Big Ten Daily (May 23): FOX Releases Big Ten Friday Night Football Schedule for 2024

Get ready for a lot of Friday night football in the Big Ten this year. Beginning on Sept. 20, FOX Sports will air nine Big Ten college football games on Friday nights, with 12 of the conference's 18 teams scheduled for at least one contest.

Fireworks go off during a light show at the end of the third quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Love it or hate it, Friday night football games are returning to the Big Ten in 2024. This season, a total of nine games featuring 12 teams from the conference will be played on Fridays.

This week, FOX Sports released the complete Friday night schedule for 2024 college football season. There will be nine games in the Big Ten, beginning on Sept. 20 with Illinois traveling to Nebraska.

Only six teams from the newly-expanded league will avoid playing a Friday night football game on FOX: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.

Here's the complete list of Friday night games in the Big Ten for the 2024 season (all games will air on FOX):

Sept. 20: Illinois vs. Nebraska at 8 p.m. ET — Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.
Sept. 27: Washington vs. Rutgers at 8 p.m. ET — SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J.
Oct. 4: Michigan State vs. Oregon at 9 p.m. ET — Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore.
Oct. 11: Northwestern vs. Maryland at 8 p.m. ET — SECU Stadium in College Park, Md.
Oct. 18: Oregon vs. Purdue at 8 p.m. ET — Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind.
Oct. 25: Rutgers vs. USC at 11 p.m. ET — L.A. Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif.
Nov. 8: Iowa vs. UCLA at 9 p.m. ET — The Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, Calif.
Nov. 15: UCLA vs. Washington at 9 p.m. ET — Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash.
Nov. 22: Purdue vs. Michigan State at 8 p.m. ET — Spartans Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.

Because high school football is traditionally played on Friday nights, there's been a lot of criticism regarding FOX's insistence to host college games on those days. Clearly, though, the resistence from fans has had no impact on the network's decision.

So, get ready, Big Ten fans. Friday night football is here to stay for quite some time.

ESPN, TNT reach agreement on College Football Playoff

Another television network is getting in on the College Football Playoff party. ESPN and TNT announced a five-year agreement regarding the broadcast of Playoff games — a deal that allows TNT to sublicense select games.

Beginning this year, TNT will broadcast two first-round College Football Playoff games. Then, in 2026, the network will add a pair of quarterfinal matchups. They'll broadcast those games through 2028.

All other College Football Playoff games will air on ESPN's networks.

"We're delighted to reach this agreement with ESPN, providing TNT Sports the opportunity to showcase these College Football Playoff games on our platforms for years to come," TNT Sports chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser said, per ESPN. "TNT Sports aims to delight fans and drive maximum reach and engagement for these marquee games."

"ESPN is pleased to sublicense to TNT Sports a select number of early round games of the College Football Playoff, an event we've helped to grow -- alongside the CFP -- into one of the preeminent championships," said Rosalyn Durant, ESPN executive vice president, programming & acquisitions. "We're confident in the reach and promotion that this new agreement will provide as we enter the new, expanded playoff era."

This year marks the first that the College Football Playoff will feature a 12-team format. For the past 10 seasons, it was limited to just four teams.