BREAKING: Updated Big Ten football schedules for 2024 through 2028 released

We are currently in the thick of a wildly entertaining 2023 college football season. But today, we momentarily shift our focus ahead. In June, the Big Ten released each member institution’s opponents in football for 2024 and 2025, which was quickly made defunct by the addition of Oregon and Washington to the conference. However, we now have the updated Big Ten football schedules for 2024 through 2028, giving us a more complete idea of the road ahead for Penn State football.

Penn State gets updated Big Ten football schedules for 2024 through 2028

This summer, the Big Ten released its new “flex protect plus model” for football scheduling with the addition of USC and UCLA to the conference. Penn State football was the only team in the conference left without an annual protected rival. But the schedule still gave us some exciting games, including matchups with Ohio State (home 2024), USC (home 2024; road 2025), Michigan (away 2025), and UCLA (home 2025).

However, the announced additions of Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten in August meant that it was back to the drawing board. Reports indicated that the conference wanted to keep as many of the current games as possible while adding the Ducks and Huskies to the slate of matchups.

Recent reporting from Chris Balas of On3 indicated that the Big Ten wants the conference’s biggest brands to play in the most prominent matchups moving forward. And we now see that is the case with the updated Big Ten football schedules for 2024 through 2028, which were announced this afternoon. The model does indeed build upon the framework released in June, and is now called the “Flex Protect XVIII,” in a nod to the 18 teams now in the conference.

Concepts of the new Big Ten schedule

According to the schedule release show on Big Ten Network, the Flex Protect XVIII model ensures that each school plays the other conference opponents twice in the five-year span – one home and one road game. The model maintains flexibility for future College Football Playoff formats. It also ensures there is balanced travel, with teams now heading coast to coast.

The new model will continue with a nine-game conference slate. An important note is that Penn State football still does not have a protected rival. Penn State’s upcoming conference games for the next five years are:

2024

Home games:

• Illinois
• Maryland
• Ohio State
• UCLA
• Washington

Road games:

• Minnesota
• Purdue
• USC
• Wisconsin

2025

Home games:

• Indiana
• Nebraska
• Northwestern
• Oregon

Road games:

• Iowa
• Michigan State
• Ohio State
• Rutgers
• UCLA

2026

Home games:

• Minnesota
• Purdue
• Rutgers
• USC
• Wisconsin

Road games:

• Maryland
• Michigan
• Northwestern
• Washington

2027

Home games:

• Maryland
• Michigan
• Michigan State
• Washington

Road games:

• Illinois
• Indiana
• Oregon
• Purdue
• Wisconsin

2028

Home games:

• Indiana
• Iowa
• Ohio State
• Oregon
• UCLA

Road games:

• Michigan State
• Nebraska
• Rutgers
• USC

Calendar dates for these future Penn State football Big Ten games will be announced at a later date.

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