The Big Ten has announced their early season 2019 football TV schedule, which features 27 games set for broadcast on Big Ten Network and the ESPN and FOX networks.
The schedule kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 29 with the Minnesota Golden Gophers hosting the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. The game will be televised by FS1 at 9:00pm ET.
On Friday, Aug. 30, four Big Ten teams will be in action (Purdue, Rutgers, Michigan State, and Wisconsin), with the remaining conference members hitting the gridiron on Saturday, Aug. 31 (Illinois, Ohio State, Maryland, Penn State, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, and Nebraska).
The Big Ten also announced Homecoming dates for all 14 member schools.
The 2019 Big Ten Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The game will be televised by FOX at 8:00pm ET.
Listed below are the early season Big Ten games that have been selected for television as of May 31, plus 24 games from Week 4 onward.
All remaining Big Ten controlled football games in 2019 will be announced six-to-12 days prior to the date of the game.
Big Ten 2019 Football TV Schedule
*All times Eastern.
Thursday, Aug. 29
South Dakota State at Minnesota – 9pm, FS1
Friday, Aug. 30
Tulsa at Michigan State – 7pm, FS1
Wisconsin at USF – 7pm, ESPN
UMass at Rutgers – 7:15pm, BTN
Purdue at Nevada – 9:30pm, CBSSN
Saturday, Aug. 31
Akron at Illinois – 12pm, BTN
Florida Atlantic at Ohio State – 12pm, FOX
Howard at Maryland – 12pm, BTN
Indiana vs. Ball State (Indianapolis) – 12pm, CBSSN
South Alabama at Nebraska – 12pm, ESPN
Idaho at Penn State – 3:30pm, BTN
Northwestern at Stanford – 4pm, FOX
Miami (Ohio) at Iowa – 7:30pm, FS1
Middle Tennessee at Michigan – 7:30pm, BTN
Saturday, Sept. 7
Army at Michigan – 12pm, FOX
Cincinnati at Ohio State – 12pm, ABC
Rutgers at Iowa – 12pm, FS1
Syracuse at Maryland – 12pm, ESPN or ESPN2
Vanderbilt at Purdue – 12pm, BTN
Central Michigan at Wisconsin – 3:30pm, BTN
Eastern Illinois at Indiana – 3:30pm, BTN
Illinois at UConn – 3:30pm, CBSSN
Nebraska at Colorado – 3:30pm, FOX
Buffalo at Penn State – 7:30pm, FOX
Western Michigan at Michigan St. – 7:30pm, BTN
Minnesota at Fresno State – 10:30pm, CBSSN
Saturday, Sept. 14
Eastern Michigan at Illinois – 12pm, BTN
Maryland at Temple – 12pm, CBSSN
Ohio State at Indiana – 12pm, FOX
Pitt at Penn State – 12pm, ABC
Georgia Southern at Minnesota – 3:30pm, BTN
UNLV at Northwestern – 3:30pm, BTN
Arizona State at Michigan State – 4pm, FOX
Iowa at Iowa State – 4pm, FS1
TCU at Purdue – 7:30pm, BTN
Northern Illinois at Nebraska – 8pm, FS1
Saturday, Sept. 21
Michigan at Wisconsin – 12pm, FOX
Friday, Sept. 27
Penn State at Maryland – 8pm, FS1
Saturday, Sept. 28
Indiana at Michigan State (HC) – 3:30 or 4pm, TBD
Middle Tennessee at Iowa – TBA – ESPN/2/U TBA
Saturday, Oct. 5
Purdue at Penn St. (HC) – 12pm, ABC/ESPN/2 TBA
Iowa at Michigan (HC) – 12pm, TBA
Illinois at Minnesota (HC) – 3:30 or 4pm, TBA
Northwestern at Nebraska (HC) – 3:30 or 4pm, TBA
Michigan St. at Ohio St. (HC) – 7:30pm, ABC or ESPN
Kent St. at Wisconsin – Time TBA, ESPN/2/U TBA
Saturday, Oct. 12
Rutgers at Indiana (HC) – 12pm, Network TBA
Maryland at Purdue (HC) – 12pm, Network TBA
Michigan St. at Wisconsin (HC) – 3:30 or 4pm, TBA
Michigan at Illinois – Time TBA, ABC/ESPN/2 TBA
Friday, Oct. 18
Ohio State at Northwestern – 8:30pm, FS1
Saturday, Oct. 19
Wisconsin at Illinois (HC) – 12pm, TBA
Purdue at Iowa (HC) – 12pm, TBA
Minnesota at Rutgers (HC) – 3:30 or 4pm, TBA
Saturday, Oct. 26
Iowa at Northwestern (HC) – 12pm, TBA
Notre Dame at Michigan – Time TBA, ABC/ESPN/2 TBA
Maryland at Minnesota – Time TBA, ABC/ESPN/2 TBA
Saturday, Nov. 2
Michigan at Maryland (HC) – 12pm, TBA
Friday, Nov. 29
Iowa at Nebraska – 2:30pm, BTN
Saturday, Nov. 30
Ohio State at Michigan – 12pm, FOX
Saturday, Dec. 7
Big Ten Championship Game
Lucas Oil Stadium – 8pm, FOX
* (HC) = Homecoming
Football Schedules
Somehow the NCAA needs to step in and require all conferences schedule at least one primetime game every week from Labor Day weekend to Thanksgiving weekend.
The Big Ten did not learn their lesson from last year regarding the UM-OSU timeslot. The Big Ten is screwing Fox and West coast fans of both teams by scheduling it at noon. What’s gonna happen if UM and OSU are #1 and #2 (not necessarily in that order) come November 30?
Fox would be a sponsor of this new NCAA rule, under the condition that their other sports properties aren’t affected.
This rule would mean the NCAA is acting in the best interest of each conference’s television partners.
What problem would this rule serve? For the last few years you’ve been in the same mind trap that all big games must be during primetime. And yes, the networks do control the start times, but at some point you have to consider what is too early or too late, dependent on the time of year. So stop freaking out, only the first 3 weeks have been announced, just because you want a game to be at a certain time, doesn’t mean the schools or tv networks do. Remember, the games aren’t made solely for the purpose of being watched on tv. Plus, the Big Ten has plenty of primetime games before November.
Fans of the game will find a way to watch it, assuming the start time is at some point between breakfast and bedtime. As someone who lives on the west coast, I have no problem with 9 AM starts because I roll out of bed and the game is on.
This is also considering Fox just lost its production arm for non-sports programming as a result of the 21st-Disney merger.
And keep in mind the MAC, which covers a similar territory to the Big Ten, plays night games deep into November as well. That should be reason enough to put UM-OSU at night.
The MAC plays midweek night games in November because the schools need the tv $$$.
Big Ten schools already have plenty of money in their athletic departments, and they already get a lot of money with their current contracts with FOX and ESPN, probably more than what the MAC gets.
The kickoff times for all Big 10 home games through the first weekend of November are determined by FOX and ESPN. Fox has stated they are going to have noon Eastern kickoffs for their best non-Pac 12 each week this year, so I don’t think they would support any rule change that reduces the control they already have over kickoff times through their TV deals with the conference.
As an example, if you look at September 21 of the season, Fox scheduled a noon Eastern kickoff for Michigan-Wisconsin, when it was completely within their control to make it a primetime kickoff. Fox did the same thing with Michigan-Michigan State last year.
Except the Big Ten has never allowed the networks to schedule Thanksgiving weekend night games
Only occasionally has the conference allowed a night game the week before Thanksgiving (and did not allow one at all last year).
It’s the exact same thing as Southern teams not wanting to go North for a non-conference game around the same time. Both have received criticism.
For instance, when Alabama and ND were planning a home-and-home I wanted the game at ND scheduled the week before Thanksgiving. I feel that teams like Alabama and Clemson need to play in the cold to experience real football.
And you notice that Clemson has also never lost to OSU? It’s because in all meetings, the weather has been favorable to Clemson. Now I want OSU to schedule a home game against Clemson the week before Thanksgiving sometime in the future, and play it at night, so that OSU has the advantage weather-wise.
For the record, the Alabama at ND game will be played very early in the season.
It’s actually better for the fan if the games are spread out. FOX is doing everyone a favor by putting their best games at noon, not going up against the ABC night game or 3:30 CBS SEC game. While I do have issues with some of FOX’s philosophies regarding broadcasts, their new unofficial procedure of placing their best game that day at noon gets applause from me, the college football fan.
Also, the 2016 Michigan-Ohio State game was played at noon and was the most-watched game in 2016, the most-watched noon game ever, and the second most-watched ABC game ever, behind only 2006 Michigan-Ohio State.
So, I think having The Game at noon is working out just fine.