Big Ten Conference unveiled the 2024-2028 Big Ten football opponents

Big Ten Announces Football Conference Opponents for Next Five Seasons

Penn State will welcome Illinois, Maryland, Ohio State, UCLA and Washington to Beaver Stadium in 2024

 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Big Ten Conference today announced home and away opponents for the 2024-28 football seasons. The 2024 season marks the first year with 18 Big Ten Conference teams with the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.

 

Penn State’s Big Ten home and away opponents the next five seasons are as follows. The game dates for the 2024 football schedule will be announced later this year.

 

2024

Home: Illinois, Maryland, Ohio State, UCLA, Washington

Away: Minnesota, Purdue, USC, Wisconsin

 

2025:

Home: Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon

Away: Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers, UCLA

 

2026:

Home: Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers, USC, Wisconsin

Away: Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Washington

 

2027:

Home: Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Washington

Away: Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Purdue, Wisconsin

 

2028:

Home: Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, UCLA

Away: Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, USC

 

No. 6/6 Penn State is on its bye this week. The Nittany Lions return to action Saturday,

Oct. 14, at home against UMass. The Homecoming tilt with the Minutemen is slated for a 3:30 p.m. start on Big Ten Network.

For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and ticket information for the 2023 Penn State Football season presented by PSECU, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

 

Future B1G Football Schedules Announced

 

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa’s Big Ten Conference football opponents for the next five seasons (2024-28) were announced Thursday by the Big Ten Conference. Dates for league games will be released at a later date.

 

In 2024, Iowa will host conference opponents Nebraska, Northwestern, Washington and Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes will travel coast-to-coast, playing at Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and UCLA. In nonconference play Iowa hosts Illinois State, Iowa State in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series and Troy.

 

In 2025, Iowa’s five league home games include Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oregon and Penn State. The Hawkeyes travel to Nebraska, Rutgers, USC and Wisconsin. Nonconference contests include Florida Atlantic and Massachusetts visiting Kinnick Stadium and the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series game at Iowa State.

 

The Hawkeyes will make their first visits to Washington and Oregon as members of the Big Ten Conference in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

 

The 2024 football season will debut the Flex Protect XVIII model, which features a combination of protected opponents. Each season, the Hawkeyes maintain rivalry games with Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Iowa is the only Big Ten team to maintain contests with three protected rivals.

 

The scheduling model balances annual travel by distance, regions of the conference, and time zones. The format maintains control and flexibility as the college football postseason format evolves, with the goal to create access for programs into an expanded College Football Playoff. It also balances historic competitiveness and recent competitive trends, including home/away balance of traditionally competitive schools.

 

Beginning with the 2024 season, the annual Big Ten Championship Game will feature the top two teams in the overall standings at the end of the regular season.

 

• Iowa last met USC in the 2019 Holiday Bowl (W, 49-24)
• The Hawkeyes last played UCLA in the 1986 Rose Bowl (L, 45-28)
• Iowa last met Oregon in Eugene in 1994 (L, 40-18)
• The Hawkeyes last played Washington in the 1995 Sun Bowl (W, 38-18)

 

IOWA FUTURE FOOTBALL BIG TEN OPPONENTS

 

2024

Away: Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, UCLA

Home: Nebraska, Northwestern, Washington, Wisconsin

 

2025

Away: Nebraska, Rutgers, USC, Wisconsin

Home: Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oregon, Penn State

 

2026

Away: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington

Home: Nebraska Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin

 

2027

Away: Indiana, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin

Home: Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, UCLA, USC

 

2028

Away: Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue, USC

Home: Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin

 

MADISON, Wis. – The Big Ten Conference unveiled the 2024-2028 Big Ten football opponents on Thursday morning, setting the slate for the next five seasons of conference action. With the league expanding to 18 teams and eliminating divisions beginning with the 2024 season, Wisconsin will take on new Big Ten foes across the nation over the next five seasons.

 

UW will take on two incoming programs in 2024, hosting the Oregon Ducks and traveling to USC to take on the Trojans. The Badgers welcome Washington to Madison in 2025 and visit UCLA on the West Coast in 2026.

 

“Camp Randall Stadium is going to host some of college football’s great brand names over the next five years and all of us here at UW Athletics could not be more excited,” director of athletics Chris McIntosh said. “Wisconsin is in the right place at the right time. We are here to compete for championships against the best that college football has to offer.”

 

In each of the next five seasons, Wisconsin will match up with both Iowa and Minnesota, the Badgers’ two protected rivals. The Battle for the Axe between Wisconsin and Minnesota is college football’s most-played rivalry. The schools have squared off 132 times. Meanwhile, the Badgers will continue to fight for the Heartland Trophy with the Hawkeyes. Wisconsin and Iowa have met on 96 occasions.

 

USC

The Badgers will travel to the Los Angeles area in 2024 to take on the Trojans in the eighth all-time meeting between the schools. Despite USC holding a 6-1 all-time edge in the series, the Badgers won the last meeting: The 2015 Holiday Bowl. Wisconsin will host USC in 2026.

 

OREGON

UW will welcome Oregon to Camp Randall Stadium in 2024 for the schools’ first regular season matchup since 2001. Wisconsin met the Fighting Ducks in the Rose Bowl in 2012 and 2019 and has won both matchups in Madison (1978 and 2000). The Badgers will head to Eugene, Ore. in 2025.

 

WASHINGTON

Wisconsin is slated to host the Washington Huskies in 2025, marking the programs’ first meeting since 1992. The Badgers will be in search of their first win in the all-time series, with the Huskies holding a 4-0 all-time edge. Washington last traveled to Madison in 1968.

 

UCLA

The Badgers will take on UCLA in 2026, heading west to visit the Bruins at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. Wisconsin has won three straight in the all-time series, claiming three consecutive bowl wins over UCLA (1993 – Rose, 1999 – Rose, 2000 – Sun). The Badgers will play their first true road game against the Bruins since 1980.

 

With the Big Ten slate set, the Badgers also have a handful of marquee non-conference meetings on their radar. The Badgers host the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2024 before traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 2025. Wisconsin takes on Notre Dame in 2026 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.

Big Ten Announces 2024-28 Football Home/Away Opponents

Indiana hosts five B1G contests in 2024, including Purdue and B1G newcomer Washington

 

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2024-28 conference football home/away opponents for each school on Thursday (October 5). As the conference moves to the 18-team, no division format, the Indiana football program will host five games during the 2024, 2026 and 2028 seasons and have four conference home contests in 2025 and 2027.

 

The Hoosiers home and away opponents will be as follows (listed alphabetically):

 

2024 Home: Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Purdue, Washington
ßå2024 Away: Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, UCLA

 

2025 Home: Illinois, Michigan State, UCLA, Wisconsin
2025 Away: Iowa, Maryland, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue

 

2026 Home: Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, USC
2026 Away: Michigan, Nebraska, Rutgers, Washington

 

2027 Home: Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Rutgers
2027 Away: Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue, USC

 

2028 Home: Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, Purdue, Washington
2028 Away: Northwestern, Penn State, UCLA, Wisconsin

 

Dates for the 2024 schedule will be announced at a later date.

 

With the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington into the conference for the 2024 season, the Big Ten will debut the Flex Protect XVIII model, which was designed to accommodate 18 Big Ten Conference football programs beginning with the 2024 season. The model is built upon the foundation established by the Flex Protect+ plan announced in spring 2023, before Oregon and Washington joined the Conference and incorporates extensive feedback from schools, athletic directors, and coaches.

 

The Big Ten Conference will continue the nine-game conference schedule as it has since the 2016 season. Under the scheduling model, schools will play other members at least twice during a five-year cycle – and no more than three times – with one home and one road game included during the five-year span. The conference office also worked to balance the annual travel by distance, regions of the conference, and time zones, along with maintaining flexibility as the college football landscape evolves.

 

Conference schedules will include 12 protected matchups that will continue to be played annually and feature a combination of historic and geographic rivalries, as well as trophy games. These matchups were finalized in conjunction with all 18 member institutions to ensure the traditions of the Big Ten Conference remain strong as the conference evolves, including the annual Battle for the Old Oaken Bucket between Indiana and Purdue.

 

The 2024 season will conclude with the annual Big Ten Football Championship Game, which will feature the top two teams in the overall conference standings at the end of the regular season, with the winner earning the Big Ten Championship. Tiebreaking procedures will be announced later.