The 2026 Big Ten football schedules were released on the Big Ten Network at 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time, allowing fans to see when and where their favorite teams will play during the 2026 season. This includes Rutgers, which will attempt to return to a bowl game in 2025 after briefly sitting out. While there are major challenges on the schedule, including a visit from the national champion Hoosiers starting in October, a more favorable Big Ten slate allows Rutgers to push for a bowl game once again.
Complete Rutgers 2026 Schedule
Photo credit: Rutgers Athletics
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Another heavy start for Rutgers
The 2025 season began with four straight home games before Rutgers traveled to Minnesota for its opener in late September, and the 2026 season is similar. After another Thursday night opener, this time against former Scarlet Knights DC Joe Harasimiak and the UMass Minutemen, Rutgers travels to Massachusetts to battle Boston College in the Eagles’ annual Red Bandana Game, which is scheduled for Friday, September 11.
The Big Ten slate starts early, with the conference deciding to move the USC game to Week 3 and move the Howard game to Week 4. Finally, in what could be the homecoming game, Indiana opens October in its long-awaited Week 5 at SHI Stadium.
Rutgers has won the last three games of the 2021-2023 series, although it has struggled in Big Ten play, but the Hoosiers are coming off a national championship and will almost certainly be the toughest opponent on the 2026 schedule. The Scarlet Knights slotted Howard between the Big Ten opener against USC and a big game against Indiana rather than face the Trojans and Hoosiers later in the week.
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Winnable road games, tough home slate
After five straight games, Rutgers will have a week off as they are inactive on October 10th. After that, the Scarlet Knights will travel to College Park to face Maryland on Oct. 17, a must-win for a bowl trip. Although Northwestern is on an upward trajectory, Rutgers will look to win back-to-back conference games when it travels to Chicago to battle the Wildcats on Oct. 24. The teams last played in the 2023 season opener, a 24-7 victory for Rutgers in a rare Sunday afternoon game.
Rutgers will return home for the first time since October 3 to face Kyle Whittingham’s Michigan Wolverines on October 31, the first time since 2023. After some frustratingly close losses, Michigan pulled away from Rutgers in November 2022 after the Knights led 17-14 at halftime. In the Wolverines’ 2023 championship season, they handed Rutgers their first loss, 31–7, in Ann Arbor.
The Scarlet Knights will lead the way in November to face Wisconsin, another opponent that has given Rutgers fits over the years. After the Knights failed to close the gap in 2023, falling 24-13 in Madison, the Badgers caught Rutgers in top form in 2024, notching a 42-7 victory in Piscataway. However, Wisconsin is coming off a bad season at just 4-8 and could struggle again when Rutgers comes to visit.
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Rutgers would then host Nebraska, which handed the Knights their first loss of 2024, 14-7 at Lincoln. Rutgers fell to 0-6 against the Cornhuskers in Black Friday night games after giving up Noah Vedral’s arm upon returning in 2023. The Knights will then face Penn State’s Matt Campbell as they try to break a long losing streak to the Nittany Lions and avenge a heartbreaking 40-25-6 20-6 season.
While the Big Ten slate has not been kind to Rutgers, with USC, Indiana, Michigan and Nebraska coming to Piscataway, the final will be against Michigan State, a team against which Rutgers has had a favorable recent record. The Spartans lead the all-time series 8-3, but Rutgers won 27-24 after falling behind 24-6 in 2023, needing a win to qualify for the bowl.
In 2024, the teams met for the season finale in East Lansing, and Michigan State needed a win to qualify for the bowl, while Rutgers already had six wins. However, the Knights didn’t give up, burying the Spartans in the snow 41-14, bouncing back from a heartbreaking loss against Illinois a week earlier. One or both programs’ season could come down to this game as Rutgers finishes the season at SHI Stadium for the second year in a row.
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