Big Noon Kickoff Comes To Minnesota For Gophers Game

College football fans who live in Minnesota are in for a treat next Saturday as a 'Big' college football pregame show is coming to the campus of the University of Minnesota, ahead of the battle for the Little Brown Jug between Minnesota and Michigan.

Big Noon Kickoff Coming To U of M Campus

Big Noon Kickoff announced on Saturday that the popular FOX college football pregame show would be coming to the campus of the University of Minnesota on Saturday, October 3rd.

The announcement means that college football fans from across the country will have eyes on Minneapolis, while the hosts break down the slate of football games going on across the country.

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Who Hosts Big Noon Kickoff?

The cast of Big Noon Kickoff is a large one, but even casual college football fans will recognize some of these names:

Rob Stone – Host
Urban Meyer – Analyst
Mark Ingram II – Analyst
Matt Leinart – Analyst
Brady Quinn – Analyst
Dave Portnoy – Analyst
Charles Woodson – Part-time analyst
Chris "The Bear" Fallica – Researcher/Contributor
Bruce Feldman – Insider
Tom Rinaldi – Reporter

What You Need To Know Before You Go

The television set for the show is going to be set up on the lawn directly in front of 3M Arena at Mariucci. With the show beginning, its live broadcast starts at 9am. Kick-off for the Gophers-Wolverines game, as the teams battle for the Little Brown Jug, is scheduled for 11am.

What's The Little Brown Jug?

The University of Minnesota and Michigan compete for a trophy when they play each other. The trophy is a jug that is painted half blue and half maroon, with both teams' distinct 'M's painted on each side.

The trophy itself didn't start as one, but rather it was a Michigan coach who was afraid Minnesota's fans would 'do something' to the team's water. So the coach asked a student manager to go out and buy a jug for the team's water. That game ended in a 6-6 tie, and Gopher fans stormed the field after the game.

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Michigan left the jug behind in their locker room, where it was then found by a custodian, who gave it to Minnesota's Athletic Director LJ Cooke, who decided to paint the score on the jug.

Cooke later suggested the two teams compete for the trophy when they played, and that's why these two teams play for the Little Brown Jug when they line up against one another on Saturdays.

It's been 12 years since the Gophers last won the jug, beating Michigan in Ann Arbor 30-14 in 2014.