Badgers get Big Noon Kickoff for major rivalry game on Halloween

The Big Ten revealed its television network schedule for the Week 9 slate, which is set to take place on Halloween, and the Wisconsin Badgers are in a premier window once again.

Thus far this season, the Badgers have gotten evening games in Weeks 1, 2, 4, and 6 when they faced Notre Dame, Western Illinois, Penn State, and UCLA, respectively. Three of those games were on NBC/Peacock, while the fourth was on Big Ten Network.

Wisconsin is getting another night game this weekend, as they’re facing the No. 16 USC Trojans in a big matchup in primetime. The two teams will kick off at Camp Randall Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on NBC.

After that comes one of the most important games of the year: a road contest against the No. 15 Iowa Hawkeyes. While that one won’t be a night game as well, the Big Ten announced on Monday that the two teams will get Big Noon Kickoff on FOX instead, with kick set for 11:00 a.m. central time.

Overall, it isn’t the strongest slate for the Big Ten. Illinois at Maryland and Michigan at Rutgers are the two other morning games, with the former being on CBS while the latter gets Big Ten Network.

On the 2:30 p.m. central slate, Minnesota faces Indiana on CBS, and Northwestern faces Oregon on Peacock in one of the better games of the day. Purdue goes to Penn State and Nevada goes to UCLA for the 3:15 p.m. slate, with both on Big Ten Network, while the biggest game comes on primetime as Ohio State goes to USC.

So, the Badgers will start Halloween with a rivalry game on Saturday morning, and it could very well be the biggest game of their season. This upcoming two-game slate will make or break the Badgers year. They’re going to need to find a way to win one of the games, as they still have an opportunity here with Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue, and Minnesota coming to close the year.