Illinois-Northwestern to play at Wrigley Field

CHAMPAIGN — The Illinois football regular season will end at Wrigley Field in 2024.

Northwestern announced its full schedule and location of its home games on Wednesday afternoon. Ryan Field, Northwestern’s long-time home venue, is undergoing renovations for this upcoming season.

The Illini and Wildcats are set to meet Nov. 30 at the home of the Chicago Cubs, a place where the two in-state rivals met in 2010. Illinois, led by Champaign native Mikel Leshoure rushing for a single-game school record 330 yards, cruised past the Wildcats 48-27 in a game that was remembered for both teams going the same way on the field because of space concerns at Wrigley Field.

The game against Illinois is one of two Northwestern will play at Wrigley Field this season, with the Wildcats playing Ohio State on Nov. 16, two weeks before they face off with the Illini.

The rest of Northwestern’s five home games are slated to take place at a renovated practice facility on the campus in Evanston.

Since its win against Northwestern in 2010 at Wrigley Field, Illinois is 0-3 in subsequent games in Chicago, all played at Soldier Field. Illinois lost 34-24 to Washington in 2013, 24-14 to Northwestern in 2015 and 25-19 to South Florida in 2018.

The game against Northwestern is the second of two road games for the Illini to end the upcoming season. A week before playing at Wrigley, Illinois will travel to play at Rutgers on Nov. 23.

Ryan Field won’t be available until the 2026 season at the earliest, with Illinois and Northwestern set to play at Memorial Stadium in Champaign during the 2025 season.