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The Ohio State Buckeyes will face Northwestern next season in a primetime rematch of the 2018 Big Ten Championship Game. We already knew that the game would take place in Evanston, Ill., at Ryan Field; what’s changed, though, is that the game won’t be taking place on a Saturday night, but a Friday night.
Reported by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, the Wildcat season-ticket holders were the ones to find out of the date change on Tuesday.
A rematch of the 2018 Big Ten championship game will take place on a Friday night next fall as Northwestern will host Ohio State on Friday, Oct. 18, at Ryan Field. Northwestern informed its season-ticket holders of the new date earlier today. This is... https://t.co/QypJskpVgl
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 18, 2018
Even though this game was destined for primetime, moving it to a Friday night seems a little... weird. Ohio State has played in non-Saturday night games before; in the Urban Meyer, there was a couple occasions (Virginia Tech 2015 was on Labor Day, and Indiana 2016 was on a Thursday).
The last time OSU traveled to Ryan Field, College Gameday was there for their traveling roadshow in 2013. The Buckeyes held off the Wildcats, winning by a closer-than-it-seems final score of 40-30.
Sandwiched between home games against Michigan State and Wisconsin, this date change could benefit the Buckeyes. But only time will tell.