The Big Ten has unveiled its 2021 football schedule and it has the Gophers in the limelight to start and finish the conference season.
Minnesota opens the Big Ten portion of its schedule Sept. 2 at TCF Bank Stadium against the Ohio State Buckeyes, and they finish the regular season with a classic rivalry game against the Wisconsin Badgers, also in Minneapolis on Nov. 27.
None of Minnesota’s 12 original opponents have changed, though some of the dates have been shuffled. Here’s the full 12-game schedule:
- Sept. 2: vs. Ohio State
- Sept. 11: vs. Miami (Ohio)
- Sept. 18: at Colorado
- Sept. 25: vs. Bowling Green
- Oct. 2: at Purdue
- Oct. 16: vs. Nebraska
- Oct. 23: vs. Maryland
- Oct. 30: at Northwestern
- Nov. 6: vs. Illinois
- Nov. 13: at Iowa
- Nov. 20: at Indiana
- Nov. 27: vs. Wisconsin
Overall, it’s a fairly favorable schedule early, albeit Ohio State is no cupcake. But it’s probably better to play the Buckeyes in the opener than it is when they are rolling on all cylinders in the middle of the season.
The final three weeks look like the toughest part of the schedule, with road games against the Hawkeyes and Hoosiers followed by an always-tough matchup with the Badgers.
