BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — The University of Toledo has decided Bowling Green State University's marching band will not perform in the halftime show of this year's Battle of I-75 football game, according to an email President Rodney Rogers sent to students on Monday.
The letter states that UToledo "has informed us the Falcon Marching Band would no longer be given time to perform during halftime" at the annual rivalry game, which is scheduled for Oct. 26 at the Glass Bowl Stadium.
"This breaks what we believe is decades of tradition and goodwill for this rivalry game, where the hosting university has welcomed the opposing team's band to perform during halftime."
Rogers' letter goes on to say that the university does not know why the decision was made and that it "came as a surprise to BGSU just weeks before the game, directly impacting our band members' student experience as one of our two planned away game halftime performances this season."
The letter adds that BGSU would not do the same to UToledo's marching band, which "will always be welcome to perform at the Doyt (Perry Stadium) when playing BGSU."
UToledo did not respond to an after-hours request for comment at the time of this publication Monday night.
This year's matchup will be played on a Saturday for the first time since 2019 and will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Rockets, who lead the all-time series 43-41-4, took the trophy back from the Falcons at the Doyt last season after rallying in the fourth quarter to win 32-31.
