The Wolverine takes a look around the conference heading into college football's first week of action:
Illinois
Illinois kicks off its season on Saturday at noon by hosting Ball State ... This will be only the second all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Illini taking the first matchup in 2007, 28-17 ... Illinois has won 19 straight home openers, which is the fourth-longest active streak in the country ... Redshirt junior receiver Mike Dudek is expected to see game action for the first time since 2014, after missing the 2015 and 2016 seasons with injury.
Indiana
Indiana begins its season by hosting No. 2 Ohio State on Thursday night, in what will be head coach Tom Allen's first game at the helm ... ESPN's College Gameday will make its first-ever trip to Bloomington for the contest ... The Hoosiers are no stranger to opening the season on a Thursday night, having begun five of the last eight years on a Thursday ... The game will mark the first Big Ten matchup on the season's opening week since 1996.
Iowa
Iowa will begin its 2017 campaign by hosting Wyoming at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday at noon ... This will mark the third-ever meeting between the two schools, with the Hawkeyes grabbing victories in 1953 and 1987 ... For the first time in the 89-year history of Iowa's field, a Tigerhawk logo will be featured at the 50-yard line ... Sophomore quarterback Nathan Stanley will make his first career start on Saturday ... With Oklahoma's Bob Stoops stepping down in the offseason, head coach Kirk Ferentz is now college football's longest active tenured coach at one school, having led the Hawkeyes since 1999.
Maryland
Maryland will hit the road to begin the year, traveling to No. 23 Texas on Saturday ... Sophomore Tyrell Pigrome will make just his second career start at quarterback, with his first coming in a loss at Minnesota last year ... The Terrapins have won seven straight season openers and 11 of their last 12 ... After starting 4-0 last year, Maryland lost seven of its last nine games.
Michigan State
Michigan State hosts Bowling Green on Saturday, looking to bounce back from a disappointing 3-9 campaign ... The Spartans hold a 39-6 record against current members of the MAC ... The two teams have met just twice before, with Michigan State claiming victories in 1981 and 2007 ... Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke is expected to make just his third career start for the Spartans.
Minnesota
Minnesota will face Buffalo at home on Thursday night ... The game will be the first for new coach P.J. Fleck in Minneapolis — he was hired away from Western Michigan in the offseason ... At 36 years old, Fleck is the second-youngest coach in college football, trailing only Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley, who is 33 ... Fifth-year senior Conor Rhoda and redshirt sophomore Demry Croft will both see time at quarterback.
Nebraska
Nebraska hosts Arkansas State under the lights on Saturday night ... After transferring in from Tulane and sitting out last season, redshirt junior quarterback Tanner Lee will make his first start for the Cornhuskers ... Arkansas State posted an 8-5 record last year and won the Sun Belt Conference ... Nebraska has won 30 of its last 31 season openers, with the only loss coming in 2015 to BYU.
Northwestern
Northwestern welcomes the Nevada Wolf Pack to Evanston on Saturday ... Senior running back Justin Jackson comes into the season just 356 yards shy of Damien Anderson's 4,485 school-record rushing yards ... The Wildcats ended 2016 on a high note, winning three of their last four games, including a bowl victory over Pittsburgh ... Northwestern is 9-2 in season openers with coach Pat Fitzgerald at the helm.
No. 2 Ohio State
In a bit of an odd scheduling quirk, No. 2 Ohio State travels to conference foe Indiana to begin the season on Thursday night ... Head coach Urban Meyer has posted a 39-2 record in Big Ten play during his five years in Columbus ... The Buckeyes have won 21 straight meetings with the Hoosiers, dating back to 1990 — the two teams tied that year ... Ohio State has won 36 of its last 38 season openers.
No. 6 Penn State
Coming off its 2016 Big Ten championship season, No. 6 Penn State looks to keep its momentum rolling on Saturday against Akron ... The Nittany Lions have posted an impressive 116-13-1 all-time record in home openers ... Penn State has won seven consecutive games at Beaver Stadium, which is good for the third-longest active home winning streak in college football.
Purdue
Purdue begins its 2017 campaign on Saturday with a neutral-site affair at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis against No. 16 Louisville ... The game will mark the first with new head coach Jeff Brohm, who was hired away from Western Kentucky ... The two schools' only previous meeting came in 1987, and it ended in a 22-22 tie ... The contest will be Purdue's first neutral site game since 2014, when it ironically faced Notre Dame in the same venue.
Rutgers
Rutgers faces an immense challenge to kick things off, playing host to No. 8 Washington on Friday night ... The two teams also met last season, which resulted in a 48-13 blowout for the Huskies ... Fifth-year senior Louisville transfer Kyle Bolin will start at quarterback for the Scarlet Knights ... Rutgers will be looking to snap a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season.
No. 9 Wisconsin
No. 9 Wisconsin hosts Utah State at Camp Randall Stadium on Friday night ... This will actually be the first time since 2013 that Wisconsin opens a season at home ... With a win, the Badgers would move to 19-4 over their last 23 games ... After sharing the quarterback job with the now-graduated Bart Houston last year, redshirt sophomore Alex Hornibrook is expected to have the gig all to himself.
Schedule
Thursday, Aug. 31
— Buffalo at Minnesota: 7:00 PM (BTN)
— No. 2 Ohio State at Indiana: 8:00 PM (ESPN)
Friday, Sept. 1
— No. 8 Washington at Rutgers: 8:00 PM (Fox Sports 1)
— Utah State at No. 9 Wisconsin: 9:00 PM (ESPN)
Saturday, Sept. 2
— Akron at No. 6 Penn State: 12:00 PM (ABC)
— Maryland at No. 23 Texas: 12:00 PM (Fox Sports 1)
— Ball State at Illinois: 12:00 PM (BTN)
— Wyoming at Iowa: 12:00 PM (BTN)
— Bowling Green at Michigan State: 12:00 PM (ESPNU)
— No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 17 Florida: 3:30 PM (ABC)
— Nevada at Northwestern: 3:30 PM (BTN)
— No. 16 Louisville vs. Purdue: 7:30 PM (FOX)
— Arkansas State at Nebraska: 8:00 PM (BTN)
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