How does Penn State’s 2016 schedule stack up against rest of Big Ten?

I was given the task of ranking each of the Big Ten football schedules for Athlon Sports. When comparing schedules I took into account Big Ten home and road games as well as non-conference schedules. One aspect I admit I probably could have given more attention to was the placement of bye weeks, but I still feel I put together a pretty fair ranking of schedules from most challenging to least imposing. Consider this your spoiler alert, but I have Penn State’s 2016 schedule ranked in the top half of the conference in terms of overall difficulty.

Here is what I had to say about your Nittany Lions;

Penn State’s non-conference schedule is highlighted by the long-awaited revival of the in-state rivalry with Pitt and followed up with a revenge game against Temple (still weird to say that). Penn State’s Big Ten schedule gives the Nittany Lions the Buckeyes and Spartans at home, and Iowa also pays a visit this season, while James Franklin’s team must head to Ann Arbor early in the Big Ten schedule.

An early road trip to Michigan gets Penn State to hit the ground running in conference play, as the Wolverines are seeming like a trendy preseason pick in the Big Ten. The two toughest games in conference play (Ohio State and Michigan State) do come at home and later in the season. It is possible Penn State will be a better team by the time those games roll around compared to when they travel to Ann Arbor, but those three games alone figure to be the most challenging on the schedule.

The non-conference schedule is intriguing as well because it sees the return of Pitt to the schedule (a game we will spend much more time dissecting in the coming months) and an incredibly rare revenge situation against Temple. The Owls stunned Penn State last season in rather convincing fashion, but the defense of Temple loses a key cog in Tyler Matakevich and Penn State could potentially be better suited to take on this Temple team a couple weeks in compared to last season’s opener in Philadelphia.

Check out the full ranking on Athlon Sports and let me know what you think. Is Penn State too high? Too low? Where would you rank Penn State’s schedule against the rest of the Big Ten?

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