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Michigan Athletics Director Warde Manuel says his staff is preparing as if the Michigan State and Minnesota football games will be night contests this year.

Manuel, in a wide-ranging discussion with media outlets at Crisler Center, cautioned that he has no confirmation about those contests going under the lights. Michigan still has to be ready, though, and those are the two games under consideration.

“By contract between the conference and our television partners, we would have to know 12 days in advance, but we haven’t heard anything at this point,” Manuel said. “It would be 12 days minimum. They could let us know three weeks before, but they have to let us know 12 days before, whether or not it will be a primetime game.

“If they don’t make it a primetime game, we could have to wait until the six-day window, to know if it is a noon or 3:30 game … the staff is current planning, and throughout the University, we’re all planning as if those games would be selected.”

Michigan no longer controls whether or not it hosts night games. In the Big Ten’s new television contract, schools may be selected to host as many as two night games in a season, but no more than three in two years at home.

Manuel noted night games demand significant preparation, including adding staff, bringing extra lighting to parking lots, working with local police, etc., to ensure safety.

“The longer people have to tailgate, you see more issues around alcohol and issues related to that, so that’s a concern,” he said. “There are multiple areas of concern we have after the game, in people getting home late at night.”

Pressed on any concerns about playing Michigan State at night, Manuel noted Michigan does not take lightly the safety issue.

“Look, we always have concerns for our fans’ safety,” he said. “We’re always going to do the right thing in keeping our fans safe. Obviously, the bigger the game, the more fans and people that are here in Ann Arbor, the higher the level of security, and safety and staffing needs to be in place to make sure things are running smoothly.”

Manuel also took on a question about alcohol sales at Michigan Stadium for U-M games, indicating that is not up for discussion at the present time. The present practice of not selling alcohol in the stadium remains in place.

Manuel also touched on a number of football-related topics, giving his take on…

• Neutral site games, given the impending Michigan-Florida showdown at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas: “There is a benefit, economically, when you play one neutral site game versus a home-and-home. Both teams receive a $6-million guarantee to move the game.

“If we played here, we would obviously make the revenue off the home game and if he played away, we would lose that revenue in that year. It offsets it that way.

“I am not against, not am I for [neutral-site games]. I am sort of neutral to neutral-site games. It depends on the place, the time, the opponent … we’re going to face a great team in Florida, and I’m looking forward to going down to Dallas and playing down there.”

• The reinstatement of junior wide receiver Grant Perry, involved in a legal process resulting in him pleading to resisting a police officer following an incident in East Lansing last fall: “We did a thorough review and made sure we were looking at everything from day one. Coach [Jim Harbaugh] made the right call, even before it was out publicly, on the suspension. We talked that day.

“We had monitored the situation. He missed three games during the year. There was communication between me and others on campus, as it related to what was going on, and obviously conversations with the president, to keep him informed …

“I talked to Student Affairs, people on our Department of Public Safety, Coach Harbaugh, other staff in athletics about the situation, and talking to Grant. We made the decision that this was a penalty that he had served, he was apologetic, he has a sentence from the court, and he knows what he has to do in terms of meeting those obligations, and the obligations that this department, this University, the football program expects of him moving forward.

“During the time of the suspension, he was a model citizen, and that was taken into account. Athletics, this University, takes charges against our student-athletes very seriously. But we’re also here to educate young people, and to help them through challenges that life brings to them and that they bring to themselves.”

Manuel also listed a number of proactive measures taken by the athletic department, in terms of bringing in speakers to forewarn student-athletes about the type of trouble they could encounter and how to avoid it.

“We do not, at all, take it lightly,” Manuel said.

• The present playoff format for college football: “I actually like the four-team format. What I know about the selection process, and the updates we get, both as a conference and nationally, it’s a very good process, very thorough. They do an excellent job.

“Barry Alvarez [Wisconsin AD] from the Big Ten, and now Gene Smith [Ohio State AD], is going to represent the Big Ten Conference. It’s a very, very thorough discussion and debate and selection process.

“I always feel if you move it to eight, you’re going to debate nine and 10, and who should have been eight. The debate is always five, six, maybe seven, on who should get in.

“The excitement around the college football playoff and national championship game is at an all-time high. What I worry about is the impact on the bowl system that expansion would have.”

Manuel also indicated he has seen a Michigan alternate uniform for football, and that he doesn’t get involved in choosing the attire. He leaves that up to individual coaches, he noted.

Asked about basketball, Manuel said he likes the idea of an expanded conference schedule, and is a strong proponent of protected rivalries.

“I’m supportive of 20 conference games, and I’m supportive of protecting rivalries,” he said. “This year, we only play Michigan State once [in men’s basketball].

“I was asked about playing them in the non-conference. We have done that in our history, but it’s one of those things where, if we play Michigan State, I would like it to count as a conference game. It’s a conference game … it’s a big game for us.”

He previously expressed considerable admiration for the job John Beilein did in guiding Michigan to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament this past season, after many had written the Wolverines off. He made sure to deliver a reminder of that turnaround, while offering his personal anticipation for the season to come.

“When you look at what we have coming back and have coming in, I’m excited to see what, in the early part of the season, we can do,” he said.

“As John and the staff and the team showed last year, don’t count us out if we tend to stumble a bit at the beginning. I don’t anticipate that. I think we’ll be highly competitive. But if we do, what they showed was a great resolve and ability to continue to learn and continue to make progress, at a time when people were counting us out of almost everything — Big Ten Tournament, NCAA.

“I think some of you may have written we might not be in the NIT. I don’t know if anybody wants to raise their hands, but … John has provided tremendous leadership of this team, and is a phenomenal coach and person.”

Manuel talked about the continuing progress on the South Athletic Campus, facilitating the moves of several sports to that area. The south campus includes new track facilities, leaving the old Ferry Field site vacant.

The Michigan AD vowed the area won’t all be turned into parking lot, expressing sensitivity for the history of the venue. He noted the old track and tennis building, housing indoor track, will be refurbished and serve a number of Olympic sports as a practice venue, since they are losing space in Oosterbaan Field House due to the Michigan football weight room expansion.

“That building will be open, broadly, to all sports,” he said. “Baseball, soccer, lacrosse … those programs that are field-based programs that need to practice indoors in inclement weather will utilize it. Club sports will utilize it, as well as rec sports.

“Oosterbaan will also be open for any of those other sports, potential club sports or rec sports needs.”

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