5 Takeaways From Release Of Msu Football's 2026 Schedule

The Michigan State football schedule for the 2026 season was released this week, so obviously there are going to be some instant takeaways and thoughts from the fans and media -- including myself.

The Big Ten conference released its full slate of conference games on Tuesday, so we now know the Spartans' official non-conference and conference set of games and dates for the 2026 season. The season will start on September 5 against Toledo at home and will wrap up on November 28 at Rutgers. In-between, Michigan State has notable home games against Nebraska, Illinois, Washington and Oregon, and tough road trips to Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Michigan.

You can see the full schedule here (with dates included) or by clicking on the embedded post below.

The 2026 schedule is here! ????️ pic.twitter.com/byCxk6s9qT

— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) January 27, 2026

So what are my thoughts on the schedule and some quick takeaways from the schedule reveal? I'm glad you asked! Check out these five takeaways I had directly after the scheduled was dropped this week below:

No week night games... for now

One of the first things that stood out right away was that there are no non-Saturday games currently announced on the schedule. However, that is likely to change.

Traditionally, Michigan State opens the season on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend, and typically that won't be announced until later in the spring or early summer. So, for now, if nothing changes, Michigan State will play a standard schedule of games only on Saturdays. I'm assuming that'll change, so just be ready for that potential audible in a few months.

Make or break start to season

The Spartans' schedule provides an opportunity for the Pat Fitzgerald era to get off to a strong start. But if they stumble early on, then I anticipate things to only get worse.

As long as Michigan State takes care of business, they should open the season 2-0 with wins over Toledo and Eastern Michigan. From there, though, comes a tough but manageable stretch of games: at Notre Dame, Nebraska, at Wisconsin and Illinois. We are too far out from the season to have a true indication of how good each of these teams will be, but at the moment I consider three of those four games as winnable (with Notre Dame being the exception, but hopefully I'm wrong!). Of course, each of those games are also losable for the Spartans -- making this four-game stretch extremely telling for how the season will play out and whether or not Michigan State will be able to break its four-year bowl drought this fall.

If Michigan State comes out of this stretch with a record of 4-2 or better at the halfway point in the season, then I like their chances of reaching bowl eligibility. If they are anything worse than that, then it could be another rough season for the Spartans when you look ahead to what's remaining late in the year (more on that coming up).

Final four games will be tough

In a tough conference like the Big Ten, you are bound to have at least one gauntlet stretch of games -- and that is the case for the Spartans late in the year.

Following a bye week, Michigan State will end the season with four tough games in November: at Michigan, Washington, Oregon and at Rutgers. The first of those three opponents will be considered teams in play for a spot in the College Football Playoff entering next year, and wrapping up the year at Rutgers won't be a walk in the park either -- especially after that three-game stretch of high-caliber opponents.

Michigan State is fortunate to avoid Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State, Iowa and USC this upcoming season, but this stretch of games in November makes up for that.

Bye before Michigan is notable

There is a slight scheduling advantage for the Spartans going into arguably their biggest game of the year against rival Michigan. Michigan State will have its bye the week prior to their road trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., while Michigan will be playing at Rutgers the week before the Paul Bunyan rivalry matchup.

How much of an advantage is this for the Spartans? Not necessarily massive, but it certainly is a plus in their favor to have two weeks to prepare for the Wolverines, while Michigan will be forced to play a tricky road game the week ahead. It seems like typically both teams get a bye prior to this in-state rivalry matchup (that was the case this past season), but this year, it's only the Spartans who get the extra week of preparation. If these two teams end up being similar in quality, that could be the difference in the matchup.

Overall, challenging but manageable slate

As I mentioned before, Michigan State's schedule doesn't include a few of the top teams from the Big Ten this upcoming season -- which may make you think at first glance that this is an easier schedule. But, I wouldn't say that's the case. Certainly, it helps that Michigan State won't have to play the last two defending national champions but that doesn't mean the remaining games will be a cake walk.

Outside of the first two games, I can't confidently give the Spartans a win in a sharpie. Part of that is because of how the last few seasons have gone for Michigan State, but also speaks to the overall difficulty of the schedule. Games against Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Northwestern, UCLA and Rutgers are all classified as toss-ups to me (at least at this point in the offseason). So when you have that many toss up games, it's fair to say the schedule is challenging but also manageable where fans should be expecting at least six wins and getting back to a bowl game. Anything more than that may be gravy, but we have plenty of time in the offseason to dissect and play the wins and losses game.

For now, this is a tough but manageable schedule, and one that will provide both challenges and opportunities for a fun 2026 fall. The countdown to September 5 has officially begun...

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: 5 takeaways from release of Michigan State football's 2026 schedule