Northwestern to host Wisconsin football at Wrigley Field in 2020: source

Northwestern has picked its opponent for its 2020 game at the Friendly Confines.

The Wildcats will host Wisconsin at Wrigley Field on Nov. 7, 2020, a source told the Sun-Times. Cubs and university officials are expected to make a public announcement next Tuesday.

With Wrigley Field unavailable to a host a football game until November, the Wildcats’ options were limited. Northwestern is only scheduled to play the Badgers and Illinois at home during the month of November in 2020.

By going with Wisconsin, the Wildcats eliminated the possibility of a rematch at Wrigley Field with Illinois. The last time Northwestern played a game at Wrigley Field was when the Wildcats were demolished by the Illini, 48-27, in 2010.

Along with the poor outcome, the field’s set-up was a fiasco. Because of the tight configuration to fit a football field within the baseball field, both Illinois and Northwestern were forced to play toward one end zone.

Last year, the Sun-Times reported that the Cubs were looking to bring the Wildcats back and hoping to potentially hold bowl games there. But Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney acknowledged that the plan to host a football game would have to wait until the Cubs’ Wrigley Field renovation projects were finished.