Wisconsin football avoids a Friday night Big Ten game in 2024
The Wisconsin Badgers will not play a conference game on Friday night in 2024. Fox announced its Friday night schedule on Wednesday. It includes nine Big Ten matchups with those games on every Friday from September 20 to November 22. The Badgers are one of only four Big Ten teams to not play in the time slot, along with Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. Related: Updated 2024 Wisconsin football game-by-game predictions after spring practice The network’s top Friday games include Iowa at UCLA, Rutgers at USC and Illinois at Nebraska. The slot does not have the Big Ten’s best inventory, to say the least — those contests will be reserved for Fox Big Noon Kickoff, CBS’ Saturday afternoon game and NBC’s Saturday night window.
Wisconsin’s schedule currently has one game time released: September 14 vs. Alabama on Fox Big Noon Kickoff at noon eastern, 11 a.m. central. Our schedule tracker will be updated as more game times are released. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.
Whether you like it
The full Friday night schedule for the 2024 college football season was made public by FOX Sports this week. The Big Ten schedule consists of nine games, starting on September 20 when Illinois visits Nebraska.
Just six teams from the recently expanded league—Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin—will not be shown on FOX during a Friday night football game.
The Big Ten’s full schedule of Friday night games for the 2024 season is provided below; FOX will broadcast every game.
Illinois vs. Nebraska on September 20 @ 8 p.m. ET Lincoln, Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium.
Rutgers vs. Washington on September 27 @ 8 p.m. ET At Piscataway, New Jersey’s SHI Stadium.
Michigan State vs. Oregon on October 4 @ 9 p.m. ET Eugene, Oregon’s Autzen Stadium.
Maryland vs. Northwestern on October 11 @ 8 p.m. ET SECU Stadium is in College Park, Maryland.
Purdue vs. Oregon on October 18 @ 8 p.m. ET Ross-Ade Stadium, located in West Lafayette, Indiana.
USC vs. Rutgers on October 25 @ 11 p.m. ET The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in California.
UCLA vs. Iowa on November 8 @ 9 p.m. ET — The Los Angeles, California Rose Bowl.
UCLA at. Washington, Nov. 15, 9 p.m. ET Washington’s Husky Stadium in Seattle.
Purdue vs. Michigan State, Nov. 22, 8 p.m. ET At East Lansing, Michigan’s Spartans Stadium.
FOX’s insistence on airing college games on Friday evenings has drawn a lot of criticism because Friday nights are when high school football games are often played. It is evident, however, that the network’s decision has not been influenced by the opposition from fans.
Fans of the Big Ten, get ready. Football on Friday nights is a fixture of the weekend schedule.
Agreement on College Football Playoffs reached by ESPN and TNT
An another broadcast network is joining the College Football Playoff festivities. A five-year arrangement between ESPN and TNT to broadcast Playoff games was revealed; as part of the agreement, TNT is able to sublicense certain games.
TNT will carry two College Football Playoff first-round games starting this year. The network will then add two quarterfinal matchups in 2026. Those games will be televised by them till 2028.
ESPN will broadcast all other College Football Playoff games.
TNT Sports chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser stated, “We’re delighted to reach this agreement with ESPN, providing TNT Sports the opportunity to showcase these College Football Playoff games on our platforms for years to come,” according to ESPN. “TNT Sports aims to delight fans and drive maximum reach and engagement for these marquee games.”
Rosalyn Durant, executive vice president of programming and acquisitions at ESPN, stated, “ESPN is pleased to sublicense to TNT Sports a select number of early round games of the College Football Playoff, an event we’ve helped grow — alongside the CFP — into one of the preeminent championships.” “We’re confident in the reach and promotion that this new agreement will provide as we enter the new, expanded playoff era.”
The College Football Playoff will use a 12-team structure for the first time this year. It was restricted to just four teams for the previous ten seasons.
