Wisconsin to play another Friday night game in 2018

The Wisconsin Badgers will officially play another Friday night game.

The Big Ten Conference announced on Friday that five games would receive new dates. That included Wisconsin, who will now play Western Kentucky to start the 2018 season on Friday, Aug. 31.

It will be the second consecutive year the Badgers start their season on a Friday night. UW sputtered in the first half against Utah State in front of 75,324 fans before reeling off 59 unanswered points in a 59–10 victory on Sept. 1 this season.

Friday night games have been the subject of much discussion and some criticism since it was announced last year that Wisconsin would play Utah State under the lights and not on a Saturday, as it conflicts with the state’s high school football schedule.

To be fair, it is just one game out of the season for this to take place, and it is before the Labor Day weekend. There is also the benefit of the game probably being aired on a national network.

However, playing the game on Friday forces fans to pick between going to high school and college games, and for out-of-state parents of players trying to travel, it can lead to some more stressful situations.

Some reactions to the latest announcement weren’t pleasant (the thread on the first tweet breaks down some of the talk on both sides):