Pick the wrong section at Husky Stadium for a day game and you will feel it for three hours. The field runs diagonally, about 108 degrees off north, the shade collects on the west end zone, and below is how much of a noon, 3:30 or night Washington kickoff every area spends in shade, ray-traced for this exact bowl.
Pick your game and kickoff. Watch the shade move across the bowl through the game.
Because the field runs diagonally, about 108 degrees off north, the afternoon sun tracks along the length of the field instead of across it. That flips the usual advice: neither sideline hides from the sun here. The shade collects behind the west end zone, where the lower rows spend about 58% of a 3:30 game in shade while the sidelines average far less (south 46%, north 16%).
Share of a full game spent in shade, by area, for a mid-September Saturday:
| Seats | Noon | 3:30 | 7:00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| South sideline, lower rows | 0% | 48% | 100% |
| South sideline, upper deck | 0% | 44% | 100% |
| North sideline, lower rows | 0% | 27% | 100% |
| North sideline, upper deck | 0% | 6% | 90% |
| East end zone, lower rows | 0% | 21% | 100% |
| East end zone, upper deck | 0% | 9% | 93% |
| West end zone, lower rows | 0% | 58% | 100% |
| West end zone, upper deck | 0% | 53% | 100% |
Read 100% as shaded from kickoff to final whistle. Every area drifts toward 100% for evening games as the sun drops.
| Seats | Game in shade | Reaches half shade |
|---|---|---|
| West end zone, lower rows | 58% | about an hour and a half in |
| West end zone, mid level | 55% | about 2 hours in |
| West end zone, upper deck | 53% | about 2 hours in |
| South sideline, lower rows | 48% | about 2 hours in |
North sideline, upper deck sit in sun for 94% of a 3:30 game, and East end zone, upper deck sit in sun for 91% of a 3:30 game. Noon kickoffs start with the sun about 44 degrees high and nearly every open seat lit. You cannot buy full shade at noon here, only a head start: west end zone, lower rows gain it soonest.
At a 3:30 kickoff the sun stands about 36 degrees up in the southwest. Minute by minute, this is what the model shows: shade climbs the west end zone from the bottom up. The lower rows reach half shade about an hour and a half in, the upper deck about 2 hours in. The common assumption, top rows first, is wrong in this bowl. Because the stands rise at close to the sun's afternoon angle, the shadow starts at the rail and works its way up, and the highest rows are the last to cool off. Even the north sideline, upper deck eventually get there, but not until about 4 hours in.
Night games solve the problem for you: at a 7:00 kickoff the sun is already down to about 4 degrees and sets during the first half, so the whole bowl converges on 100% shade. Nobody needs this page for a night kickoff.
Date matters as much as section. Take the same 3:30 kickoff in late October and the west end zone climbs from about 55% shade to about 81%, purely because the kickoff sun drops from 36 to 21 degrees. Every area benefits late in the season.
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The percentages above are computed, not eyeballed: a 3D model of this bowl is ray-traced against the sun's true position for each date and kickoff shown, using the same engine as the live map. It approximates the stands as a tiered ring and ignores overhangs and press boxes, so trust it for which areas shade first rather than for any single row. Independent tool; not affiliated with the NCAA or any school.
Same conference, same afternoon sun. Shade guides for the rest of the Big Ten: