BLOOMINGTON — One of the most important IU football games in living memory will be played under the Memorial Stadium floodlights.
The Big Ten confirmed Monday that Indiana’s Sept. 20 visit from Illinois — in what’s likely to be a top-20 showdown of two College Football Playoff contenders — will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on NBC. IU also announced the game as a “red out.”
This season’s Big Ten opener for both teams, the early season showdown pits two likely playoff hopefuls against one another in a game whose outcome might reverberate through November. It will be a familiar scene for Indiana, which closed its Big Ten schedule last season with a nighttime kick against Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The matchup could appeal to ESPN “College GameDay,” which made its first Saturday visit to Bloomington last season when the Hoosiers played Washington.
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It’s also sold out, a first for the playoff-minded Hoosiers this season, reflecting the magnitude of a game whose outcome could help set the course — for better or worse — for the rest of the Big Ten schedule. IU last defeated a top-10 opponent at home in 2020, when the Hoosiers defeated No. 7 Penn State.
The last one at home in front of fans? Back in 1967 when IU beat third-ranked Purdue 19-14 in front of an announced attendance of 52,770.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football to host night game with College Football Playoff hopeful Illinois in Big Ten opener
Reporting by Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
