Last week it was unveiled that the Badgers vs. Buckeyes Leaders division tilt would be a nationally televised night contest on one of the ESPN networks. This Monday the Big Ten Network unveiled their primetime night games and the Badgers will be on the road for a 2nd time at night in the 2013 season as they will take on fellow Leaders division foes Illinois on Oct. 19th.
That means Wisconsin is on the road, inside the Big Ten, for two night games. It's something no other school in the Big Ten has to do. UW also joins Iowa as the only schools to not host a night game at all in the 2013 season. The Badgers remain a top draw though as UW will play at night twice in a season for the 7th straight year.
It is interesting that the Badgers vs. Northwestern game isn't a night affair as both teams have become upper echelon teams within the conference, but that would've meant back-to-back night games for UW and we all know the Big Ten doesn't like doing that to teams.
Before you think the Badgers got slighted by not having a home night game or anything of that nature, let's remember the home slate of contests doesn't exactly read like a who's who of the Big Ten. Outside of the Northwestern game the only other home contest that could be considered for a night time slot would be the Big Ten opener against Purdue and again, that's a week ahead of the tilt in Columbus, so that wasn't going to happen.
Add in the fact that the remaining home games are in mid to late November against Indiana and Penn State and you begin to see the issue with playing at night in Camp Randall. Perhaps the one game to watch out for is the November 9th tilt against BYU, but that seems unlikely to happen as well.
Don't expect the night game to bother the Badgers much as they are 36-25 all-time at night and are 31-6 in their last 37 games at night dating back to 1995.
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