PHILADELPHIA – For the 12th consecutive season, the University of Pennsylvania football team will play games under the bright lights of a national television audience as a pair of Penn contests have been selected to appear in ESPNU as part of the Ivy League's new partnership with ESPN for 2018.
 
The Quakers will play two Friday night games on ESPNU, hosting Yale on October 19 (7 p.m.) and heading to Cornell on November 2 (6 p.m.)
 
"We are thrilled to be a big part of the Ivy League's first season on the ESPN family of networks," said George A. Munger Head Coach of Football Ray Priore. "Our program embraces the opportunity to showcase itself on a national stage and represent our amazing University in pursuit of our 19th Ivy League title."
 
The 86th all-time meeting between Penn and Yale will open Penn's national TV slate as the Quakers look to knock off the defending Ivy League champions on October 19. Two weeks later, the Red and Blue head to Ithaca to reconvene the fifth-most played rivalry in Division I college football against Cornell in the 125th playing of the Trustees' Cup on November 2.
 
 Notes To Know…

• Penn is 31-16 all-time in games on national television dating back to the first-ever televised college football game – a 51-0 Penn win over Maryland on October 5, 1940.
• The Quakers are 10-3 on national television under Ray Priore.
• Penn is 5-1 all-time in games televised on an ESPN network. The last time Penn played on an ESPN network was a 14-9 win at Princeton on November 7, 2008 (ESPNU).
• 2018 will be the third time in four seasons that Penn and Yale meet in a nationally televised Friday night game. Penn is 2-0 in the previous meetings, both on NBC Sports Network. The winner of the Penn-Yale game each of the last three seasons has gone on to win an Ivy League title.
• Penn and Cornell have only met twice in a night game and have not done so since 1983. Penn is 2-0 in night games against the Big Red, including a 17-7 win on Sept. 17, 1977 – the first-ever night game in Ivy League history. 

From The Ivy League…
"We look forward to continuing to provide significant visibility for Ivy League football on Friday nights during our first season with ESPN," Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris said.
 
"Complementing this schedule with the League's regional and digital presence will once again produce extensive opportunities to showcase the Ivy League's storied tradition, modern success and continued impact on the game."
 
The television package, part of the Ivy League's partnership with ESPN, will feature five games on Friday nights, beginning with Harvard at Brown on Sept. 21, and will conclude with The Game, Yale at Harvard at Fenway Park on Saturday, Nov. 17.
 
In total, all 41 Ivy League home games will appear across a variety of ESPN platforms. Additionally, the League will announce games that will also be available through its number of regional television partners later this summer once the details are finalized.
 
In a move that will significantly increase its overall exposure for all varsity sports, the Ivy League will begin airing events on ESPN in August, with over 1,100 League events scheduled throughout the academic year.
 
Nine of Penn's 10 football games during the upcoming 2018 season will be broadcast as part of the Ivy League's partnership with ESPN and ESPN+.
 
Ivy League Football on ESPNU
Friday, Sept. 21: Harvard at Brown, 7 pm
Friday, Sept. 28: Princeton at Columbia, 7pm
Friday, Oct. 5: Dartmouth at Yale, 6pm
Friday, Oct. 19: Yale at Penn, 7pm
Friday, Nov. 2: Penn @ Cornell, 6pm
Saturday, Nov. 17: Yale at Harvard (at Fenway Park), TBA