NBC announced the first two matchups of its “Big Ten Saturday Night” slate in 2024.
The first: Fresno State at Michigan at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 31.
The second: Colorado at Nebraska at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 7.
Related: Post-spring Big Ten football 2024 power rankings, starting quarterback rankings
Both matchups carry weight in early season out-of-conference play. Michigan enters Week 1 off its 15-0 national championship-winning 2023 season. Jim Harbaugh and most of the 2023 Wolverines are gone, but the program will still celebrate to kick off 2024.
Week 2 is a rematch of last year’s contest won by Colorado, 36-14. It’s a marquee early season game between two teams with high expectations entering the season. Nebraska looks for a big Year 2 jump under Matt Rhule, while Deion Sanders and Colorado dominate every offseason storyline.
The first two Big Ten Saturday Night games on NBC this season:
Aug. 31: Fresno State at Michigan
Sept. 7: Colorado at Nebraska pic.twitter.com/wXMBUR0302— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) May 13, 2024
Wisconsin hosts Western Michigan and South Dakota in weeks 1 and 2, respectively. Those matchups weren’t real candidates for a national television prime-time broadcast.
In Week 3, however, the Badgers host first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The matchup lost some luster with Nick Saban’s retirement, but Alabama will likely enter as a top-10 team. It will present Luke Fickell with an ideal opportunity for a statement win early in his second year in charge.
That contest will be on Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff,” as announced on Monday.
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