Football The Big Ten Football Schedule for Penn State from 2024-2028

[Richie O]

Happy Valley Insider - The Big Ten Football Schedule for Penn State from 2024-2028

Here's the Big Ten Football home and away games for Penn State Football from 2024-2028,.

pennstate.rivals.com

 

[PSU Soupy]

2024 looks like a meat grinder of a schedule....... wonder if we open on the road again.

Easier in 2025.

 

[BoChops]

PSU the only team without a protected match-up? Gotta love that BIG.

ESPN: "There are 12 guaranteed protected matchups within the new format that will be played annually: Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Oregon-Washington and UCLA-USC."

 

[martypsu]

PSU the only team without a protected match-up? Gotta love that BIG.

ESPN: "There are 12 guaranteed protected matchups within the new format that will be played annually: Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Oregon-Washington and UCLA-USC."

So what, makes for more interesting schedules--and really who do we consider our main rival that also considers us theirs?

 

[bill114]

PSU the only team without a protected match-up? Gotta love that BIG.

ESPN: "There are 12 guaranteed protected matchups within the new format that will be played annually: Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Oregon-Washington and UCLA-USC."

You do know this was Penn State's decision right? For protected matchups, both teams had to agree to it and Penn State didn't want any.

 

[SR108]

PSU the only team without a protected match-up? Gotta love that BIG.

ESPN: "There are 12 guaranteed protected matchups within the new format that will be played annually: Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Oregon-Washington and UCLA-USC."

Doesn’t bother me, unrivaled.

 

[bcspsu]

2024 looks like a meat grinder of a schedule....... wonder if we open on the road again.

Easier in 2025.

I’m expecting that PSU is going to be even a better team next season than they are this season, so they should be able to manage any schedule. Also, they’ll play a USC team next season that will be replacing most likely a two-time Heisman Trophy winner, so they’ll probably not be as potent offensively. Also, they get OSU at home.

 

[LandoComando]

PSU the only team without a protected match-up? Gotta love that BIG.

Honestly, this is great for us. Not sure who people want as a rival. Just thrilled it wasn't Rutgers or Maryland. We know Ohio State, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA weren't options. The only thing they could have done that would have been decent is MAYBE Nebraska or Iowa so huge win not having anything protected.

 

[RickinDayton]

2024 looks like a meat grinder of a schedule....... wonder if we open on the road again.

Easier in 2025.

With that 2024 home schedule, expect ticket prices to increase along with demand. From a fans perspective that is a great schedule.

 

[The Spin Meister]

Nitt picking here…. Not actually the schedules as no dates are set. I would also submit that the teams listed are not the order on which we will play them.!

Each column is listed alphabetically. Not any indication of who we play when,

 

[bigbopper1985]

You do know this was Penn State's decision right? For protected matchups, both teams had to agree to it and Penn State didn't want any.

Serious question - Penn State didn't want anyone at all, or didn't want what their options were. I feel they would have accepted Ohio State or Michigan as protected rival, but didn't want any of Rutgers, Maryland, etc. Ohio State already has Michigan, and Michigan has Ohio State and Michigan State. I can't blame Ohio State not wanting to play Penn State, Michigan and a combination of USC, Oregon, Washington, UCLA. It wouldn't be a net positive for Penn State to have to try and fill 107,000 seats playing Rutgers and Maryland every year as a "rival". Atleast with a variety of teams the fans would get different teams instead of Rutgers and Maryland every year.
If Penn State didn't want to play Ohio State, meaning we wouldn't agree, then shame on us.

 

[Roar More]

Nitt picking here…. Not actually the schedules as no dates are set. I would also submit that the teams listed are not the order on which we will play them.!

Each column is listed alphabetically. Not any indication of who we play when,

But we do play them. We know where. And we know our first B1G game will be on the road. (Tradition!) We don't deserve to know the actual when.

 

[doctornick]

Serious question - Penn State didn't want anyone at all, or didn't want what their options were. I feel they would have accepted Ohio State or Michigan as protected rival, but didn't want any of Rutgers, Maryland, etc. Ohio State already has Michigan, and Michigan has Ohio State and Michigan State. I can't blame Ohio State not wanting to play Penn State, Michigan and a combination of USC, Oregon, Washington, UCLA. It wouldn't be a net positive for Penn State to have to try and fill 107,000 seats playing Rutgers and Maryland every year as a "rival". Atleast with a variety of teams the fans would get different teams instead of Rutgers and Maryland every year.
If Penn State didn't want to play Ohio State, meaning we wouldn't agree, then shame on us.

It's not clear. I don't think we've seen official sources, but I feel confident that PSU specifically said they didn't want Rutgers or Maryland - probably viewed having them as permanent games would "elevate" their status as peers/equals and/or maybe just preferred to play different teams.

Regarding tOSU, I'm not sure if PSU wanted and requested them as a permanent team or not. I generally think PSU would, but I am not sure. However, even if PSU did, it seems tOSU did not want PSU since it would (understandably) put them at a disadvantage by having to play both UM and PSU every year and no one else would be obligated to play two "kings" all the time.

 

[LandoComando]

It's not clear. I don't think we've seen official sources, but I feel confident that PSU specifically said they didn't want Rutgers or Maryland - probably viewed having them as permanent games would "elevate" their status as peers/equals and/or maybe just preferred to play different teams.

Regarding tOSU, I'm not sure if PSU wanted and requested them as a permanent team or now. I generally think PSU would, but I am not sure. However, even if PSU did, it seems tOSU did not want PSU since it would (understandably) put them at a disadvantage by having to play both UM and PSU every year and no one else would be obligated to play two "kings" all the time.

Agreed--honestly it was probably a combination of everything. No program should have to play 2 of Penn State, Michigan, USC, Ohio State and Oregon every year as part of the protected rivalry. Rutgers and Maryland aren't our rivals. So, let's not have anyone protected given the depth in the conference.

 

[Obliviax]

Nitt picking here…. Not actually the schedules as no dates are set. I would also submit that the teams listed are not the order on which we will play them.!

Each column is listed alphabetically. Not any indication of who we play when,

Good point.

Secondarily to that, with the size of the B1G today, we should be able to even out our schedule as the annual UM/tOSU should be less impactful. In the past, the B1G bottom loaded the schedule to accommodate those two teams to make they "fresh" and the game most impactful. It was really a playoff game. Now, it wold seem that we can spread out difficult games and have USC, Wash, Oregon, UCLA earlier in the year.

 

[bill114]

Serious question - Penn State didn't want anyone at all, or didn't want what their options were.

They didn't want any. Of course they won't say anything concrete because they're afraid it'll make them look weak. But context quotes surmise as much. This is before Washington/Oregon joined, but there are specific quotes from Franklin and Kraft on the matter:

"That recalls Penn State's "Unrivaled" branding campaign, which coaches used as a social media hashtag (#PSUnrivaled). The concept was that Penn State did not have a true Big Ten rival, something coach James Franklin noted at Big Ten media days in 2015.

“If you look at Penn State historically, we have not really had a true rival per se in the Big Ten," Franklin said then.

Added Sandy Barbour, Penn State's athletic director at the time, "I mean, we’re Penn State. I love college football, I love talking about rivalries, but what’s that, really? What happens on a Saturday afternoon with 107,000 people in a stadium is what our fan base, our community, our alumni and our entire university get fired up about.”

Kraft said he assumed they would not play Ohio State or Michigan in every season in the future. While every other team plays at least one annual rivalry game (Iowa gets three), Penn State goes it alone. Penn State didn't necessarily explain why, referring a request for explanation to the Big Ten. The conference didn't respond, though Big Ten Chief Operating Officer Kerry Kenny told The Athletic that, well, 11 rivalry games seemed like enough.

"With Penn State in particular, we obviously know that they've got some competitive rivalries, some regional rivalries, some trophy-game rivalries," Kenny said. "Ohio State-Penn State was definitely on the table for discussion. But where we landed with the final 11 projected opponents was what the entire group felt was in kind of the right spot for us to land to be able to make this model work moving forward."

IMO, the takeaway based on all of this is OSU (and possibly MSU, both only have 1 protected rival) wanted protected rivalries with PSU, and PSU was like "lol, we aren't rivals" and that was that.

 

[PSU_Nut]

I love the variety! I am so sick of the same teams year in and year out. I am so glad they didn't force the stupid Michigan State game on us. In 5 Years we have 18 different Big Ten teams at home and play no one more than twice. I think it will keep think fresh and not get stale. My only complaint is the at Temple game. They should have never agreed to that.


Illinois
Indiana x2
Iowa
Maryland x2
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Ohio State x2
Oregon x2
Purdue
Rutgers
UCLA x2
USC
Washington x2
Wisconsin