Northwestern Football 2026 Schedule Breakdown and Analysis

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Northwestern is plucky, well-coached, and occasionally good enough to hang around with every team just under the elite.

Three of the key wins – Minnesota, Penn State, UCLA – were by a combined seven points. But that’s fine – when the team is good, it finds ways to win.

But that’s a problem against the terrific teams. So with that said … at Indiana, at Oregon, at Ohio State.

And now on to the rest of our breakdown of the 2026 Northwestern football schedule.

Breaking Down Northwestern’s 2026 Football Schedule

Nov 22, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach David Braun is seen against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Wrigley Field. © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

The Good

There are enough winnable games to get to a bowl game again, as long as the Wildcats are great at home – more on that in a moment.

Four of the first five games are in Evanston, going to Michigan State and Minnesota isn’t too bad, and …

The Bad

It doesn’t matter who your team plays. It doesn’t have a worse run of road games than Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, and it doesn’t matter who else there is to deal with.

(Going to Minnesota and Michigan State – against new head coach Pat Fitzgerald – won’t be a breeze, either.)

What Big Ten Teams Northwestern Will Miss

Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Purdue, UCLA, USC, Washington, Wisconsin.

It’s not bad to miss Michigan, USC, and Washington, but it means the Wildcats get the biggest of the big boys – Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State.

Northwestern’s Best and Worst Case Scenarios in 2026

Best Case: The Wildcats take to the new Ryan

Northwestern becomes awesome right away in their fancy refurbished digs, beating Colorado and Penn State on the way to a 4-1 start.

It beats Rutgers and gets by Iowa and/or Illinois to go bowling, and there’s a road upset somewhere, like against Michigan State or Minnesota.

Worst Case: It’s a rough start

Northwestern loses to Penn State and drops the Colorado game – or even against South Dakota State – in a fight.

After not being great out of the gate, it falls apart in the second half for a second losing season in three years after getting destroyed over the last five games.