Buckeyes get early bye in ’16 football schedule

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio State will get a break almost in the middle of the Big Ten season in 2015, but will only have one conference game under its belt when its bye week rolls around in 2016.

The Big Ten released conference schedules for those two seasons on Monday.

Purdue is the Buckeyes’ first opponent each year, on the road on Oct. 3, 2015, and at Ohio Stadium in the conference opener on Oct. 1, 2016.

In 2015, the Ohio State schedule is: at Purdue, Penn State, Michigan State, bye, at Minnesota, Wisconsin, at Illinois, Indiana and at Michigan. The Buckeyes open with non-conference games at home against North Carolina on Sept. 5 and Northern Illinois.

The following year it is: Purdue, bye, at Michigan State, Illinois, at Penn State, Minnesota, at Wisconsin, at Indiana and Michigan.

Due to the Big Ten’s rotating schedule, some teams don’t play another for years while the schedulemakers try to preserve longstanding rivalries. For example, Ohio State plays its final regular-season game each year against Michigan, alternating between home sites, but does not play new conference member Nebraska from 2013 through the 2016 (unless they play in the conference title game).

PENN STATE

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.

Michigan State and Iowa will return to Penn State’s Big Ten football schedule in 2015-16.

The Hawkeyes visit Beaver Stadium on Nov. 7, 2015. Iowa rotates off Penn State’s schedule in 2013 and 2014 after the teams meet this fall in Iowa City.

The Nittany Lions visit the Spartans on Nov. 14, 2015. It would be the first meeting between the two schools since the 2010 season.

Penn State would then travel to Iowa and host Michigan State in 2016.

Wisconsin remains as Penn State’s season-ending opponent through 2016.