Nebraska Football: Where the Huskers Rank in the Conference's Toughest Schedules

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College football is unique amongst the country's major sports in that a team's schedule can dictate the fortunes of a season. There is not even a hint of schedule balance, and a team with less talent but an easier schedule could be seen as having a better chance for success in a season.

That means if Nebraska ends up with an easier schedule than some of its conference rivals, it has a better chance to win its division and make the title game. So, let's take a look at the relative strengths of schedule for each team in the B1G, from easiest to toughest, so we can have some idea where Nebraska fits in.

Iowa

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9-1-12	Northern Illinois @Chicago, IL
9-8-12	IOWA STATE
9-15-12	NORTHERN IOWA
9-22-12	CENTRAL MICHIGAN
9-29-12	MINNESOTA
10-13-12	at Michigan State
10-20-12	PENN STATE
10-27-12	at Northwestern
11-3-12	at Indiana
11-10-12	PURDUE
11-17-12	at Michigan
11-23-12	NEBRASKA

Non-conference Schedule: Iowa gets one of the softer non-conference schedules in the league, with one semi-neutral site game against a non-AQ school and Iowa State the most challenging home non-conference game.

Toughest Stretch: The closest thing to a tough stretch Iowa faces is a three-week span where Iowa gets Michigan State, Penn State and Northwestern, with two on the road.

Indiana

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9-1-12	INDIANA STATE
9-8-12	at Massachusetts @Foxborough, MA
9-15-12	BALL STATE
9-29-12	at Northwestern
10-6-12	MICHIGAN STATE
10-13-12	OHIO STATE
10-20-12	at Navy
10-27-12	at Illinois
11-3-12	IOWA
11-10-12	WISCONSIN
11-17-12	at Penn State
11-24-12	at Purdue

Non-conference Schedule: A road trip to Navy in the middle of the conference season provides some challenge.

Toughest Stretch: Indiana faces Iowa, Wisconsin and Penn State in three straight weeks, although two are home games.

Ohio State

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9-1-12	MIAMI OH
9-8-12	UCF
9-15-12	CALIFORNIA
9-22-12	UAB
9-29-12	at Michigan State
10-6-12	NEBRASKA
10-13-12	at Indiana
10-20-12	PURDUE
10-27-12	at Penn State
11-3-12	ILLINOIS
11-17-12	at Wisconsin
11-24-12	MICHIGAN

Non-conference Schedule: Four home games, with the toughest challenge being California, makes Urban Meyer’s return to coaching a bit of a soft landing.

Toughest Stretch: Ohio State ends the season with, in four weeks, games against Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan, with two of the three big dogs on the road.

Illinois

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9-1-12	WESTERN MICHIGAN
9-8-12	at Arizona State
9-15-12	CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
9-22-12	LOUISIANA TECH
9-29-12	PENN STATE
10-6-12	at Wisconsin
10-13-12	at Michigan
10-27-12	INDIANA
11-3-12	at Ohio State
11-10-12	MINNESOTA
11-17-12	PURDUE
11-24-12	at Northwestern

Non-conference Schedule: A road trip to Tempe presents one of the B1G’s non-conferences challenges.

Toughest Stretch: In a four-game stretch, Illinois travels to Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State.

Minnesota

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9-1-12	at UNLV
9-8-12	NEW HAMPSHIRE
9-15-12	WESTERN MICHIGAN
9-22-12	SYRACUSE
9-29-12	at Iowa
10-13-12	NORTHWESTERN
10-20-12	at Wisconsin
10-27-12	PURDUE
11-3-12	MICHIGAN
11-10-12	at Illinois
11-17-12	at Nebraska
11-24-12	MICHIGAN STATE

Non-conference Schedule: Minnesota’s toughest non-conference foe is Syracuse, and the Gophers get the Orange in Minneapolis.

Toughest Stretch: To end the season, in four games Minnesota faces Michigan, Nebraska and Michigan State, although two of the games are at home.

Wisconsin

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9-1-12	NORTHERN IOWA
9-8-12	at Oregon State
9-15-12	UTAH STATE
9-22-12	UTEP
9-29-12	at Nebraska
10-6-12	ILLINOIS
10-13-12	at Purdue
10-20-12	MINNESOTA
10-27-12	MICHIGAN STATE
11-10-12	at Indiana
11-17-12	OHIO STATE
11-24-12	at Penn State

Non-conference Schedule: A trip to Oregon State is a prime spot for an upset, although not as challenging on paper as some of the other conference teams.

Toughest Stretch: In a four-week span at the end of the season, Wisconsin faces Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State, although two of the three are at home.

Northwestern

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9-1-12	at Syracuse
9-8-12	VANDERBILT
9-15-12	BOSTON COLLEGE
9-22-12	SOUTH DAKOTA
9-29-12	INDIANA
10-6-12	at Penn State
10-13-12	at Minnesota
10-20-12	NEBRASKA
10-27-12	IOWA
11-10-12	at Michigan
11-17-12	at Michigan State
11-24-12	ILLINOIS

Non-conference Schedule: Games against Syracuse and Boston College (with Syracuse on the road) fill out a fairly average non-conference schedule for Northwestern.

Toughest Stretch: In a four-week stretch, Northwestern faces Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State, two of which are on the road.

Penn State

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9-1-12	OHIO
9-8-12	at Virginia
9-15-12	NAVY
9-22-12	TEMPLE
9-29-12	at Illinois
10-6-12	NORTHWESTERN
10-20-12	at Iowa
10-27-12	OHIO STATE
11-3-12	at Purdue
11-10-12	at Nebraska
11-17-12	INDIANA
11-24-12	WISCONSIN

Non-conference Schedule: A road trip to a resurgent Virginia squad is Penn State’s toughest non-conference challenge.

Toughest Stretch: The most challenging stretch for Penn State is a four-game span facing Iowa, Ohio State and Nebraska, with two on the road.

Nebraska

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9-1-12	SOUTHERN MISS
9-8-12	at UCLA
9-15-12	ARKANSAS STATE
9-22-12	TBA
9-29-12	WISCONSIN
10-6-12	at Ohio State
10-20-12	at Northwestern
10-27-12	MICHIGAN
11-3-12	at Michigan State
11-10-12	PENN STATE
11-17-12	MINNESOTA
11-23-12	at Iowa

Non-conference Schedule: Nebraska gets a trip to UCLA in the non-conference, in hopes that it is a preview of a trip to Pasadena in January.

Toughest Stretch: In a three-week stretch in the middle of the season, Nebraska faces Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State, with two of those games in Lincoln.

Purdue

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9-1-12	EASTERN KENTUCKY
9-8-12	at Notre Dame
9-15-12	EASTERN MICHIGAN
9-29-12	MARSHALL
10-6-12	MICHIGAN
10-13-12	WISCONSIN
10-20-12	at Ohio State
10-27-12	at Minnesota
11-3-12	PENN STATE
11-10-12	at Iowa
11-17-12	at Illinois
11-24-12	INDIANA

Non-conference Schedule: A trip to Notre Dame is one of the most challenging non-conference games in the B1G.

Toughest Stretch: In a five-week span, Purdue faces Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State, although three of the four are at home.

Michigan State

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8-31-12	BOISE STATE
9-8-12	at Central Michigan
9-15-12	NOTRE DAME
9-22-12	EASTERN MICHIGAN
9-29-12	OHIO STATE
10-6-12	at Indiana
10-13-12	IOWA
10-20-12	at Michigan
10-27-12	at Wisconsin
11-3-12	NEBRASKA
11-17-12	NORTHWESTERN
11-24-12	at Minnesota

Non-conference Schedule: Notre Dame increases the degree of difficulty on Sparty’s schedule, although the Irish come to East Lansing. A home opener with Boise State makes Michigan State’s schedule look even rougher

Toughest Stretch: Michigan State gets a rough four-week stretch where it faces Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska, two of which are at home.

Michigan

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9-1-12	Alabama @Arlington, TX
9-8-12	AIR FORCE
9-15-12	MASSACHUSETTS
9-22-12	at Notre Dame
10-6-12	at Purdue
10-13-12	ILLINOIS
10-20-12	MICHIGAN STATE
10-27-12	at Nebraska
11-3-12	at Minnesota
11-10-12	NORTHWESTERN
11-17-12	IOWA
11-24-12	at Ohio State

Non-conference Schedule: Without doubt, Michigan has the toughest non-conference schedule, with a road game at Notre Dame, a neutral site game against the defending national champions and a home game against a tricky Air Force squad.

Toughest Stretch: Michigan does get a break in their conference schedule, with no horrible slate of games. The worst stretch is a four-week run where Michigan faces Michigan State, Nebraska and Northwestern, with two at home.

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