The University of Wisconsin Badgers football team is
scheduled to play two evening home games next season on two consecutive
Saturdays in October, creating an extra challenge for university officials.

The games will be played at Camp Randall stadium at 7 p.m.
two consecutive weeks. The games will pit the Badgers against the Ohio State
Buckeyes Oct. 4 and the Penn State Nittany Lions Oct. 11.

Both primetime games will be picked up by either ABC, ESPN
or ESPN2 depending on the performance of the teams.

According to University of Wisconsin Police Department
Lieutenant William Larson the major difference between day games that begin at
11 a.m. and night games is the rowdiness of the crowd.

“People are more intoxicated because they start to
drink before the game,” Larson said.

However, Larson said he is not worried about keeping order
at the games because arrests have been down over the past few years. He added
he does not think having the night games on two consecutive weeks will be a
headache for the department.

“We will staff like we normally do for a night game and
just get through it,” Larson said. “The only thing different is we
will be going to bed late two Saturdays in a row.”

Larson added multiple campus departments have combined
efforts lately to educate students and fans about proper behavior, and those
efforts have helped make UWPD’s job on game days easier.

Vince Sweeney, UW senior associate athletic director for
external relations, said having two night games will definitely make things
more difficult for the Athletic Department, which manages the operations of
football games.

“It’s a bit more difficult for our behind-the-scenes
folks,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney added the vendor sales for those two home games will
probably suffer as well, adding “the best time for vendor sales is an 11
a.m. start,” especially during blowouts.

According to Sweeney, the Athletic Department is
“excited and enthused” to be hosting two night games this year
against such big-name teams. He added it is a positive thing for UW to be given
two primetime games and gave the credit to UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez
and Badgers football coach Bret Bielema.

“It says a lot for what Barry and Bret have done for
the program, and it’s an honor to be on nationally televised broadcasts,”
Sweeney said. “It’s a pat on the back for the job they have done.”