Northwestern has their bye in Week 2 and will play (at least) 11 weeks in a row to end the season
I love stadium renderings and was reading up on Northwestern's new Ryan Field when I noticed there was a section regarding their schedule. Something immediately jumped out at me (besides them playing their first 2 games at the small, lakeside facility) - their one and only bye this season is in Week 2, meaning they will play a game every week for 11 straight weeks starting September 19th. If they somehow make the B1G title game, it will be 12 straight weeks with no bye, a full season. I don't know if I've ever seen a team get a bye so early in a 13-week season. Last year and 2024 everyone got 2 byes because there were 14 weeks between Labor Day and Thanksgiving so that would have made some sense but I've never seen it in a "normal" 13-week schedule. Is there a reason for this anomaly that I'm missing?