Sweltering 90-plus temperatures forced players to the sideline with cramps and fans to their air-conditioned cars and homes.

Collegiate athletes are not permitted to complain about such matters, but fan websites are loaded this time of year with posts about just how silly it is to play football games under such circumstances.

The average count of tickets scanned nationally at home games in 2007 was 73 percent of announced attendance, according to a recent Wall Street Journal study. The study concludes that there is generally a fudge factor in announcing attendances, and also a significant number of fans who purchase tickets do not attend the games.

“College sports officials say many factors are incenting fans to stay home including: affordable big-screen TVs; the availability of more games on TV; ever-changing kickoff times that make it difficult to plan ahead; games that span more than four hours; traffic; and rising ticket prices,” the Wall Street Journal wrote.

Allow me to add one more factor: Excessive heat.

N.C. State’s game against James Madison and Clemson’s season-opener against Furman both reported noon-time kickoff temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s. In Columbia, which former coach Lou Holtz famously cracked was “the lone place on earth located directly above hell,” temperatures hovered around 90 degrees at kickoff against Coastal Carolina.

A Columbia weather forecaster said South Carolina’s kickoff temperature felt like 97 degrees to fans and more like 100 degrees to those on the field. You do not need a weather expert to know one thing: It was too darned hot to play football and expect fans to watch from the stands.

Since both the South Carolina and Clemson games were played against lesser opponents, the outcomes were decided by halftime. By the end of the third quarter, fans began exiting the stadium, and by the conclusion the announced crowds of 75,126 and 80,048, respectively, had been trimmed considerably.

For N.C. State fans, which counted 56,073 among the announced crowd, there was more reason to stick around longer because James Madison kept the game competitive into the fourth quarter. Even so, many fans called it quits early, presumably giving into the heat after halftime and beyond.

So, why oh why would any college athletic program schedule a football game at noon in September? The answer is simple: TV.

If TV executives told two college teams to play a game at 7:30 a.m. during the middle of a hurricane in the Bahamas, the game would be played at 7:30 a.m. during the middle of a hurricane in the Bahamas. Why? Because TV controls the NCAA purse strings thanks to billions of dollars collected by colleges in rights fees.

It does not work that way in pro sports. Earlier this year, the New York Yankees were scheduled to play a Sunday game at 8 p.m. in Toronto with a double-header to follow the next day at 4:05 p.m. in Baltimore. ESPN, which can select which game it wants to feature on Sunday nights, wanted the Yankees to boost national TV ratings on a Sunday evening.

Facing the task of playing three games in a little more than 24 hours in two different cities, Yankees players gathered and threatened to boycott the Sunday night game. Then the MLB players union got involved and took a grievance to MLB. ESPN relented and selected another Sunday night game.

There are no unions for college players or fans to fight noon kickoffs in the Southeast in September. Perhaps it is time, though, for the NCAA to form a commission to study sagging attendance --- a 7.6 percent decrease over the past four years, according to the Wall Street Journal --- and find ways to better accommodate players and fans. Saturday noon games in September should be at the top of its list of concerns.

Do not hold your breath. The next time the NCAA or any athletic department shows some backbone and stands up to TV will likely be the first time.

This story was originally published September 5, 2018 at 11:37 AM.