The Top 10 Big Ten Non-Conference Football Games in 2017

By Eric Seger on June 15, 2017 at 1:05 pm
The best non-conference Big Ten football games on the 2017 slate.
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It isn't fun to think this way but try to do so anyways: the college football season is still multiple months out. But every day you wake up, it is one step closer to being back.

While that is disgustingly cheesy and clichéd, in this space I will do my best to continue and help fill the void. In an attempt to do that, we will outline the best Big Ten non-conference matchups on the 2017 slate.

Ohio State's Week 2 bout with Oklahoma is an obvious and delicious headliner, with both teams headed to top 10 rankings before training camp opens. Let's get to the other non-conference games and rank them.

10. Washington at Rutgers — Sept. 1, 8 p.m.

This game makes the list mostly because one of the teams involved made the College Football Playoff last season. As you know, that team was decidedly not Rutgers, who went 2-10 in Chris Ash's first season and failed to score a single point against Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State or Penn State.

Chris Ash

Washington makes the trip east across three time zones for this matchup, the back half of a home-and-home series that began with the Huskies whipping Rutgers 48-13 in Seattle. Chris Peterson ripped through the Pac-12 and earned a date with Alabama in the Playoff, only to fall helplessly to the Crimson Tide 24-7. This game is on Friday night, one of two broadcasted on the ESPN family of networks (Navy-Florida Atlantic is the other, on ESPNU). Can Ash enact an upset? Probably not. But his team should be better this fall than last. Right?

9. Illinois at South Florida — Sept. 15, 7 p.m.

Willie Taggart built up South Florida then took the head coaching job at Oregon. Cast off by Texas, Charlie Strong landed in Tampa looking to revitalize his career following three consecutive losing seasons as head coach of the Longhorns. Lovie Smith got paid a bunch of money to lead Illinois, then went 3-9 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten in his first season.

This game carries interest on the behalf of both head coaches, and the winner could determine the fate of the season for each program. Set to be the third game for the Fighting Illini and fourth for the Bulls, who wins on a Friday night and the national stage of ESPN has the best chance of finishing their season with some form of positivity. Smith is looking for his first signature win since taking over at Illinois and it wouldn't look great for Strong to blow a home game to a team that only beat Rutgers and a 3-9 Michigan State squad in 2016.

8. Wisconsin at BYU — Sept. 16, 3:30 p.m.

The Badgers came up a touchdown short last season of winning their first Big Ten Championship since 2012, as Trace McSorely and Saquon Barkley led a furious second half Penn State rally. Wisconsin rebounded and ended Western Michigan's bid at a perfect season in the Cotton Bowl, while BYU went 8-4 and then topped Wyoming 24-21 in the Poinsettia Bowl.

So both programs ended their 2016 season on a high note. The Badgers head west for their third game of this upcoming season, while BYU gets a bit of a head start and is set to start its 2017 slate on Aug. 26 against FCS Portland State. BYU plays LSU and Utah the two weeks before hosting Paul Chryst's club, so the Cougars have a chance to notch three straight terrific wins. Wisconsin, meanwhile, hopes to notch a victory in its highest profile non-conference affair. The Badgers host Utah State and Florida Atlantic in its two other such games, so the matchup with BYU carries some weight.

7. Maryland at Texas — Sept. 2, 12 p.m.

I'll be honest, I didn't even realize this game was a thing until I started writing this story. That is probably more of an indictment on me than it is Maryland or Texas but the matchup makes this list because it is Tom Herman's debut in Austin.

Herman
Will Herman tap Shane Buchele as his QB to open the season against Maryland? via John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

The former Ohio State offensive coordinator and Houston head coach got an opportunity for his dream job last November and faces DJ Durkin's Terrapins in an interesting out of conference showdown. Maryland made the postseason last year, losing to Boston College by six in the Quick Lane Bowl. Texas sat at home on Christmas after it hired Herman. The Longhorns visit USC in Week 3, then plays at Iowa State on a Thursday night, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to round out its first seven games. That is brutal. A loss to Maryland, at home nonetheless, wouldn't look good for Herman as he starts his Texas revival.

6. Nebraska at Oregon — Sept. 9, Kickoff TBA

Nebraska won a wild game between these two teams last season, topping the Ducks 35-32 on the heels of Tommy Armstrong's 34-yard touchdown run with 2:29 remaining. Oregon went for two five times in the game. It failed on four of them.

The man that called those shots, Mark Helfrich, is now unemployed. The aforementioned Taggart takes over a team that slipped to 4-8 in 2016, a far cry from when it played (and lost) to Ohio State in the national championship game two years earlier. This Week 2 matchup is the final leg of this home-and-home and an opportunity for Taggart to secure a major victory early in his first season. Mike Riley is trying to bring the Cornhuskers back to national relevance. He'll have to do it with a new quarterback following Armstrong's graduation. This game should serve as a nice appetizer for Ohio State fans ahead of their team's clash with Oklahoma, provided the television networks don't do something silly and broadcast it in primetime.

5. Pittsburgh at Penn State — Sept. 9, 3:30 p.m.

Another game that should interest Ohio State fans before the Buckeyes host Baker Mayfield and Co. later that evening, Pittsburgh's 42-39 victory over James Franklin's Nittany Lions last season helped Urban Meyer's club make the College Football Playoff. That extra loss (plus one to Michigan) proved to be too much for Penn State to make it into the top-4 even though it beat the Buckeyes and won the Big Ten title.

Franklin
A man and one of his most prized possessions.

Could that happen again in 2017? Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Pat Narduzzi went 8-5 in each of his two years as head coach of the Panthers, losing bowl games to close each season. Franklin's team won nine straight before falling to USC in a Rose Bowl shootout, plus he has his quarterback and one of the best running backs in the country back at his disposal. But the Panthers have won the last two meetings between the two schools. If Penn State really is back as a national contender, it cannot afford to lose games like this.

4. Cincinnati at Michigan — Sept. 9, 12 p.m.

This game ranks here because of the coaching pieces involved. Jim Harbaugh is 0-2 as Michigan coach against Ohio State and the Buckeyes' former defensive coordinator, Luke Fickell, is Cincinnati's new head coach. An early opportunity to make noise nationally, Fickell and the Bearcats travel to Michigan Stadium in Week 2.

He will have two extra days to prepare his team for the Wolverines after hosting Austin Peay on Aug. 31. Meanwhile, Michigan faces Florida in Arlington, Texas to open its season on Sept. 2. With that game holding the potential to be draining on multiple fronts, Cincinnati could be the beneficiary. Michigan will have more talent so it should win but never underestimate an Ohio man leading his team north with two extra days of prep.

3. Notre Dame at Michigan State — Sept. 23, 8 p.m.

After a brief two-year hiatus, this usually annual affair returned to college football last season. Michigan State withstood a furious second-half rally from the Irish in the form of three straight touchdowns to hold on for a win 36-28. Both teams were ranked at that time of the year. They finished a combined 7-17 in 2016.

Mark Dantonio's offseason has been dreadful, with sexual assault investigations involving three of his players and a staffer who tried to take reviewing it into his own hands forcing all parties (except the head coach) out of the program. Both Dantonio and Brian Kelly are probably coaching for their jobs this fall, so a victory in this primetime matchup is paramount.

2. Michigan v. Florida — Sept. 2, 3:30 p.m. at AT&T Stadium

Harbaugh, McElwain
via Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports.

Neutral site games are what the non-conference is all about. They take the fun out of things for fanbases to an extent, as home-and-home games provide easier access to the top matchups. But we get this rematch of the 2015 Citrus Bowl to kick off the season for both teams, who should each be in the top-20 of the national rankings.

The Wolverines coasted to an easy 41-7 victory in that game, taking out some frustrations on the Gators after Ohio State whipped them 42-13 in The Game more than a month earlier. The 2017 matchup will be our first look at a Michigan team that will (mostly) be all of Harbaugh's personnel after he lost more than 40 seniors to graduation and just signed his third recruiting class at Michigan. Jim McElwain and the Gators won the SEC East the last two years and appear to be welcoming former Notre Dame quarterback and Ohio native Malik Zaire to their program after many months of speculation, adding even more intrigue. Buckle up.

1. Oklahoma at Ohio State — Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m.

The best non-conference game involving a Big Ten team last season sits in the same spot this fall. Ohio State handed the Sooners a 21-point thumping on their home turf last year, then Oklahoma won 10 straight games including the Sugar Bowl. Bob Stoops's stunning decision to retire on June 7 sent shockwaves throughout college football but his replacement, former offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, welcomes back Heisman Trophy finalist Baker Mayfield and a stud offensive line.

Ohio State is also loaded, with a new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach set to call the shots for Meyer. The College Football Playoff committee noted Ohio State's win in this game last year as one of its biggest reasons to put the Buckeyes in the final four at season's end. Who comes out on top on Sept. 9 will be in prime national position once again even before conference play kicks off.

OTHERS

Louisville v. Purdue — Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium
Reigning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson's first game in his hunt for a second trophy starts at an NFL stadium. This is also Jeff Brohm's first game as Purdue head coach. And did we mention he played college football and later coached at Louisville? Fun!

Minnesota at Oregon State — Sept. 9, 10 p.m.
P.J. Fleck's first game against a Power 5 opponent as Minnesota's head coach comes out west against Gary Andersen's Beavers. Andersen is 6-18 through his first two seasons in Corvallis, so dropping this game at home wouldn't be all that awesome for the former Wisconsin head coach.

Iowa at Iowa State — Sept. 9, 12 p.m.
This rivalry game hasn't been all that interesting the last two years, with Kirk Ferentz's club winning 42-3 in 2016 and 31-17 the year earlier. This fall, however, the Hawkeyes must travel to Ames and face the Cyclones, who enter their second season under former Toledo boss Matt Campbell. He went 3-9 this year, so improvements should be on tap.

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