Kansas at Utah moved to 8 p.m. ET for Tropical Storm Rachel

This was supposed to be the classic 10:15 p.m. ET Pac-12-after-dark slot that only degenerates and East Coast insomniacs stay up for. Not anymore.

Brett McMurphy

@Brett_McMurphy

Kickoff for Saturday's Kansas at Utah game has been moved from 10:15 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET "due to inclement weather forecasted for the area."

The Big 12 made the call Friday night, and the reasoning is right there in the release: "inclement weather forecasted for the area." Translation: nobody wants to be 3 quarters deep at Rice-Eccles when the sky opens up. Pete Thamel put a name on what is coming, and it is not your normal October cold front.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Utah’s game with Kansas is moving to 6 pm MST, moving it up two hours and 15 minutes. Utah is dealing with storms associated with Tropical Storm Rachel.

Yes, a tropical storm in Utah. Rachel was churning in the Pacific with landfall expected Saturday in California, and the National Weather Service said the worst of it could hit Saturday night, with heavy rain and gusty winds. Flood watches and wind advisories have already gone up across the state ahead of what is left of the system. That is a weird sentence to write about Salt Lake City, but here we are.

Moving kickoff up 2 hours and 15 minutes is the conference trying to get this one done before the worst of it rolls in. Remember, the forecast says the heaviest stuff lands Saturday night, so the new 6 p.m. local start buys a cushion, but not a guarantee. If Rachel shows up early, a lightning delay or a 4th quarter played in sideways rain is still on the table.

For the betting crowd, this is the part to watch. Wind and heavy rain are the 2 things that kill a passing game and drag a total down, and the earlier kickoff does not change the fact that this game could be played with weather moving in. Keep an eye on the forecast and the line before you lock anything in. The move does not change how long the game runs, just when the storm catches up to it.

Upside for everyone east of the Rockies: you can watch Kansas at Utah without staying up past 1 a.m. Downside: the forecast is still the 3rd team in this one, and it has the best chance of anyone to decide how ugly it gets.