By:Dave Ablauf, Chad Shepard
ROSEMONT, Ill.-- The Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday (Aug. 5) teams will play a 10-game, conference only schedule for the 2020 football season, pending that it is able to be played amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The league announced on July 9 that it would play a conference-only schedule this fall.
The University of Michigan is scheduled to open the season on Sept. 5 hosting Purdue at Michigan Stadium.
Michigan's in-state rivalry game against Michigan State for the Paul Bunyan Trophy will be played in Ann Arbor for the second straight season as the Spartans are slated to visit on Oct. 3. In addition to Purdue and Michigan State, the Wolverines will also play home games against Penn State (Sept. 19), Wisconsin (Oct. 31) and Maryland (Nov. 7) at the Big House.
The Battle for the Little Brown Jug, Michigan's rivalry match-up with Minnesota, is scheduled to be the first road game on Sept. 12. The Wolverines are scheduled to travel for road contests against Rutgers (Sept. 26), Indiana (Oct. 17), Ohio State (Oct. 24) and Northwestern (Nov. 21) this fall. This will be the first time since 1942 that Michigan and Ohio State do not meet during the final weekend of the Big Ten regular season.
The 2020 schedule also includes two open weeks (Oct. 10 and Nov. 14).
The Big Ten Conference also released its medical policies and protocols for all sports on the specific topics of testing requirements, and quarantine and isolation. Testing will be managed by a third-party laboratory to ensure consistency across the Conference.
See more: MGoBlue.com