CBS ranks Northwestern’s 2026 schedule as the 2nd toughest in the conference, as the Cats get Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon, all on the road.
Ohio State has the toughest schedule with 5 likely ranked teams.
Wisconsin gets the nod for the easiest schedule.
It does look very ugly. If we hit 6 wins again it will be a successful season.
Having the bye in week 2 is also a kick in the teeth.
I suspect the bye in week 2 was at NU’s request, because the stadium construction is reportedly a little behind schedule and they’re hoping that by week 3 (Colorado) they can open the new stadium, which will likely draw either the Fox or ESPN pre-game show. NU has some kind of announcement scheduled next week which might be about that.
But it does suck for the players.
We are still on the fence about whether to retain season tickets as we still haven’t seen pricing. They are behind schedule in selling the premium seats that are luxury box like with included food/beverages.
Maybe that’s what the February 3 announcement is about.
It’s not exactly an exciting home schedule:
South Dakota State, Colorado, Penn State, Ball State, Rutgers, Iowa, Illinois
The road games are:
Indiana, Michigan State, Oregon, Ohio State, Minnesota
Hard to envision more than one win on the road in 2026, 0-5 is a definite possibility.
We will be at the MSU game so hopefully the possible win you suggest, however Maureen and I are currently 0-2 attending games in East Lansing.
Minnesota is the other win candidate, the Cats have done better against Minnesota and PJ Fleck than Nebraska has!