Fox not bringing pregame show to Penn State’s Big Noon Kickoff at Illinois

Fox announces surprising destination for Big Noon Kickoff pregame show in Week 3

After starting the season 2-0 and seemingly validating its consensus preseason top-10 ranking, Penn State will make its 2023 debut on the Fox broadcast lineup card in Week 3. Penn State will play its first road game of the season when it faces Illinois for Fox’s Big Noon Saturday game next weekend. But the Fox pregame show will not be making the trip.

It was announced by Fox that the network’s college football pregame show, Big Noon Kickoff, will be making a trip to Boulder, Colorado to highlight the 2-0 start by the Colorado Buffaloes. What makes this an interesting decision is this will be a second straight week in Boulder for the Fox pregame show.

Fox isn’t even broadcasting Colorado’s next game. Those rights reside with ESPN, which will air the Colorado-Colorado State game in the late-night west coast time slot.

And guess who’s also making the trip to Boulder? That’s right. ESPN’s College GameDay.

There has never been any rule set in stone that a network’s pregame show had to go to the site of the game of the week airing on that particular network, but it does seem slightly odd that Fox would stay in Colorado for a second straight week.

But it is fair to say the Colorado story has captured the attention of the college football world, so it makes sense for Fox to milk that for all it is worth and strike while the iron is hot. And maybe after the hours of Colorado love on the pregame show, Penn State will go out and make a statement of their own on the road at Illinois on the same network.