Following the announcement by the Big Ten of the 2024 and 2025 conference schedule, Penn State football is eyeing one of the most intriguing seasons in program history in 2024 with regards to the matchups themselves. While dates are still to be released somewhere down the, the home and away configuration is now known. Add in a trip to West Virginia and you get the following schedule when it comes to the most noteworthy games.
Those noteworthy matchups are as follows.
- at West Virginia
- at Wisconsin
- USC
- Ohio State
- Nebraska
- Michigan State
What makes for a good schedule is a debate to some degree. If nothing else, nobody will accuse Penn State of having an easy schedule in 2024, but when it comes to interesting games on paper, few seasons have delivered the goods quite like this one. Time will tell how those games actually pan out in terms of quality, but there’s no shortage of things to circle on your calendar.
How good is it historically? Here are a few other seasons to consider.
2011 [Alabama, at Ohio State and no Michigan]
- This season comes to mind from the outset because it’s really the most recent big big out of conference game of the modern era. Alabama is Alabama but between not facing Michigan in 2011 and Ohio State being on the road (and not very good) this year wasn’t all that noteworthy in the end. Fortunately for Penn State nothing else interesting happened in 2011.
2007 [Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Ohio State]
- Wisconsin wasn’t quite what Wisconsin is today, but the trio of games here – especially the elusive Notre Dame meeting – elevates this season.
2001 [Miami, Michigan, Ohio State]
- Penn State wasn’t good in 2001 but having all three of those teams visit Beaver Stadium for the first season following the stadium expansion is a good time.
1999 [Arizona, Pitt, at Miami, Ohio State, Michigan]
- The 1980s and 1990s are chock full of “just scheduling fun games” energy and this season is up there with the most marquee games end-to-end. Arizona was a banger opening game.
1991 [Georgia Tech, West Virginia, at USC, at Miami, Notre Dame, at Pitt]
- Talk about just playing everyone. This season was quintessential traditionalist Penn State football. Can’t argue with this slate.
1989 and 90 [Texas, USC (in 1990), Alabama, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Pitt]
- These seasons were equally as bonkers with a mixture of home and away games against all of these teams. The further back you go the more Penn State keeps on with the old school scheduling so the 1989 and 1990 schedules are as emblematic of the era as anything else.
