Penn State Sports Magazine
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J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 6 11 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ting plenty of preseason buzz as legiti- mate CFP contenders, and their visit to State College will be their first since 1994. Of course, there are other factors in play than just Notre Dame's schedule. FOX, NBC and CBS conduct a draft to select their games each week of the reg- ular season. If FOX wants Penn State- USC for its "Big Noon" slot, that could take the game off the table as a potential White Out. The Trojans will be cross- ing three time zones to face PSU, which would seemingly make an early kickoff unlikely, but the Big Ten did make UCLA play at noon when it traveled to Penn State in 2024. If the game ends up on CBS, it would likely kick off at 3:30 p.m., which would surely be more palatable for a West Coast team traveling east. Whether a late-af- ternoon kickoff would meet the crite- ria for a White Out is an open question. Sunset in State College on Oct. 10 will be at 6:38 p.m., so some portion of the game would be played under the lights. If Penn State-USC isn't the White Out, NBC will have a prime-time win- dow open on Nov. 14 when Minnesota comes to Beaver Stadium. The Wiscon- sin game could also be an option, since NBC has an open prime-time window on Sept. 26. Penn State has twice com- bined homecoming with a White Out. In 2013, it defeated Michigan in overtime, 43-40, in one of the most entertaining White Out games it has played to date. And in 2022, the Lions thrashed Min- nesota, 45-17. While Penn State was still awaiting word from the networks on their Satur- day kickoff times, its Friday night visit to Northwestern on Oct. 2 is set. FOX will air the game nationally, with kickoff planned for 8 p.m. ET. The Lions will have the honor of help- ing Northwestern open its new football stadium. Ryan Field is a brand-new fa- cility that cost $870 million and will hold 35,000. Pat Ryan Jr., the donor who has bankrolled Northwestern's stadium, told the Sports Business Journal he be- lieves it will be "the best place to watch a football game in America." Just as Northwestern coach David Braun will be acclimating to a new home venue this fall, so too will Penn State's Matt Campbell. He's eager to experience the PSU game-day environment first- hand, having gotten a small taste of it during his team's rain-soaked Blue-White Practice on April 25. During a recent ap- pearance on the "Penn State Coaches Show," Campbell was asked which game this fall he was most excited about. "It will be the first game," he said, referring to the Nittany Lions' Sept. 5 opener against Marshall. "Even getting into the stadium [for the Blue-White Practice], there's almost like this 'holy smokes' moment where you're in a ca- thedral of college football. I can only imagine taking a football team and play- ing a game on that field. I think those moments will be really special. "I know there are great things like the White Out, but I just can't imagine how special it is to play in that stadium week in and week out. I know we're all really grateful and really excited for those mo- ments." ■ Winner of eight national championships, the Penn State women's volleyball team has made plenty of history over the years. It will make some more when it competes in the Spikes Under the Lights tournament Aug. 27 at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Nebraska, Florida and SMU are also in the field for the made-for-TV exhibition tourney, which will air on a yet- to-be-named network. There will be two semifinals, with the winners set to meet in the championship match. All matches will use a best-of-three-sets format. According to tournament organizers, the $1 million prize pool is the largest ever awarded in women's college sports. Each team will receive $200,000 to be put toward NIL payments to athletes. The winning team will get an additional $200,000. In a news release announcing the tournament, promot- ers GSE Worldwide and Full Day Productions said Spikes Under the Lights will "mark the first volleyball event of its kind at AT&T Stadium, one of the most iconic venues in sports with a capacity of up to 100,000, with a scalable configuration designed to optimize both in-stadium atmo- sphere and broadcast presentation." Penn State had not unveiled its 2026 schedule as of mid- May, but it's known that the Lions will face Kentucky in an outdoor match Sept. 6 at Chicago's Wrigley Field. The clash between the Nittany Lions and Wildcats is part of a doubleheader that will air on FOX, with Nebraska facing Missouri in the other match. — Greg Pickel Located in Arlington, Texas, AT&T Stadium will play host to the Spikes Under the Lights tournament Aug. 27. In addition to Penn State, the tourney will feature Nebraska, Florida and SMU. BWI FILE PHOTO Volleyball Team To Play In $1 Million Exhibition Tourney