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Penn State’s opponents confirmed for 2024-25

The Big Ten has announced home and away opponents for the 2024 and 2025 football seasons and that it’s doing away with divisional play beginning with the ’24 season.

There are 11 protected rivalries, and none of them involve Penn State.

That means for the first time since joining the Big Ten in 1993, the Nittany Lions will not play Ohio State in 2025.

The Lions also won’t play Michigan in 2024, though that series has not been consecutive. Penn State will host both the Buckeyes and USC in 2024. UCLA visits Beaver Stadium in 2025.

Following is a snapshot of the 2024 and ’25 opponents. Dates will be released later this year.

2024 SEASON

Home — Ohio State, USC, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern.

Away — Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin

Note: The Lions have non-conference home games scheduled with Bowling Green and Kent State and a road game at West Virginia.

2025 SEASON

Home — Illinois, Minnesota, Rutgers, UCLA

Away — Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, USC

NOTE: The Lions have non-conference home games scheduled with Nevada and Villanova and one home date yet to be filled.

The guaranteed annual protected matchups are Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, and UCLA-USC.

The two-play opponents for each member institution will change every two years. Penn State’s are Michigan State, Rutgers and USC.

The conference also confirmed it intends to continue with its nine-game schedule.

With the East and West Divisions gone in 2024, the conference championship game will pit the league’s top two teams. The tiebreaking formula will be announced at a later date.

The 2024 and 2025 opponent rotations were approved by the Big Ten Administrators Council. The Big Ten said these factors were also considered:

• Maintaining control and flexibility as the college football postseason format evolves, with the goal to create access for programs into an expanded College Football Playoff.

• Balance of annual travel by distance, regions of the conference, and time zones.

• Balance of historic competitiveness and recent competitive trends, including home/away balance of traditionally competitive schools.

• Balance and maximization of television inventory each season.

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