Big Ten Football: Taking An In-Depth Look At The Football Schedules

With less than 100 days until college football, here’s a look at the entire schedules for Big Ten Football in 2015.

Big Ten Football Schedules: East Division

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Big Ten Football Schedules: West Division

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Dates of The Weeks

College football is no longer a game played just on Saturday! With more and more games being added on either Thursday or Friday nights, it can make things confusing. Here’s a list of all the Saturday dates in college football for the 2015 season.

Week 1: Sept 5 – Week 2: Sept 12 – Week 3: Sept 19

Week 4: Sept. 26 – Week 5: Oct. 3 – Week 6: Oct. 10

Week 7: Oct. 17 – Week 8: Oct. 24 – Week 9: Oct. 31

Week 10: Nov. 7 – Week 11: Nov. 14 – Week 12: Nov. 21 – Week 13: Nov 28

Non-Saturday Games

With that being said, the Big Ten Conference added a few more weekday games to the schedule, especially early in the year. Here we see every single game that will be played on a Thursday, Friday, Sunday, or Monday. Week 1 has the most which will kick-off the college football season with four games before Saturday (and two after).

Week 1: Michigan at Utah (Thurs.), TCU at Minnesota (Thurs.), MSU at Western Michigan (Fri.), Kent State at Illinois (Fri.), Purdue at Marshall (Sun.), OSU at VT (Mon.)

Week 13: Iowa at Nebraska (Fri.)

Sep 7, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; A general shot of the outside of Soldier Field prior to a game between the Chicago Bears and the Buffalo Bills. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Neutral Site Games

One of the better ways to brand your conference in the national spotlight is by scheduling some neutral site games. Here are a few games that will help the B1G branding as they will be played at a neutral site.

Week 1: Wisconsin vs Alabama at AT&T Stadium

Week 8: Penn State vs Maryland at M&T Bank Stadium

Week 13: Northwestern vs Illinois at Soldier Field

Nov 29, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) tackled by Michigan Wolverines linebacker James Ross III (15) and linebacker Jake Ryan (47) during the second half at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won the game 42-28. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Marquee Big Ten Match-Ups

Week 3: Rutgers at Penn State

Week 5: Michigan at Maryland

Week 6: Wisconsin at Nebraska

Week 7: Michigan State at Michigan

Week 8: Penn State vs Maryland at M&T Bank Stadium

Week 9: Michigan at Minnesota

Week 10: Michigan State at Nebraska

Week 11: Minnesota at Iowa

Week 12: Michigan State at Ohio State, Michigan at Penn State

Week 13: Ohio State at Michigan, Wisconsin at Minnesota, Northwestern at Illinois at Soldier Field

Oct 25, 2014; Champaign, IL, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers running back David Cobb (27) runs through the arm tackle of Illinois Fighting Illini defender at Memorial Stadium. Illinois Fighting Illini beat Minnesota Golden Gophers by the score of 28-24. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Playing The FCS

On the flip side, one way to reduce the branding of your conference is by scheduling FCS foes. It’s something that the Big Ten has wanted to reduce and instituted a rule against playing FCS teams.

The only teams that do not play an FCS team this season: Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

Sep 6, 2014; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks and Michigan State Spartans gather following the game at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

The Strength of Scheduling

On the other hand, there are teams in the Big Ten doing what they can to beef up their strength of schedule, especially in the minds of the playoffs selection committee. Let us take a look at some of the talent the B1G will be facing this year.

Week 1: Michigan at Utah, Northwestern vs Stanford, Minnesota vs TCU, Wisconsin vs Alabama, Ohio State at Virginia Tech

Week 2: Michigan State vs Oregon

Week 3: Illinois at UNC, Northwestern at Duke, Nebraska at Miami (FL), Purdue vs Virginia Tech

Week 4: Maryland at West Virginia

Jan 1, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers fans react in the first quarter of their game against the Georgia Bulldogs at EverBank Field . Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

Go And Do Not Stop!

Penn State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin may have one of the toughest schedules in the conference, but it doesn’t have anything to do with their opponents. Starting from Week 1, the Nittany Lions and the Badgers will play straight through to Week 11 without a bye week. You think that’s bad? The Huskers have it one week worse. Nebraska will start their season on Sept. 5th and not have a week off until Week 12!

Sep 13, 2014; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) is sacked against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Points Solutions Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Getting An Early Start To Conference Season

Rutgers and Penn State once again get to battle it out in the first conference game of the season as these two East Coast teams meet in Week 3 at Beaver Stadium. Last year’s game was something to be remember, as Rutgers tried to start its B1G career off with a splash at home. However, the Nittany Lions rallied to win 13-10 on the road. There’s no reason why Big Ten fans shouldn’t expect a similar game in 2015.

September cannot get here fast enough. Who else is ready for some football?

Next: Three Breakout Illini To Watch In 2015

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