My Two Cents: Indiana Has Toughest September Big Ten Schedule

The Big Ten released its new conference-only schedule on Wednesday, and they made it tough on a couple of teams who have brutal September stretches.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A schedule comes out, and it is immediately dissected, like a full class of high school science students and some unlucky frogs. It's what we do, and we can't help it.

The Big Ten released its revised college football schedule on Wednesday, and it was time again to break out the scalpels. And because it's the first-ever conference-games-only schedule, there were a lot of layers to peel a way.

Compared to the 12-game schedules that were in place before, this is a serious change. There are no more warm-up games, no gimmies, no glorified scrimmages. It's 10 straight Big Ten games now, and that's brutal.

And it's more brutal for some than others.

In breaking down who has the toughest September and the most difficult foes right out of the chute, it made for a fun exercise. Who has the toughest September schedule in this rock-solid league, where Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin are top-10 teams for sure, and Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa aren't far behind?

Pandemic permitting, all 14 schools will play four games in September, with the bye weeks — everyone gets two — not starting until the first week in October. So the September gauntlet is set.

In my mind, there's no doubt. It's simple. So let's break it down. Here are, in my book, the five toughest September schedules in the Big Ten:

No. 1 — Indiana Hoosiers

• The opponents: At Wisconsin on Friday, Sept. 4, home vs. Penn State on Sept. 12, home vs. Illinois on Sept. 19 and at Ohio State on Sept. 26. 
• The skinny: It's very clear that Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State are the three best teams in the league and will all win eight or nine games minimum. Indiana is the only one that gets all three in September. The only plusses to that is that the Indiana-Wisconsin opener was the only Week 1 game that stayed intact, and the Hoosiers have been doing their homework on the Badgers, at least. They get Penn State and home, and even though they lost to the Nittany Lions last year, they played them tough and feel confident enough to play toe-to-toe with them. Still, that's a rough start, especially when you consider that on their old schedule, they would have been favored in six straight games after the Wisconsin opener. This will be rough.

No. 2 — Purdue Boilermakers

• The opponents: At Michigan on Sept. 5, home vs. Iowa on Sept. 12, home vs. Ohio State on Sept. 19 and at Illinois on Sept. 26. 
• The skinny: The league office didn't do the Boilermakers any favors, adding preseason No. 1 Ohio State to their schedule as the fourth crossover game. For Purdue, which is hoping to bounce back from an injury-riddled 4-8 season, this is a tough go right out of the gate. The Boilermakers have plenty of weapons on offense, but there's enough uncertainty with their offensive line and an unsettled quarterback race that facing those defenses in September might be too much to ask. 

No. 3 — Minnesota Golden Gophers

• The opponents: At Michigan State on Sept. 5, home vs. Michigan on Sept. 12, home vs. Iowa on Sept. 19, at Wisconsin on Sept. 26.
• The skinny: I do think there's a bit of a drop-off here from the first two schedules, but this one still isn't easy. The Big Ten West usually gets decided the last few weeks of the the season, but this time the Gophers get their two biggest rivals in September, plus they've got a tough home game with Michigan. With no Rashad Bateman now, it's going to be interesting to see how quickly the Minnesota offensive hits its stride.

No. 4 — Illinois Fighting Illini

• The opponents: Home vs Ohio State on Thursday, Sept. 3, at Nebraska on Sept. 12, at Indiana on Sept. 19, home vs. Purdue on Sept. 26.
• The skinny: The Illini are trying to build off their bowl appearance last year, and they get mighty Ohio State right out of the game to open the season on that Thursday night. Nebraska and Indiana back-to-back on the road will be interesting, too, because those two teams might be a step ahead of Lovie Smith's rebuild right now, and even Purdue, which was decimated by injuries last year, has a receving corps that can tear apart the Illinois defense. Despite Illinois' improvement, an 0-4 start isn't out of the question.

No. 5 — Northwestern Wildcats

• The opponents: At Penn State on Sept. 5, home vs. Wisconsin on Sept. 12, at Michigan State on Sept. 19 and home vs. Maryland on Sept. 26
• The skinny: Picking the Wildcats in this spot has a lot more to do with that two-game start, which is brutal, and is the same thing as Indiana, just flip-flopped. Northwestern's offense was brutal a year ago, and it's doubtful it can flip the switch before the season starts to be productive against powerhouse teams like Penn State and Wisconsin. The Wildcats still have to pick a quarterback, and with a very condensed August practice schedule, it's going to be hard to be hitting on all cylinders.

Related Stories on Indiana Football

• ALLEN CHERISHES CHALLENGE: Sure, the Indiana football schedule is difficult, but the ever-optimistic Tom Allen considers it a golden opportunity. CLICK HERE
• REVISED BIG TEN SCHEDULED RELEASED: To get a full look at the Big Ten's schedule for every team, CLICK HERE
• INDIANA'S BIG TEN SCHEDULE: To get a specific look at the Hoosiers' Big Ten schedule, CLICK HERE