Northwestern Football will twice play at Wrigley Field; full schedule released

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern University’s Football team will look to be anything but friendly when they host two division rivals at Wrigley Field this fall.

Northwestern Football hosts four of its first six games at its temporary home at the Lanny and Sharon Martin Athletics Facility near Lake Michigan in Evanston. Construction continues on a new Ryan Field, which the team expects to open in 2026.

In the interim, the team will host two games at ‘The Friendly Confines’ in the month of November. First, the Wildcats will welcome the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, Nov. 16. Two weeks later, the team welcomes the University of Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday, Nov. 30.

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Wrigley Field has been the temporary home for Northwestern Football three times, the most recent being last year’s Big Ten divisional outing against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Before 2023, Northwestern played a showdown at Wrigley Field with the Purdue Boilermakers in 2021.

In 2010, Northwestern hosted Illinois at Wrigley Field, the first football game for the Chicago staple in 30 years and the first college contest in the sport since 1938.

The Wildcats will also hope that fourth time’s the charm, as Northwestern has gone 0-3 when hosting games at Wrigley Field.

Northwestern finished 8-5 overall and 5-4 amid conference play in a scandal-ridden season. David Braun took over after the university fired longtime head coach Pat Fitzgerald after an investigation into hazing allegations in the football program.

The season kicks off Aug. 31 against the University of Maryland.

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