Nebraska will host its first Friday night home game, vs. Illinois, on Sept. 20
Like it or not, Friday night Big Ten football is coming to Lincoln.
FOX announced Wednesday that Nebraska’s home game against Illinois would be aired on Friday, Sept. 20.
Since the Big Ten began airing Friday night games as part of its regular television package in 2017, the Huskers now have been picked up five times.
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This season will mark the first time the Big Red will be forced — it’s not NU’s preference — to host a non-Black Friday home game in Lincoln. The Huskers previously played Friday night road games at Illinois (2017 and 2023) and Rutgers (2020 and 2022) as part of the Big Ten’s television package. The only thing close to this would’ve been back in 2001 when Nebraska played Rice on a Thursday night in Lincoln.
The game was moved after Sept. 11, and both teams had open dates the following week, which allowed it to be played on a Thursday.
It was thought Nebraska would be prevented from hosting a Friday night game in Lincoln, as traditionally, the Big Ten has played such games in stadiums that don’t draw major crowds. Places like Illinois, Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Northwestern, and Purdue have hosted Friday night conference games. Until this year, we haven’t seen Friday night Big Ten football in one of the league’s bigger venues.
FOX’s decision to beef up the Friday night window forced the league to add more inventory. Before this season, we had generally seen two to four Friday games yearly. The Big Ten will have nine in 2024.
The Big Ten’s homecoming rule played a factor in Nebraska’s Friday night slot
Another factor is that the Big Ten allows each school to dictate when they play on homecoming. That prevents those games from being picked up as part of the Friday night package.
NU’s homecoming will be against Rutgers on Oct. 5. This allows Nebraska a preference on that particular kickoff day and time.
The real twist, though, is NU’s road schedule. The Big Red plays at Purdue (Sept. 28), Indiana (Oct. 19), Ohio State (Oct. 26), and USC (Nov. 16). The dates for all four of those schools have been designated for their homecoming games.
This prevents any of them from being picked up by the Friday night package. Otherwise, typical Friday night picks would be Nebraska trips to West Lafayette and Bloomington, as we’ve seen in the past.
Nebraska’s Nov. 29 game at Iowa will be played on Black Friday, meaning NU will have two Friday games this year and two open dates – Oct. 12 and Nov. 9.
The rest of Nebraska’s early season games and homecoming date matchups will be announced as early as next week. We could know 10 of Nebraska’s 12 kickoff times by next week, as only the UCLA and Wisconsin games don’t fall on a homecoming date or a Friday. The league automatically announces the first three weeks and any matchup already pre-selected by a network or on homecoming.
Illinois vs. Nebraska will be the 400th consecutive sellout
Another thing to consider is Nebraska’s Sept. 20 game against Illinois is on track to be the 400th consecutive sellout in Memorial Stadium.
This probably doesn’t sit well with Husker officials, as it’s a monumental date in the program.
Nebraska typically only plays seven home games per year. It takes over 14 seasons before you reach 100. To put it in perspective, the 200th sellout happened back in 1994.
On the flip side, knowing the game will be a night game allows Husker officials to possibly do more with fireworks and drone technology, giving the game a bigger stage to shine on.
