Wisconsin football will have two night home games on NBC, including vs. Ohio State, report says
INDIANAPOLIS – NBC will provide Big Ten football with a weekly Saturday night national broadcast throughout the upcoming season. Camp Randall Stadium could be center stage for two of those matchups.
According to a tweet posted by Brett Murphy of the Action Network on Wednesday, Wisconsin’s showdown with Ohio State on Oct. 28 and the UW-Nebraska game on Nov. 18 will be played under the lights.
The tweet came with the caveat that those games could be flexed to other networks.
Kickoff times for the Badgers schedule at that point in the season have not been announced, but the possibility of night football in Madison is intriguing. Wisconsin’s last night game at Camp Randall was a non-conference matchup with Army two years ago. The last time the Badgers hosted a Big Ten opponent under the lights was Illinois in the 2020 season opener, a game that was played in an empty stadium due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
You have to go back to the 2018 season for the last time UW played a night-time Big Ten game at home in front of its fans.
NBC along the Big Ten Network, Fox and CBS, will give Big Ten football extensive reach to viewers, especially on broadcast television.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti noted Wednesday that 27 of the 30 most-watched college football telecasts were on broadcast television. He said the Big Ten projects to have 34 games on broadcast television, which would be more than any other conference.
The goal is to have strong matchups in each telecast window.
“Thanksgiving season weekend this season is a powerful example of that work,” he said. “Iowa at Nebraska on CBS Thanksgiving Friday at noon. Penn State at Michigan State on NBC Thanksgiving Friday in primetime. Then Ohio State at Michigan on FOX Saturday at noon, followed by a 4 p.m. Big Ten matchup on FOX as well. Each of these games will receive significant promotion in NFL Thanksgiving games.”
Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell experienced Camp Randall as an assistant coach with Ohio State on a handful of occasions, including night games in 2016, '10, '08 and '03.
He called the atmosphere of the stadium for night games “crazy, electric”.
“Our kids love night games,” Fickell said Thursday during Day 2 of Big Ten Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium. “Obviously as a coach, you get to the point where you don’t love night games sometimes. You love them at home, but not on the road with all the travel and things. But it’s a part of our game and if it’s good for our kids and they love it then I’m all for it. I’m not one of those ones that’s going to push back on a night game late in the season.”
The last night UW night game at Camp Randall wasn’t sealed until the final 3 minutes when Graham Mertz scored on a 1-yard run with 2 minutes 38 seconds remaining. The extra point gave the Badgers a 13-point lead in what ended up as a 20-14 victory over Army Oct. 16, 2021.
Running back Braelon Allen was one of many players on the this year’s team who played that night.
“It’s just more energy in the stadium,” he said about night games. “The stadium is rocking a little bit more. I like to play under the lights. It gives you that high school feel in obviously a much bigger stadium and (in front of) much more fans. It kind of takes you back to those days that you couldn’t wait for, those Friday Night lights.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin football will host Ohio State, Nebraska at night on NBC
