Illini, Northwestern want to play at Wrigley Field

CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois and Northwestern are talking about moving their annual Big Ten football game to Wrigley Field.

Northwestern spokesman Mike Wolf says the schools have talked several times with the Chicago Cubs, most recently last weekend.

Wolf says the schools have a lot of details to work out, among them the financial arrangements and logistics of turning Wrigley's surface into a football field. But Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald and Illinois' Ron Zook like the idea.

"It might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our young men," he said. "Do I want to leave Ryan Field? No. No way. I'm a huge Blackhawks fan, and to see what the Winter Classic did, to turn a regular-season game into a bowl game would be an unbelievable opportunity for our young men and our fans."

The Blackhawks played Detroit in the Winter Classic on New Year's Day, but the old ballpark has a long football history. The Chicago Bears called Wrigley home through 1970.

Wolf says the soonest a game could be played there would be late in the 2010 season.