The 2024 season was a smashing success for the Big Ten conference. The Big Ten boldly staked its claim as the premier conference in college football, putting four teams in the College Football Playoff, earning the best record out of any conference in bowl games (11-6), and of course seeing member Ohio State win the National Championship. It was the conference’s second consecutive title after Michigan won it in 2024.
As we turn our attention to 2025, we are looking at the most intriguing non-conference games on every Big Ten teams schedule next season. My colleague Justin Perez started this series by looking at the ACC.
There is one very interesting note about the list compiled for ACC teams and the teams that the Big Ten conference are prepared to play. The ACC had an extremely down year and placed only one team in the College Football Playoff. However, each team in the ACC will face at least one Power Five team in the non-conference. It’s been an emphasis by the conference to schedule tougher and their schedules reflect it.
In the Big Ten however, you’ll find something completely different. Outside of Oregon, Ohio State and Wisconsin, the non-conference schedules are weak. This has been a playbook used by Ohio State and Michigan over the last two seasons to reach the College Football Playoff. Ohio State played Akron, Western Michigan and Marshall last season. Michigan went unblemished against East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green. This year, teams like Penn State and Indiana will look to use the same tactic. Schedule soft and use the non-conference as a preseason to ramp up before Big Ten play starts. We’ll see if it leads to the same success.
Illinois
At Duke - Saturday September 6th
Illinois took a major step forward in 2024, winning 10 games and finishing No. 16 in the final AP Poll. After opening with FCS Western Illinois, it will travel to Durham, North Carolina to face the Duke Blue Devils, another team on the ascent under head coach Manny Diaz. The game is the first of a home-and-home series that will see the Blue Devils travel to Champaign in 2026.
Duke went all in on Tulane transfer quarterback Darian Mensah, signing him to an $8 million deal. Duke had a top 25 defense last season and added talent from last year’s team that won nine games. This is a team with high expectations entering 2025 and will be a major challenge for Illinois early.
Indiana
Old Dominion - Saturday August 30
And for as much as Illinois will be challenged, the opposite will be true of Indiana. A program under Curt Cignetti that is looking to build off a College Football Playoff appearance will open against Old Dominion before hosting Kennesaw State and Indiana State. Kennesaw State was scrappy in its first year of FBS play, but ultimately finished 2-10. Indiana State was a 4-8 team in the FCS that lost to Purdue 49-0. That leaves 5-7 Old Dominion as the crown jewel of this non-conference slate. To add insult to injury for ODU, its starting quarterback Grant Wilson transferred to Indiana in the offseason. This slate is a perfect ramp-up period for the Hoosiers as they look to get Fernando Mendoza settled and ready for another run at the CFP.
Iowa
At Iowa State - Saturday September 6th
The Cy-Hawk Trophy is on the line in Iowa’s most intriguing non-conference game. Iowa leads the all-time series 47-24, but Iowa State is the current holder after beating Iowa 20-19 at Kinnick Stadium last season.
The Cyclones won 11 games last season but were shocked by Arizona State in the Big 12 title game. The Cyclones have a busy non-conference slate that involves opening the season in Week 0 in Dublin against Kansas State. They’ll ultimately have three games under their belt before hosting the Hawkeyes. Quarterback Rocco Becht returns but the Cyclones will have to rebuild at most other positions on the field.
UMass and FCS Albany round out the Hawkeyes non-conference schedule.
Maryland
Florida Atlantic - Saturday August 30
This answer very easily could’ve been Northern Illinois in Week 2 because neither team really moves the needle at all. On a weekend with Ohio State-Texas, Clemson-LSU, Notre Dame-Miami and Bill Belichick’s debut, I don’t think many people outside of Maryland will be focused on the Owls taking on the Terrapins. However, there are some interesting talking points surrounding the game and we committed to saying something about every game, so here goes nothing.
FAU will be led by new head coach Zach Kittley, who you may recognize as the youngest head coach in the FBS. The Owls have a new coach because they were bad in 2024, winning just three games and only one in the AAC. A couple interesting transfers grace the roster, most notably quarterback Caden Veltkamp, who threw for 3,108 yards and 25 touchdowns for Western Kentucky last season. Also joining him is one of his favorite targets: wide receiver Easton Messer, who caught 55 passes for 793 yards and four touchdowns for WKU last season. Veltkamp immediately gives Kittley a high end talent at the quarterback position and I’d venture to say that the Owls win more than three games next season. The season-opener on the road against a Big Ten team might be too tall of an order but crazier things have happened.
The non-conference slate for Maryland culminates in Week 3 with the Towson Tigers.
Michigan
At Oklahoma - Saturday September 6
Will Michigan take a step forward and re-emerge as a title contender in 2025 under second-year coach Sherrone Moore? They’ll get the opportunity to prove it early with a road trip to a re-built Oklahoma in early September. The first of a home-and-home in 2025 and 2026, this will be the second ever meeting between the Sooners and Wolverines. The only other meeting came in 1976, a 14-6 Oklahoma win in the Orange Bowl that earned the Sooners the National Championship in a controversial voting system. Don’t ask me how it worked, things were weird back then.
The 2025 version of Oklahoma will see Washington State transfer John Mateer replace Jackson Arnold at quarterback, joining new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle. In total, 27 players left the program via the transfer portal and saw several more graduate, including three that were invited to the NFL Combine. This is a make or break season for head coach Brent Venables and there will be pressure on him to at least have Oklahoma ready to face the Wolverines in Week 2.
Michigan rounds out its non-conference schedule with New Mexico and Central Michigan at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
Michigan State
Boston College - Saturday September 6th
This game will get little to no attention on the national scale but could actually be a really intriguing game. Michigan State won only five games last season but has the appearance of a program on the rise under head coach Jonathan Smith. Boston College appears to have a similar trajectory, winning seven games under new head coach Bill O’Brien in 2024. One of the seven wins was against Michigan State, winning 23-19 in Chestnut Hill in a back and forth affair that saw the Eagles score the game-winning touchdown in the final minutes of the game.
Overall, the series has not treated Michigan State well. The Spartans are just 1-5-1 all time against the Eagles, with their only win coming in September of 1995. Led by talented quarterback Aidan Chiles, 2025 could lead to the second win in the series for Michigan State.
The Spartans non-conference schedule also includes Western Michigan and FCS Youngstown State.
Minnesota
At California - Saturday September 13
After consistently raising the floor of the Minnesota football program for years, P.J. Fleck incredibly enters his ninth season as head coach of the Gophers. Minnesota won eight games in 2024, the most memorable of which ended with Fleck being doused in mayonnaise after cruising past Virginia Tech in its bowl game. Transfer quarterback Max Brosmer hit his stride late and was a successful addition to the team. Georgia Tech transfer Zach Pyron enters to compete with redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey at the quarterback position and continue the momentum of the program.
The team lost a ton of talent off last year’s roster and will have a relatively easy non-conference schedule to ramp itself up. The Gophers start with home games against Buffalo and FCS Northwestern State before traveling to California in Week 3. California lost quarterback Fernando Mendoza but brought in Ohio State transfer Devin Brown and former four-star Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele from Oregon to compete at the position. California won six games in 2024 under Justin Wilcox in its first season in the ACC.
Nebraska
Cincinnati - Thursday August 28 - Arrowhead Stadium
Everything about this game is weird and unique. For starters, the game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium, a stadium that Nebraska has played in twice all time, a win in 1998 over Oklahoma State and a loss in the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma in 2006. The game was originally scheduled for 2020 as a home-and-home matchup, but was rescheduled to 2025 and became a neutral site game in Missouri where a team from Ohio will be the home side. Got all that so far?
These two teams have only met one time: a 41-0 Nebraska victory….on Thanksgiving Day in 1906 at Antelope Field in Lincoln. They’ll renew their storied history in 2025, in a season where both teams are hoping for traction. Cincinnati went 5-7 in 2024 but return several key contributors and added 15 transfers to the roster.
Nebraska finishes out the non-conference slate with Akron and FCS Houston Christian.
Northwestern
At Tulane - Saturday August 30
It’s not the most exciting game of Week 1 by any stretch, but as a standalone game Northwestern traveling to Tulane would be an intriguing match-up for college football degenerates. After an incredibly successful run under Willie Fritz, Tulane started a new era under Jon Sumrall in 2024 and there were questions as to whether it could keep its momentum after several contributors left the team. Tulane answered them, going 9-2 before limping to the finish line with three straight losses, including getting routed in the AAC Championship Game and Gasparilla Bowl.
Starting QB Darian Mensah is gone. As is star running back Makhi Hughes and his 1401 rushing yards. The offense ran through him last season. Tight end Alex Baumann (20-212-7) and even back-up QB Kai Horton are also gone. The team will have a competition between transfers Kadin Semonza (Ball State), Donovan Leary (Illinois) and T.J. Finley (Western Kentucky) to determine the next starting quarterback. We’ll learn a lot about both Northwestern and Tulane in the first game of the season.
Northwestern will round out its non-conference slate with Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe at its temporary home in Evanston.
Ohio State
Texas - Saturday August 30
In a Week 1 full of great games, the rematch between Texas and Ohio State takes the mantle as the most intriguing game and may even have a claim as the most intriguing game of the entire 2025 season. The Buckeyes and Longhorns kick-off a home-and-home series and it couldn’t come at a better time, fresh off the heels of their match-up in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes claimed victory in an instant classic, with defensive end Jack Sawyer stripping Quinn Ewers and returning the fumble for a touchdown, reversing the momentum of the game when it appeared Texas would score and tie the game late.
In addition to the history behind the match-up, there is the added intrigue of seeing Texas’ offense with Arch Manning leading it. The most hyped prospect in years is finally getting the full time chance to lead Texas and will be thrown to the fire immediately on the road.
Once Ohio State gets through the Texas match-up, the schedule eases up considerably with Grambling State and Ohio coming to Ohio Stadium before a bye week leads into conference play.
Oregon
Oklahoma State - Autzen Stadium - September 6th
Thank you to Oregon for scheduling the most intriguing non-conference slate in the Big Ten. No it doesn’t have the goliath match-ups that Ohio State and Wisconsin boast, but all three teams should challenge the Ducks. The most intriguing of the three non-conference matchups is Oklahoma State, who enter the 2025 with questions surrounding embattled coach Mike Gundy.
The Ducks have likely scheduled this home-and-home series at the perfect time. The Cowboys went 3-9 last season and this could be the end of Gundy’s long and successful tenure. 2026 in Stillwater could be a match-up against Gundy’s successor and a team still trying to get its legs under them.
The Ducks’ schedule also features the annual rivalry game with Oregon State and FCS runner-up Montana State. The Bobcats went 15-1 last season, only falling in the National Championship. The Ducks should go 3-0 against this slate but this is by far the most intriguing non-conference schedule in the Big Ten.
Penn State
Villanova - September 13
Once again, we go from incredibly intriguing to a whole lot of boring. The Nittany Lions’ non-conference schedule is garbage. There are no redeeming qualities or interesting games on it. Florida International and Nevada combined to win just seven games in 25 combined games last season and bring no juice into their match-ups with Penn State. So if we have to pick something, we’ll go with cross-state rival Villanova. The two teams met in 2021, when Penn State won 38-17, but prior to that had not met since 1951. Penn State leads the all-time series 5-3-1.
This is a prime example of a team scheduling extremely soft to gear up for a championship run.
Purdue
At Notre Dame - Saturday September 20
Most intriguing based on name value? Or most intriguing for Purdue fans, who just suffered through a 1-11 season and might like to see their team win. Most intriguing on name value is Notre Dame, the College Football Playoff Runner-up, who brings everything you could want into a non-conference match-up. However, the Fighting Irish beat Purdue 66-7 last season in a game that was no fun for any Boilermaker fan, so I can understand any hesitancy to jump back in against them.
Purdue fans might consider the more winnable games against Ball State and Southern Illinois to be more intriguing and I wouldn’t blame them one bit. Neither Ball State nor Southern Illinois were good teams in 2024, allowing Purdue the opportunity to jump out to a 2-0 record before facing USC and Notre Dame.
Rutgers
Ohio - Saturday August 30
Take your pick of MAC contenders on Rutgers non-conference slate. The Scarlet Knights open with Ohio, the MAC Champions last season. They then host Miami (OH), the team Ohio beat in the MAC Championship. We’ll give the nod to Ohio, an 11-win team last season. There is an added bonus that the star of Ohio’s defense last season, defensive end Bradley Weaver, transferred to Rutgers and will have the opportunity to face his old team. Weaver was an absolute game-wrecker last season, tallying 8.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. Rutgers is hoping for similar output from him next season.
The Scarlet Knights round out the non-conference with Norfolk State, which ordinarily would be an afterthought. However, former NFL star Michael Vick is the new head coach of the Spartans and that should bring some serious attention to this game. Rutgers has a sneaky good non-conference schedule against lesser known opponents.
UCLA
Utah - Saturday August 30
An old Pac-12 pairing becomes an intriguing early season non-conference match-up as Utah travels to the Rose Bowl to face UCLA. After starting his college career in 2018, quarterback Cam Rising will not be on the Utes roster next season and Utah will have to transition to a new signal-caller. Devon Dampier transfers in from New Mexico with offensive coordinator Jason Beck, where he’ll likely compete with Isaac Wilson for the starting role. UCLA will avoid traveling to Utah until 2030, where it has been extremely hard to win on the road.
UCLA will also play at UNLV, an 11-win team last season that beat Houston, Kansas, Oregon State and California. Finally, UCLA hosts New Mexico, Dampier and Beck’s former team.
USC
At Notre Dame - October 18
Is the seat getting hot for head coach Lincln Riley? It sure seems that way. Pressure is mounting on Riley to deliver results in 2025 on the heels of a 7-6 season. After the failed Miller Moss experiment at quarterback, the Trojans will likely turn to Jayden Maiava at quarterback, although Utah transfer Sam Huard and five-star true freshman Husan Longstreet will provide competition.
The Trojans lost to Notre Dame 49-35 in the season finale, en route to the Fighting Irish being the surprise CFP darling that USC had preseason aspirations of being. The game comes in a brutal two-week stretch for the Trojans, who host Michigan the week prior. The Trojans should be 4-0 before a trip to Illinois in late September that kicks off a difficult conference stretch.
The Fighting Irish will have a tall task to replicate last season’s success, losing multiple starters to the NFL Draft and transfer portal, including starting quarterback Riley Leonard. Redshirt-freshman CJ Carr and redshirt-junior Steve Angeli are expected to compete for the starting role so long as Notre Dame doesn’t look to the portal in the spring window. Still, no matter the losses, traveling and winning at Notre Dame is not an easy proposition in any season.
FCS Missouri State and Georgia Southern fill out the Trojans’ non-conference schedule.
Washington
At Washington State - September 20
The Huskies were probably always destined for a down season after head coach Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama following a run to the College Football National Championship Game. The Huskies went just 6-7 however, losing every time they had to leave the Pacific Time Zone. In search of a bounceback year in 2025, the Huskies don’t exactly have a murderer's row of non-conference opponents on the slate. After opening the season with games against Colorado State and UC Davis, the team gets a bye before traveling to Pullman to face Washington State in the Apple Cup.
They might be wearing Washington State uniforms, but the Cougars’ roster is pretty much just 2024 South Dakota State in disguise. A total of 17 Jackrabbits transferred into the program, following head coach Jimmy Rogers. Unfortunately for Washington State, star quarterback Mark Gronowski is not one of them.
Washington currently leads the Apple Cup 76-34-6 and will look to reclaim it after Washington State won 24-19 in 2024.
Wisconsin
At Alabama - Saturday September 13
Rounding out our non-conference schedule look is a travel spot for Wisconsin heading to Alabama for a tough non-conference match-up. The Badgers start with Miami (OH) and Middle Tennessee at Camp Randall before making a huge leap in competition on the road against Alabama. It’s the finale of a home-and-home series between the teams that started with a 42-10 Alabama victory in 2024.
When this series was announced, both programs were in a very different spot. Wisconsin was about to start a campaign that saw it advance to the Big Ten Championship game and ascend to No. 11 in the final AP poll. Alabama was in its 13th season of the Nick Saban era. Played back then, this match-up had some real juice. Now, both programs look vastly different. Alabama won only nine games in Kalen DeBoer’s debut season. Wisconsin sank even lower, going 5-7 and winning just three conference games in Luke Fickell’s second season.
Can Wisconsin put on a better performance than the blowout it experienced in 2024?