By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent
It appears that Chicago’s Big Ten team will be Bridgeview’s Big Ten team for at least one day.
Maybe more.
Northwestern has released its 2024 football schedule, but where the Wildcats will play their seven home games is unknown. Their home stadium, Ryan Field in Evanston, is undergoing a major facelift and the team will not play there for possibly a couple of years.
Speculation from wildcatreport.com is that SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview is in the mix for multiple games. The Wildcats will reportedly host Indiana there on Oct. 5.
According to the website, NU officials are looking at Soldier Field, Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field for home games this year. There is even talk that it could use Lambeau Field in Green Bay for an Oct. 19 home game against Wisconsin, an idea that is not going over big with Wildcat fans on social media.
Other games on the slate are Miami (Ohio) on Aug 31, Duke on Sept. 7, Eastern Illinois on Sept. 14 and Illinois Nov. 30. The home game against Ohio State on Nov. 10 will reportedly be played at Wrigley Field.
SeatGeek Stadium will not be available for the Miami game, but appears to be clear for the rest of the slate.
The Wildcats finished 8-5 last season, which followed an offseason that saw their coach, Orland Park native Pat Fitzgerald, get fired after alleged hazing incidents within the football program. Assistant coach David Braun took over and it appeared that the team was in for a hard season after dropping the opener, 24-7, to Rutgers and the team coming off with a 1-11 record in 2022.
But the Wildcats recovered from that and put together a solid season in which they were invited to the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, where they beat Utah, 14-7.
Quarterback Jack Lausch (Brother Rice) and offensive lineman Deuce McGuire (Marist) could return this fall.
Last year, former Lyons standout quarterback Ben Bryant picked up starts as a graduate student.
NU averaged 23,257 fans per home game last year. SeatGeek Stadium can host 20,000 fans.