Ever since August 31, 2019, Fox‘s “Big Noon Kickoff” has served as a direct alternative to ESPN‘s “College Gameday.” Each Saturday during the college football season, both networks vie for the rights to broadcast the biggest games. Often, they travel to Big 10 campuses.
Following the 2023 season, Ohio State leads the way with 17 appearances with Fox traveling to Columbus 10 times. Michigan follows closely behind with 15 and five, respectively. 14 of the 18 programs in the conference have been featured. Of those 14, only Northwestern and Oregon have yet to host the program.
Big Noon Saturday is looking STRONG in 2024 💪
Sep. 7: Texas at Michigan
Sep. 14: Alabama at Wisconsin
Nov. 30: Michigan at Ohio StateCan't. Wait. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/G0HHZlpY3N
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) May 13, 2024
Big Noon Kickoff Announces Three B1G Matchups for 2023
Texas at Michigan (September 7)
There are two big matchups in the Big 10 in Week 2 of the regular season. One matchup features Deion Sanders‘ Colorado Buffaloes traveling to Nebraska to rekindle the old Big 12 rivalry. The other matchup pits two College Football Playoff participants against one another.
In 2024, Michigan gets to defend its National Championship with a gauntlet that starts with Fresno State in Week 1 and Texas in Week 2. They get a slight reprieve as both games will be at home. Both Michigan and Texas lost plenty of talent to the NFL and both will have uphill battles to get back.
When featured on “Big Noon Kickoff,” Michigan is 13-2. Those two losses were to Ohio State in 2019 in Ann Arbor and Michigan State in 2021 in East Lansing. Texas is 1-2 when featured with the lone win coming last year in the overtime win over Kansas State.
All-time, Michigan and Texas have only faced off once. In that 2005 matchup, Texas narrowly won this battle of the bluebloods, 38-37.
Alabama at Wisconsin (September 14)
The second recently-announced Big 10-featured matchup will pit the Nick Saban-less Alabama Crimson Tide against Luke Fickell‘s Wisconsin Badgers. In what is a rarity for the SEC, Alabama is playing a true road game outside of the south and will travel to Camp Randall.
For the first season since 2007, Alabama goes into a season without Saban at the helm. The Tide poached National Championship runner-up Kalen DeBoer to be the next coach and have had a solid offseason thus far.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, lost star running back Braelon Allen to the NFL and will be replacing Tanner Mordecai with Miami (FL) transfer, Tyler Van Dyke. Fickell and his staff have been busy in the transfer portal with 15 incoming players. In addition to Van Dyke, the Badgers are looking to revamp a roster that won just seven games last year, the same as the year before.
Wisconsin has been featured five times on “Big Nook Kickoff” and will be looking for the program’s first victory. Alabama, on the other hand, has only been featured once which resulted in a 20-19 win over Texas in 2022.
The Week 3 matchup between these two will be a rubber match as both programs have split the two previous matchups. Alabama won the most recent matchup in 2015, 35-17. That was a neutral-site game. Wisconsin won the first matchup in Madison, 15-0, way back in 1928.
Michigan at Ohio State (November 30)
It’s not a college football season without Ohio State versus Michigan at the end of the year at noon on Fox. Since the program’s inception, the Ohio State-Michigan game has been featured every year it has been played (the 2020 matchup was canceled due to COVID concerns within the Michigan program).
Michigan has had the edge over the last three seasons, of course. The embattled Wolverines have won three straight against Ohio State for the first time since the 1995-1997 run. Between those runs, Ohio State owned a commanding 18-4 mark. This is Ohio State-Michigan, of course, so nothing outside of the 60 minutes on the field matters.
The Buckeyes are all in for 2024. A dozen NFL-bound players elected to come back and compete for a title. Additionally, Ohio State earned the commitments of a few of the best in the transfer portal like Quinshon Judkins and Caleb Downs. They’re among the favorites to win the first 12-team College Football Playoff. However, with three losses in a row to Michigan, there’s a sense of urgency and desperation.
Ohio State sports a 13-4 mark when featured on “Big Nook Kickoff” with three losses coming against Michigan. That final loss was when Oregon came into the Horseshoe and won, 35-28, in 2021. All-time Michigan has increased its lead in the rivalry to 61-51-6. With Ryan Day‘s 1-3 record against That Team Up North™, he will need to come out victorious. Losing four in a row, even if he wins it all, is not a great way to keep one’s job in Columbus, Ohio.
