Schedule now 8 games, including OSU in Week 2

Let’s try this again.

With the Big Ten set to begin its football season Oct. 24, a new schedule is in order.

Theconference released that schedule Saturday , and Penn State football now has its slate of opponents for the 2020 season, including its season opener — on the road against the Indiana Hoosiers.

The most notable dates for the Nittany Lions, however, are their matchups with Ohio State (Oct. 31) and Michigan (Nov. 28).

After dropping from 12 games to 10 when the schedule was originally released in August, the Nittany Lions and every other Big Ten team are now down to eight games after the Big Ten announced its new plan for a return.

As with the 10-game schedule, this schedule will feature only conference opponents. Penn State will face its six in-division opponents — Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Rutgers — along with two opponents from the conference’s West division.

The Lions lost Illinois and Northwestern as opponents in the transition from 10 opponents to eight while retaining Iowa and Nebraska as cross-division opponents.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic initially led the Big Ten to drop the schedule to 10 and eliminate nonconference games, but the conference decided to cancel the fall season less than a week later. Just over one month after the original cancellation, the Big Ten reversed course and decided to have a fall season, prompting the release of the newest schedule.

The schedule runs from Oct. 24 to Dec. 19 and will conclude with an extra game against the West division team that finishes in the same place as the Nittany Lions, potentially in the Big Ten Championship game.

The Dec. 19 end date will allow for Penn State and the rest of the Big Ten to stay eligible for the College Football Playoff. The playoff committee will release its final rankings Dec. 20.

Penn State football’s 2020 schedule:

Oct. 24 @ Indiana

Oct. 31 vs. Ohio State

Nov. 7 vs. Maryland

Nov. 14 @ Nebraska

Nov. 21 vs. Iowa

Nov. 28 @ Michigan

Dec. 5 @ Rutgers

Dec. 12 vs. Michigan State

Dec. 19 Big Ten Championship game or other cross-division opponent

PHOTO APFILE Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, seen throwing a pass against Clemson in last December’s Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., will lead the Buckeyes against Penn State on Halloween. That’ll be Week 2 of the revamped Big Ten schedule, which runs to Dec. 19.