Purdue-Northwestern Kickoff Time Announced — Boilers Avoid Noon Start
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The Week 8 matchup between Purdue and Northwestern will be a mid-afternoon game in Evanston. On Monday, the Big Ten Conference announced the kickoff time and television information for the old Big Ten West contest.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET for the Boilermakers and Wildcats on Saturday, Oct. 18. The game will air on Big Ten Network. It is one of nine games on the Big Ten's schedule that weekend.
Purdue vs. Northwestern game information
- What: Big Ten Conference game
- When: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025
- Where: Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium (14,000 capacity) in Evanston, Ill.
- Time: 3 p.m. ET
- TV: Big Ten Network
- All-time series: Purdue leads the all-time series 53-35-1
Purdue avoids another noon kickoff
With the announcement, it means that just two of Purdue's first seven games have been scheduled to start at noon ET. The Boilermakers also have a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff time scheduled against Indiana on Friday, Nov. 28 to close out the 2025 regular season.
Purdue has had two games scheduled in the mid-afternoon slot so far this season. The Boilermakers were scheduled to play USC at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 13, but the game was delayed until 6:45 p.m. due to weather.
The following week, the Purdue-Notre Dame game was scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff and began on time. However, inclement weather struck again, delaying the start of the second half.
Northwestern has defeated Purdue in each of the last two head-to-head meetings. The Wildcats defeated the Boilermakers 23-15 in Evanston in 2023 and won last year's contest in West Lafayette 26-20 in overtime.
Big Ten Week 8 kickoff times
For those trying to plan out their schedule for Oct. 18, the Big Ten released kickoff times and television information for all nine games that weekend. Below is the complete schedule for Week 8.
Friday, Oct. 17
- 8 p.m. ET — Nebraska vs. Minnesota (FOX)
Saturday, Oct. 18
- Noon ET — Washington vs. Michigan (FOX)
- 3 p.m. ET — Purdue vs. Northwestern (Big Ten Network)
- 3:30 p.m. ET — Ohio State vs. Wisconsin (CBS)
- 3:30 p.m. ET — Michigan State vs. Indiana (Peacock)
- 6:30 p.m. ET — Oregon vs. Rutgers (Big Ten Network)
- 7 p.m. ET — Penn State vs. Iowa (Peacock)
- 7 p.m. ET — Maryland vs. UCLA (Fox Sports 1)
- 7:30 p.m. ET — USC vs. Notre Dame (NBC)
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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