In the New Big Ten, Penn State Is 'Unrivaled' Again

Penn State is the only Big Ten team without a 'protected opponent' in the conference's new scheduling model.

Matthew O'Haren/USA Today Sports

Penn State football will be “unrivaled” once again in the new Big Ten Conference, as the Nittany Lions will have no protected opponents, or rivalry games, when the conference expands to 16 teams in 2024. Penn State is the only Big Ten team without a protected opponent, which means that annual games against Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State will end. In fact, in 2025, Penn State will not play Ohio State for the first time since joining the Big Ten.

The Big Ten on Thursday announced changes to its football scheduling model that included the additions of USC and UCLA and the elimination of the East-West divisions. Big Ten teams will continue to play nine conference games, with a total of 11 games being considered protected rivalries. According to the Big Ten, the protected opponents "were finalized in conjunction with all 16 member institutions to ensure the traditions of the Big Ten Conference remain strong as the conference evolves."

While Ohio State will continue to play Michigan annually and Iowa will play three protected opponents (Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin), Penn State will play none. That recalls Penn State's "Unrivaled" branding campaign, which the program unveiled in 2014 and 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.”

In the Big Ten's Flex Protect Plus scheduling model, each team plays three opponents home and away over a two-year span. In 2024-25, Penn State will play Michigan State, Rutgers and USC. Otherwise, Penn State will play the entire Big Ten over the next two seasons.

"With Penn State in particular, we obviously know that they've got some competitive rivalries, some regional rivalries, some trophy-game rivalries," Kerry Kenny, Big Ten chief operating officer, said according to The Athletic. "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."

Here are some highlights of Penn State's football opponents in 2024 and 2025:

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Penn State's 2024 Opponents

• Penn State will play home games against Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and USC.
• USC's visit to Beaver Stadium will mark the program's first since 1993. The Big Ten did not announce dates for any games, though that would serve as a strong kickoff for USC's introduction to the Big Ten.
• The Lions will play road games at Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin. It's a friendly road schedule for the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
• Ohio State visits Penn State as part of a strong home schedule at Beaver Stadium. But when might the Buckeyes return?

Penn State's 2025 Opponents

• Penn State's road schedule is formidable with games at Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and USC.
• For the first time since joining the Big Ten, Penn State will not face Ohio State, ending a 32-year conference streak. Ohio State was the only team Penn State had played every season since joining the Big Ten.
• Penn State's Big Ten home schedule is lackluster. It includes UCLA's first visit along with Illinois, Minnesota and Rutgers.

These are the 11 protected games on the Big Ten schedule:

• Illinois-Northwestern
• Illinois-Purdue
• Indiana-Purdue
• Iowa-Minnesota
• Iowa-Nebraska
• Iowa-Wisconsin
• Maryland-Rutgers
• Michigan- Michigan State
• Michigan-Ohio State
• Minnesota-Wisconsin
• UCLA-USC

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