Michigan State releases 2026 football schedule

The wait for Spartan fans to pencil in the rest of the 2026 football season schedule is over as the Big Ten has finally unveiled the league schedule for this fall.

Michigan State football opens its 2026 campaign when it hosts the Toledo Rockets on Sept. 5. Of course, that may shorten by a date at some point in the future if MSU moves its season opener to Friday as has been the tradition most seasons since 2011.

Additional games against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 12 and at Notre Dame on Sept. 19 follow before Big Ten play begins.

The conference season under first-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald will begin with a visit from Nebraska on Sept. 26 in Week Four. The Spartans suffered a tough loss in Lincoln in 2025, but Fitzgerald has had his share of victories over the Huskers from his days with Northwestern.

With the calendar turning to October, MSU will hit the road to take on Wisconsin in Week Five on Oct. 3 with Illinois visiting Spartan Stadium on Oct. 10. The visit will mark the first time Fitzgerald will face off against his former foe of Bret Bielema on a sideline not belonging to NU.

Speaking of the Wildcats, the big showdown against his former employer and alma mater comes the following week when NU visits East Lansing on Oct. 17. It will also mark the return of now former Spartan quarterback Aidan Chiles who transferred to Evanston following the 2025 season.

For Week Eight, nothing will scream late October Big Ten football like a trip to Southern California to take on UCLA on Oct. 24. The game is currently assumed to be played at the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium but stay tuned in case UCLA does in fact find a way out of its contract to move home games to SoFi Stadium.

No doubt many Spartan fans are looking forward to a trip to the Rose Bowl for this matchup.

As the calendar turns to November, the Spartans will head to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines on Nov. 7. The game follows a bye week on Oct. 31.

It will mark the second time in three seasons that first-year head coaches will be leading both programs. The following two weeks will be visits from west coast squads. On Nov. 14, MSU welcomes Washington to East Lansing, its first visit as a conference foe.

MSU hosts Oregon the following week on Nov. 21 for Senior Day and its final home game of the fall campaign. The visit will mark the first by the Ducks as Big Ten foes and the first visit to East Lansing since 2015.

The Spartans close out the season with a road game at Rutgers on Nov. 28.

The full season schedule is available below:

• Toledo Rockets - Sept. 5

• Eastern Michigan Eagles - Sept. 12

• at Notre Dame - Sept. 19

• Nebraska - Sept. 26

• at Wisconsin - Oct. 3

• Illinois - Oct. 10

• Northwestern - Oct. 17

• at UCLA - Oct. 24

• Bye - Oct. 31

• at Michigan - Nov. 7

• Washington - Nov. 14

• Oregon - Nov. 21

• at Rutgers- Nov. 28