Random Thoughts Regarding The 2025 Big Ten Football Schedule

I have to confess that the release of the 2025 Big Ten football schedule is something that I have been anticipating for several weeks. For the past two years, The Big Ten would announce the upcoming schedule usually at the beginning of November, so the delay into December had me wondering what the hold up may have been. Now we can all plan accordingly for next fall.

There will be plenty of time to review Ohio State’s 2025 schedule this coming offseason, after player departures via the transfer portal, possible coaching moves, etc., and Tony Gerdeman already provided an overview as to how the Ohio State football schedule is set up. What I would like to do is offer some quick thoughts on some things that caught my eye in relation to the rest of The Big Ten and the 2025 schedule.

September Is A Key Springboard For Several B1G Teams

No need to commit the 2025 Big Ten football schedule to memory in trying to look at how this shakes out, but check out the 2025 schedules for Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, and Rutgers. Indiana has three probable wins in their non-conference schedule before they host Big Ten rival Illinois on September 20th. Maryland has three non-conference games that would fall into the winnable category. Rutgers has a taste for “MACtion”, hosting both Ohio University and Miami University in their first two weeks of the 2025 season. And Nebraska will play Cincinnati in a neutral site game in Indianapolis on August 30th, but then play their remaining non-conference games plus their first two Big Ten games at home (Michigan on September 20th, Michigan State on October 4th) before they leave the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium in mid-October for a game at Maryland on October 11th.

The point I am trying to make is that a strong start is key for any team, but especially for some of the teams in the Big Ten that struggled to earn bowl game eligibility. Coming out of September with a winning record could mean the difference between a bowl game in 2025 or sitting at home for the holidays for some of the teams I listed above.

October = “Oh, Wisconsin”

No disrespect to the Wisconsin fight song of “On, Wisconsin!“, but take a look at the brutal stretch Wisconsin and Luke Fickell will be enduring for the month of October. At Michigan on October 4th, home for the next two weeks versus Iowa (October 11th) and Ohio State (October 18th), then a trip out to Oregon on October 18th. Yikes.

Remember what I wrote up above how crucial September was for getting off to a good start? In Wisconsin’s case, the key will be navigating the brutal month of October, as a winless October could spell doom for the Badgers’ 2025 season, and possibly Luke Fickell’s tenure in Madison.

November = Nomadic Teams

Ohio State has their traditional rivalry game scheduled with Michigan on November 29th, 2025, but at least Ryan Day and the Buckeyes will have three home games during that crucial month. The aforementioned Indiana Hoosiers, Maryland Terrapins, as well as Penn State, will all be on the road three times during what is usually the crucial stretch run of conference play. As legendary Ohio State coach Jim Tressel liked to say that “September is for pretenders, November is for contenders.” For those Big Ten teams, being a contender in November in the Big Ten in 2025 is going to require that they are true road warriors.