Of these the one that really surprised me was Wisconsin. I thought for sure, they would try to play that game in a bigger stadium.
WRT Wrigley, I assume that it is about the Baseball schedule:
Northwestern "hosts" Wisconsin on October 19 then has road games at Iowa and Purdue on October 26 and November 2 then a week off (11/9) then "hosts" Ohio State on November 16.
MLB Schedule:
- September 29: Last day of the regular season
- October 1-3: Wildcard
- October 5-12: Divisional Series
- October 13-22: LCS
- October 25-November 2: World Series
That game against Wisconsin is in the midst of the LCS and only a week after the end of the Divisional Series. Obviously that wouldn't work if the Cubs made it to the NCLS but even if they lost in the Divisional Series that would be an awfully quick turnaround to get Wrigley ready for football in a week.
The Ohio State game is so late that even if the Cubs ended up hosting a WS Game 7, they would still have two full weeks to get Wrigley ready for the football game and of course the NU/IL game is two weeks after that.
Back before they built Jacobs Field in Cleveland, the Browns and Indians used to both play in Cleveland Municipal Stadium but it was HUMONGOUS so it wasn't all that difficult. Still, I remember as a kid watching Browns Games where the base path was visible on the field. They just striped over it with yard lines and switched sports. It isn't as easy for Wrigley where it isn't really big enough for football and they don't do it all the time.
The Miami OH (8/31), Dook (9/7), and EIU (9/14) "home" games are during the MLB regular season:
- On 8/31 when Northwestern plays Dook the Cubs will be playing the penultimate game of a long road swing but they host the Pirates at Wrigley two days later on Monday, September 2.
- On 9/7 when Northwestern plays Dook the Cubs will be hosting the Yankees at Wrigley.
- On 9/14 when Northwestern plays EIU the Cubs will be in Colorado but the Cubs have home games six days earlier (9/8 vs Yankees) and two days later (9/16 vs Athletics).
Indiana (10/5) is the first day of the MLB Divisional Series and only six days after the Cubs' last regular season home game (9/29 vs Reds).
That just leaves Wisconsin (10/19), Ohio State (11/16), and Illinois (11/30). The Ohio State and Illinois games are after MLB and they are already scheduled at Wrigley.
The only game left to consider is Wisconsin and (see above) that one is in the midst of the MLB Playoffs. I would guess that if they suck this year, the Wisconsin game will get moved to Wrigley as soon as the Cubs are eliminated from the MLB Playoffs.
