Penn State Is Tired of Starting the Big Ten Season on the Road

The Lions begin their Big Ten schedule on the road for the 7th straight year. "It stinks," AD Patrick Kraft said.

Penn State begins the 2022 football season at Purdue on Sept. 1, marking its seventh consecutive year of opening Big Ten Conference play on the road. The Lions also were scheduled to begin Big Ten play on the road in 2023 and '24.

Penn State Athletic Director Patrick Kraft has seen enough.

"It stinks," Kraft said Wednesday.

Less than a month into his term as Penn State's athletic director, Kraft already has an issue with the Big Ten about scheduling. For whatever reason, Penn State has been an historical road team when opening the conference schedule.

This season marks the seventh straight and 12th in the past 13 that Penn State plays its Big Ten opener away from home. Head coach James Franklin dryly referenced that scheduling quirk Wednesday at Big Ten Media Days.

"We've had pretty good practice over the last nine years of opening the season in the Big Ten on the road," Franklin said, "so we're looking forward to that opportunity [at Purdue]."

Kraft said Franklin brought up the schedule with him recently, and Kraft called the Big Ten to say it's "unacceptable." Kraft might try to change Penn State's future Big Ten schedules, which include more road openers.

Penn State previously had been scheduled to begin the Big Ten season at Illinois in 2023 and at Rutgers in 2024 before hosting Rutgers in 2025. Those schedules are subject to change, particularly in 2024, when USC and UCLA join the conference.

And Kraft wants to change them.

"We're addressing that right away," Kraft told reporters in Indianapolis. "... That shouldn't happen at Penn State. We should be at home for our opener. I think it's crazy. That stinks. I did deal with that. I called our friends in the conference, who I love dearly, but that's not right."

The Lions have played Big Ten road openers every year but one since 2010. They hosted Rutgers in the conference opener in 2015. Penn State is 7-4 in Big Ten road openers since 2010, including a win at Wisconsin last year.

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