Wisconsin will travel to play the Northwestern Wildcats in Week 8 of the college football season.
The Badgers and Wildcats have faced off in every season since 2013. Wisconsin has made five trips to Evanston, Illinois, in that time.
Related: Big Ten football offensive coordinator rankings for 2024 season
A road trip to play Northwestern used to mean a game at Ryan Field — a field known for abnormally long grass in a high school-like stadium atmosphere. That is no longer the case. Northwestern recently demolished Ryan Field and is in the process of building a new state-of-the-art facility.
The construction will not be completed until the 2026 season. In the meantime, the Wildcats are building a temporary solution.
Wisconsin will play in that temporary stadium when it travels to Northwestern on Oct. 19, 2024. Early reports pointed to Lambeau Field as a possible location. Those reports did not come to fruition. That led to the much-anticipated release of the actual location of the Badgers’ game against the Wildcats this season.
Turns out it is a remote turf field on the shore of Lake Michigan. That’s about it.
Here’s a look at the site of Northwestern’s temporary lakeside stadium before construction begins! 🏟️#B1GFootball x @NUFBFamily pic.twitter.com/xp0DAiT529
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) June 19, 2024
To be clear, this is just the location of the field. Northwestern is expected to put together a minor build-out that includes an area for the media and limited seating for season-ticket holders.
Northwestern is sending a conceptual image of its temporary lakeside football stadium, which will host games in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, to season-ticket holders today. The image shows general concepts behind the facility, which is being designed and built by InProduction. pic.twitter.com/sksiXElvds
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) May 30, 2024
But the temporary stadium should take Northwestern’s atmosphere, or lack thereof, to the next level.
The Badgers will make the trip in mid-October looking to avenge a 24-10 loss to the Wildcats in 2023. Wisconsin is expect to improve upon a shaky 7-6 record from a season ago, while Northwestern will likely take a step backward after a surprising 8-5 2023 campaign.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.
[lawrence-related id=78567,78289,78951,79021,78563,78939,78833]