The start time for Wisconsin’s much-hyped 2016 season opener against LSU on Sept. 3 has officially been announced, and – great news, Badgers fans! – it’s actually not even 11 a.m.
Kickoff for the Carmex Lambeau Field College Classic, a chapped-lip mouthful of a balm-branded football game, will be at 2:30 p.m. There's no excuse not to be awake, face-painted, multiple beers in and ready to cheer by mid-afternoon.
ESPN released its full broadcast schedule for Week 1’s big games on Tuesday. The Carmex Lambeau Field College Classic (we just like saying it) will be be televised by ABC.
The game was always slated to be a primetime presentation and was probably never considered for an 11 a.m. start, but grizzled Big Ten fans know you can never be too certain. Good thing the supreme SEC is involved, so a more favorable time could be bestowed.
The Badgers’ contest against the Tigers will be the first major college game played at Lambeau Field in the stadium’s 60-year history as a state sports shrine. It’s a rematch of Wisconsin’s 2014 season opener against LSU in Houston, won by the Tigers 28-24, largely thanks to Tanner McEvoy’s inability to complete a pass to his own team for more than 14 yards.
This is the second year in a row the Badgers begin their season with a national broadcast on ABC. In 2015, they lost 35-17 to eventual national champion Alabama in Arlington, Tex.
The kickoff times for three other Wisconsin games, all to be played at Camp Randall Stadium, already have been announced. The Badgers’ Oct. 15 game against Ohio State is at 7 p.m., their Oct. 29 game against Nebraska is at 6 p.m. and their Nov. 12 game against Illinois is at 2:30 p.m.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
