Goodbye, 11 a.m. CT kickoffs! The Wildcats are headed to primetime action.
The Wildcats will be playing under the lights to begin their 2026 season this fall.
On Wednesday, the Big Ten Conference announced kickoff times for select games during the opening few weeks of the upcoming football season. Northwestern, which will be splitting home games between its lakeside Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium and its state-of-the-art $850 million Ryan Field, learned that the first month of its season will be played at night.
The 'Cats are slated to face FCS giant South Dakota State in the season opener on Saturday, Sep. 5. Northwestern's first of two games at Martin Stadium has now been officially set for a 7 p.m. CT kickoff with Big Ten Network televising the matchup.
Due to the New Ryan Field's delayed opening, Northwestern has an unusual early-season bye in Week 2. That means the Wildcats will be forced to play their final 11 games in consecutive weeks without a break, which projects to be a grueling conference schedule.
Northwestern then returns to Martin Stadium to host Colorado on Saturday, Sep. 19 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The first half of the programs' home-and-home series — which will see the 'Cats head to Boulder in 2027 — will either be televised on FOX or FS1.
To close out the month, Northwestern is scheduled to face the national champion Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington. NU has not played in Bloomington since 2019, but will battle the Hoosiers in a Friday night bout on Sep. 25. The broadcast of the game will be at 7 p.m. CT on FOX.
Northwestern's fourth consecutive primetime game to open the season will come with the opening of the New Ryan Field on Friday, Oct. 2, against Penn State. Set for 7 p.m. CT on FOX, the game is 100 years to the date from when the previous Ryan Field hosted its first football game in 1926.
On Saturday, Oct. 10, the Wildcats will welcome Ball State to Evanston in a matchup that is not only Northwestern's Homecoming game, but also NU's first of the season with the sun out. While the kickoff time has not yet been announced, the contest is scheduled to begin no later than 4 p.m. CT, likely giving the game either an 11 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
The final game time that isn't completely a mystery is Saturday, Oct. 31, when Northwestern heads to Oregon for the Ducks' Homecoming game. That matchup will kick off no later than 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. PT).
