FOX Pregame Show Chooses Deion Sanders and Colorado Over Penn State-Illinois

FOX Big Noon Kickoff initially planned to air from Champaign. But it will return to Colorado to focus on Sanders and the Buffs.

FOX Big Noon Kickoff, the pregame show leading into the network's weekly nationally televised college football game, initially planned to air Sept. 16 from Champaign, where Penn State kicks off its Big Ten schedule against Illinois. That changed Saturday, as the network called an audible on its broadcast location.

Big Noon Kickoff now will focus on Deion Sanders and Colorado for the third consecutive week, as Sanders' undefeated team meets Colorado State in a game scheduled for an ESPN broadcast. The network announced the huge change Saturday during Colorado's 36-7 win over Nebraska.

"Our studio show, not us, will be back here next week to follow Deion Sanders and this Colorado story," FOX announcer Gus Johnson said on the broadcast, "the biggest story in college football."

"No, you're wrong," analyst Joel Klatt interjected. "It's the biggest story in sports."

So uh, nevermind about that Big Noon Kickoff show pic.twitter.com/pNhIjiRKK3

— IllinoisLoyalty (@IllinoisLoyalty) September 9, 2023

The kickoff time and channel (noon ET on FOX) for Penn State-Illinois has yet to change. However, FOX has altered its August announcement about bringing the pregame show to Champaign. Penn State routed Delaware 63-7 on Saturday to improve to 2-0. Illinois, meanwhile, is 1-1 after a shaky start to the season. The Illini opened with a 30-28 win over Toledo, then lost a disappointing 34-23 decision to Kansas on Friday night.

The Big Noon pregame show had plenty to focus on with Penn State-Illinois, and still might. The teams are playing for the first time since their record-setting, nine-overtime game at Beaver Stadium in 2021, which the Illini won 20-18. There's also the appeal of Penn State's 2023 team, which has rolled its first two opponents by a combined score of 101-22. James Franklin's Lions have won seven straight games since losing to No. 2 Ohio State last October.

But as Klatt said, Sanders and Colorado are the breakout stories of the 2023 college football season.

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