Wisconsin’s biennial trip to Evanston, Illinois to face the Northwestern Wildcats is often impacted by the weather report.
The old Ryan Field’s place near the shores of Lake Michigan makes that the reality. Any wind or weather coming off the lake doesn’t have much interruption before reaching the stadium.
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This impact was assumed to only rise when Northwestern’s temporary lakefront stadium was announced — a location for some of the team’s 2024 and 2025 home games before the new Ryan Field opens in 2026. That stadium, pictured below, directly abuts Lake Michigan. Only a moveable scoreboard stands in the way of any wind or lake-effect weather reaching the field of play.
Saturday’s matchup against Wisconsin will be Northwestern’s final game in the building of the 2024 season. It will move to play its remaining home games at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.
The weather in the Midwest hasn’t quite turned toward the winter. Northwestern’s games in the temporary stadium thus far against Miami (OH), Duke, Eastern Illinois and Indiana have not been severely impacted by any inclement weather.
Saturday against Wisconsin looks to be no different. The weather forecast for Evanston, Illinois reads 70 degrees and sunny, with winds out of the southwest between five and 10 miles per hour.
In other words, the forecast predicts a perfect afternoon for football
Wisconsin and Northwestern will kick off at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT on the Big Ten Network and streaming on Fox Sports. The weather should not hinder a Wisconsin offensive attack that enters playing its best football of the Luke Fickell and Phil Longo era to date.
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