With Penn State football’s annual Blue-White Game in the books, it’s time to start thinking about the 2025 season.

Penn State’s season opener is only 123 days away for the folks counting at home. With opponents and dates set in stone, we took the liberty of predicting every game’s kickoff time so you can start planning your gameday routine.

August 30 vs. Nevada: Noon

Let’s be honest, folks. The Wolf Pack visiting the Nittany Lions has noon kickoff written all over it, especially with the matchup standing as the season opener.

Last season’s home opener against Bowling Green also kicked off at noon, and this contest should line up as such as well. Either way, Penn State football will be officially back in Beaver Stadium for the first time in eight months, and who doesn’t want to bask in the sun while watching some non-conference play to open the season?

September 6 vs. FIU: 3:30 p.m.

One of the first two games of the season has to take a 3:30 p.m. slot, and it just makes more sense for it to be FIU. Last season’s final non-conference matchup against Kent State kicked off at the same time, and there’s not a lot of justification for this choice other than Kent State and FIU give off similar vibes competition-wise.

The kickoff time will serve as a slight change of pace for the beginning of the season, just so fans don’t get two noon kickoffs back-to-back. Also, it just isn’t that interesting as a matchup, so it’s likely this one will be shoved off to the mid-afternoon slot in a crowded week two college football schedule.

September 13 vs. Villanova: Noon

Villanova is an FCS program, and this matchup closes out the non-conference slate for the year. If that doesn’t scream noon kickoff, I don’t know what does.

September 27 vs. Oregon: Noon

Most fans are going to want this as the White Out, which is exactly why it won’t be. There’s the obvious storyline of last year’s Big Ten Championship rematch, and FOX will definitely want to snag this up for the Ducks’ first trip to Beaver Stadium since 1964.

Fans will surely treat this matchup with “White Out…Energy” no matter what time it starts. That idea will probably be helped by a Helmet Stripe or Stripe Out Game designation, but it doesn’t matter. This monumental early-season matchup that will give fans a clear idea of how competitive the squad will be isn’t going to be under the lights like people want.

Despite this, Beaver Stadium will be raucous and deafening (as it always is) as Penn State opens Big Ten play against the very team that denied it the conference title last year.

October 4 @ UCLA: 7:30 p.m. (EDT)

Penn State’s second consecutive year traveling to Los Angeles will not follow the same formula as last year’s bright, sunny encounter at the Coliseum against USC. Penn State downed UCLA in Beaver Stadium last year pretty comfortably, but the Bruins’ offseason acquisition of former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava suddenly makes this matchup very enticing for a late-afternoon slot compared to the rest of week six’s Big Ten slate.

It’ll be the Nittany Lions’ first time back in Pasadena since taking down Utah in the 2023 Rose Bowl. Two historic college football programs battling in arguably the sport’s most iconic venue make this an easy choice for a primetime kickoff selection.

October 11 vs. Northwestern: 3:30 p.m.

After two straight games against Oregon and UCLA, Northwestern simply doesn’t shape up to be that interesting of a conference foe for Penn State in the middle of the year. The Wildcats are a consistent bottom-of-the-pack finisher in the Big Ten, and with Penn State primed for a big year, this one will be tossed up to a mid-afternoon slot. Either way, Michigan at USC and Indiana at Oregon will likely steal the show in week seven of Big Ten play.

October 18 @ Iowa: 7:30 p.m.

The last time the two programs met was in Penn State’s White Out domination of the Hawkeyes in 2023. Iowa finished sixth in the Big Ten last season, and the Hawkeyes face a pivotal season after a lot of roster turnover in the transfer portal.

Despite this, this matchup simply gives off prime-time slot energy at Kinnick Stadium in arguably Iowa’s biggest test of the year to this point.

November 1 @ Ohio State: Noon

The trend will continue. For the fourth straight year, one of the Big Ten’s marquee matchups will probably be scooped up by FOX for Big Noon Kickoff. Most folks would think this would get a primetime kickoff because of Ohio State’s national championship win, but all it does is provide a bigger incentive for FOX to get the rights to the Big Ten’s biggest matchup of the season through eight weeks.

November 8 vs. Indiana: 7:30 p.m.

This game makes the most sense to be the 2025 White Out. Indiana is coming off one of its best seasons in recent memory, making a College Football Playoff appearance in head coach Curt Cignetti’s breakout campaign.

Washington was awarded a trip to Beaver Stadium for the White Out last season, predominantly due to the Huskies reaching the national championship in the 2023-24 season. Even if Indiana isn’t anywhere close to last season’s quality, neither was Washington. The next logical step for Penn State Athletics to make is to welcome the Hoosiers to a chilly November night at Beaver Stadium for the next edition of the Greatest Show in College Sports.

November 15 @ Michigan State: 3:30 p.m.

This game just doesn’t jump off the page as an all-too-exciting matchup, especially at this point of the season. Sure, Michigan State will probably be more competitive this year, but this game simply doesn’t warrant a noon or evening slot, so to the mid-afternoon it goes.

Editor’s note: Welcome home, my sweet prince.

November 22 vs. Nebraska: 3:30 p.m.

Despite showing flashes last year, Nebraska completely fell flat in the back half of the season. The Huskers are in a weird state of limbo, and I think that will continue going into 2025. This Thanksgiving break kickoff game most likely won’t have many fans in the stands, and with a big-time conference game like USC at Oregon and an interesting game like Washington at UCLA also slated for the penultimate week of the regular season, this one gets the mid-afternoon treatment as well.

November 29 @ Rutgers: Noon

Penn State will take a short trip eastbound to face the Scarlet Knights in the season finale. While the Nittany Lions most likely won’t get FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff slot because of the Ohio State at Michigan matchup, I still see this one kicking off in the middle of the day.

Other pivotal Big Ten rivalry matchups are also taking place, such as UCLA at USC, which will probably get the nighttime slot. Furthermore, Rutgers is a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten program, and with the standings mostly sorted out by this time, I expect this to be treated as a low-level matchup.