Penn State doesn’t walk into the final week of the Big Ten calendar with the kind of built-in heat some of its conference peers enjoy. More often than not, the Nittany Lions are just trying to get through the regular season, unless postseason stakes happen to raise the temperature.
That could change down the road, especially if certain matchups keep carrying extra weight. Penn State already has Maryland lined up for the 2026 finale, after facing the Terrapins in the last weekend of 2024.
Before that, the Nittany Lions played Rutgers in Week 14 last year. But even without a permanent rival to close the season, some games naturally bring more energy than others.
A few of them could grow into something bigger.
Michigan State is the most established of the bunch. The two programs already have a trophy game when they meet, playing for the Land Grant Trophy.
That tradition began in 1993, when former Penn State coach Joe Paterno and former Michigan State coach George Perles created it. The connection runs deeper than football, too, with both schools founded in 1855 as land-grant universities.
Penn State has controlled the series in the trophy era, going 20-18-1 against the Spartans since they started playing for it. Since joining the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions are 19-0 against Michigan State, and their most recent win came in 2025 with interim head coach Terry Smith rallying the troops at the end of the season. That kind of dominance doesn’t exactly scream classic rivalry, but the trophy gives the matchup a little more bite than a standard conference game.
Nebraska brings a different kind of intrigue. The 2025 season made that clear.
When associate head coach/cornerbacks coach Terry Smith stepped in as interim, Penn State’s Week 13 win over the Cornhuskers became a moment that had players and fans rallying behind Smith being named the next head coach. That didn’t happen, but the game still carried meaning for where the program was headed.
There’s also the Matt Rhule angle. Nebraska’s head coach was once a top candidate to replace former Penn State head coach James Franklin before he signed an extension with the Cornhuskers. With that backdrop, the matchup has already picked up some off-field tension, and it has the kind of setup that could grow into something more if the teams keep crossing paths in meaningful spots.
Then there’s Ohio State, which already sits in a different tier because of what the Buckeyes have done to Penn State over the years. Ohio State leads the all-time series 25-8, but the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story. These games have had enough drama to make the idea of a true rivalry feel very real, even if Michigan remains the Buckeyes’ headline enemy.
Penn State had a shot to turn the temperature up with “Block Six” in 2016, and if the Nittany Lions can start stacking wins against Ohio State in the near future, the matchup could become a full-blown conference rivalry loaded with playoff implications. Michigan State gives Penn State history, Nebraska offers a path forward, and Ohio State already has enough of both to feel like the biggest one waiting to happen.
In Other News...
Penn State Just Cleared A Massive Beaver Stadium Renovation Hurdle
Penn States Beaver Stadium renovation has cleared an important financial checkpoint, with the athletic department moving past its $134.3 million fundraising target and now sitting above $135 million. The project is already underway, and the school has made charitable giving a major piece of the plan, aiming to cover nearly 20% of the overall $700 million cost through donations.
The latest push comes as the stadium continues toward a major overhaul that is scheduled to be finished before the 2027 season. Penn State has not said exactly where the current total stands, but the milestone suggests the fundraising effort has real momentum as the Nittany Lions work through one of the most ambitious facility projects in the programs history. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Just Entered A New Money Grab Fans Will Notice
Penn State football is stepping into a new corner of the college sports business, joining the first U.S. rollout of fan token sales through a partnership with Socios and Playfly. The program puts the Nittany Lions in a small group of major schools testing a cryptocurrency-style model that is being marketed as a way to deepen fan engagement beyond the usual ticketing and merchandise playbook.
The tokens are being pitched as a gateway to exclusive experiences, voting rights on fan-focused decisions and other rewards tied to team loyalty, which is exactly the kind of concept athletic departments are hoping can turn attention into revenue. What Penn State has not yet spelled out is how those benefits will look in practice for its fans, leaving the idea intriguing for now even as the broader rollout starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]