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Big Ten schedule 2024: Penn State Nittany Lion football's full conference slate

gabriela carroll, usa today network
·2 min read

Big Ten fans everywhere just got to see the beginnings of what the new Big Ten schedules will look like with the additions of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington and the elimination of the conference's East and West divisions.

New schools are taking the trip to Beaver Stadium to play Penn State starting in 2024, and some of the opponents the Nittany Lions are most used to seeing have dropped off the yearly calendar.

The 2024 Big Ten schedule will be the first with 18 conference teams. To accommodate the new additions, the Big Ten is ditching divisions in favor of the "Flex Protect XVIII" model, which will see every Big Ten team play every team in the conference twice on a home-and-home basis for the duration of the five-year schedule.

Other facets of the new format see each team alternate between five home and away conference games on an annual basis starting in 2024. But the Nittany Lions are also without a protected rivalry heading into the new format.

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Here's everything you need to know about Penn State's future Big Ten schedules, the dates for which have yet to be revealed:

Does Penn State have a protected Big Ten rivalry?

Penn State is the only team in the Big Ten without a protected rival. For the past several seasons, the Nittany Lions have played Michigan State during the traditional rivalry weekend, the last regular-season weekend of the season. But Michigan State's protected rival is in-state foe Michigan.

Here are the following protected matchups under the new Big Ten scheduling format:

  • Michigan-Michigan State

  • Michigan-Ohio State

  • Minnesota-Wisconsin

  • Iowa-Nebraska

  • Illinois-Northwestern

  • Indiana-Purdue

  • Illinois-Purdue

  • Iowa-Wisconsin

  • Iowa-Minnesota

  • Maryland-Rutgers

  • Oregon-Washington

  • UCLA-USC

Without a protected rivalry, Penn State will not be guaranteed to play any one conference opponent every single season.

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Penn State Big Ten 2024 schedule

Penn State Big Ten 2025 schedule

  • Home: Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon

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

REQUIRED READING: Drew Allar, Penn State football struggles, recovers: 3 things we learned vs. Northwestern

Penn State Big Ten 2026 schedule

  • Home: Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers, USC, Wisconsin

  • Away: Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Washington

Penn State Big Ten 2027 schedule

  • Home: Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Washington

  • Away: Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Purdue, Wisconsin

Penn State Big Ten 2028 schedule

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

  • Away: Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, USC

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Penn State's full Big Ten Conference football schedule for 2024, beyond