Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh criticized the Big Ten’s decision to schedule six Friday night games for the 2017 season.

THOMAS: Big Ten does not belong on Friday nights

We love his phrase — “chosen to infringe” — because football in general is doing that now. Harbaugh is right, too.

Fridays are for high school football. Don’t expect a Michigan, Penn State or Ohio State home game on Friday night anytime soon. It’s a bad idea.

Harbaugh’s tweet, though, presents a bigger question: Do we really need football games every day of the week? Even those of us who can watch 16 straight hours of football on a Saturday (it has come to that) deserve a break.

Here’s what the football schedule should look like.

MONDAY

What we want: Better Monday Night Football matchups

This used to be the main event. That might be Sunday Night Football now, but dear lord, some of these games are set up to be awful.

The average margin of victory in this year’s Monday night games has been 16.4 points. The “best” game was Tampa Bay’s 17-14 win against Carolina on Oct. 10, a game in which Cam Newton didn’t even play.

What we don’t need: The 8:30 p.m. ET start time

You can bump that back to 8 p.m.

Exceptions: The Week 1 Monday Night Football doubleheader, the Labor Day college football showdown (doesn’t interfere with NFL most of the time) and the College Football Playoff championship game.

We like those.

MORE: Week 9 NFL predictions 

TUESDAY

What we want: #MACtion

It’s OK to have Mid-American Conference games and other Group of 5 conference games on in November. That’s where and when you’ll get a chance to watch Western Michigan — at Kent State on Nov. 8.

What we don’t need: Anything else

Exceptions: Again, bowl games or Jan. 1. That’s about it.

MORE: Western Michigan represented in Heisman race

WEDNESDAY

What we want: A day of rest

What we don’t need: Football on Wednesdays during the regular season

Exceptions: Bowl games

We can have bowl games on Wednesdays, especially if they fall on Dec. 1. But there’s no reason to have football on Wednesdays during the regular season.

THURSDAY

What we want: A big-time college football game each week

This is a spot for that, and the schedule allows for it. Of course, that would mean …

What we don’t need: NFL Thursday Night Football

This game requires a week of preparation. When you jam that down to three days, you get the product we’re seeing in the pros.

MORE: All-time worst TNF games

Exceptions: The Week 1 NFL opener and Thanksgiving football

We need those.

FRIDAY

What we want: High school football

It’s called Friday Night Lights for a reason. The occasional high-profile West Coast showdown, like Stanford-Washington this year, works.

What we don’t need: Big Ten football games on Friday night. Or SEC. Or Big 12 …

Exceptions: In 2020-21and 2021-22, the College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Friday night, but that will be long after the high school season is over.

SATURDAY

What we want: The current setup works.

We love having college football on from noon until sometimes 3 a.m. ET in the morning. It’s a 15-hour day, but we love it.

What we don’t need: Games that take four-plus hours

When one game bleeds into the second quarter of the next one, that’s a problem. College football needs to run the clock on first downs. Problem solved.

ANGRY BENDER: Why are college games so long?

Exceptions: NFL football on a Christmas Eve Saturday (like this year) is better than Christmas Day, which is NBA territory. We also enjoy Saturday playoff games during the wild-card and divisional playoff rounds. They don’t interfere with college for the most part.

SUNDAY

What we want: The current schedule

The NFL’s early-late-primetime formula works. Flex scheduling is a plus, and the average margin of victory in Sunday Night Football games is 8.0.

What we don’t need: The International Series

Use last week’s tie between Washington and Cincinnati in London as the primary example. A compromise? One game in London and one game in Mexico City every year.

Exceptions: Hard choices like last week, when the World Series was bumped up against the Eagles-Cowboys game. The NFL wins that matchup sometimes, but it wasn’t going to beat Indians-Cubs.