5 Takeaways from Michigan State's Big Ten Football Schedule
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Michigan State's 2026 Big Ten football schedule was officially released on Tuesday, revealing when and where new head coach Pat Fitzgerald will lead the Spartans throughout his first season at the helm.
We detailed the schedule and highlighted a few games in another article about the Big Ten schedule release, but here are a few observations from the reveal.
The 2026 schedule is here! 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/byCxk6s9qT
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) January 27, 2026
1. The post-West Coast Road trip bye week is now the norm.
Since the Big Ten expanded West with the additions of Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA, Michigan State has had one West Coast road game per season, and the bye week has occured during the following week each time. It makes sense considering all the travel and logitsitcs and preparation that are involved, but it's still good to see the schedule makers put in some kind of common sense.
It has also been near the front of the Big Ten schedule. While that part will not continue this season, common sense still prevails in 2026. Michigan State travels to UCLA on Oct. 24 and has a bye week before its annual rivalry with Michigan.
2. There are too few rivalry games.
Unless you choose to count Wisconsin and/or Northwestern as legitimate Big Ten rivals considering their history and overall ties to the MSU program, the Spartans will play just one rivalry, the prviously mentioned Nov. 7 game at Michigan. This comes just one year after the Spartans played three long-time conference rivals (Michigan, Indiana, and Penn State) and one partial rival (USC because of the old "Trojan War").
Neither Indiana nor Penn State is on the 2026 schedule, and the Hoosiers have been swapped for another classic Indiana-based rival, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, albeit in nonconference play.
3. MSU opens Big Ten play against a pair of coaches on the hot seat.
The Spartans open conference play in late September, hosting Nebraska and head coach Matt Rhule. Rhule is entering his fourth season at the helm, and while the Cornhuskers have made some progress, it hasn't quite hit the level many expected. The Huskers had high hopes the last two seasons, but only have a pair of 7-6 records to show for it. Another slow start could have Rhule teetering on the egde by the time Nebraska arrives in East Lansing.
Michigan State heads to Wisconsin the next week, where many people thought Luke Fickell was toast throughout last season. He's changed the idientity of the program that is now a shell of itself and has had back-to-back losing seasons. Dropping an early conference game at home would be a further detriment, whether it's against the Spartans or someone else.
4. It's anybody's guess how many ranked teams MSU will end up facing.
This highlights the argument against preseason polls, but you really have no idea what most of the se teams are going to look like at this point. As a Big Ten school, MSU has had to face many highly-ranked programs throughout each season, and it's been a while since the Spartans were up there themselves.
Realistically, Oregon, Michigan, Illinois, and Notre Dame will all eneter the season ranked in the Top 25, and Washington has a chance to join them. That's quite a few big games for the Spartans if it turns out that way, but the rest of the schedule is not nearly as challenging. Aside from Michigan, MSU gets its most difficult Big Ten opponents at home, which is a pretty significant win.
5. It might be a rough Senior Day.
We're all well aware that this program is in a rebuilding process in 2026, and while taking on some top-quality competition and playing many home games can help, it's not always realistic to expect success over night. Sure, Pat Fitzgerald could lead his own Curt Cignetti-like turn around, but it's far more likely Michigan State sits more around the average in 2026.
And based on the schedule, that appears to include sending its seniors off against what should be a really good Oregon team. The upset could obviously happen, but MSU fans may need to be prepared for a tough one against the Ducks.
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-ac9f01ae65e71c7320d1c61247b2ecac.jpg "Travis Tyler")
Travis Tyler joined On SI as a writer in January 2026. He has experience contributing to FanSided’s NFL, college football, and college basketball coverage, in addition to freelance work throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth area, including high school, college, and professional sports for the Dallas Express and contributions to the College Football Dawgs, Last Word on Sports/Hockey, and The Dallas Morning News. In addition to his writing, Travis contributes video and podcasting content to Fanatics View and regularly appears as a guest analyst. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and SMU and is an avid Detroit sports fan with a deep knowledge and appreciation of sports history. Follow Travis Tyler on Twitter at @TTyler_Sports.