TOLEDO, Ohio - The University of Toledo football team will play at Michigan State on Sept. 5, 2026, UToledo Vice President and Athletic Director Mike O'Brien announced today.
 
The meeting between the Rockets and the Spartans was originally scheduled for the 2020 season but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The contest will mark just the second meeting between the two schools on the gridiron, and the first since 1925 when the two schools were known respectively as Toledo University and the Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science.
 
 In addition to at Michigan State, the Rockets have three other Big Ten opponents on upcoming schedules: Ohio State (2022), Illinois (2023) and Maryland (2024).
 
Toledo was just in its ninth year of fielding a varsity football team when Coach James Dwyer's Rockets met Michigan State for the first time in 1925. The Rockets did not face another Big Ten opponent until 1978 when they lost at Minnesota. Toledo is 6-15 all-time vs. the Big Ten, but a respectable 6-10 since its first win at Purdue in 1992.  
 
 Toledo opens the 2021 season at home vs. Norfolk State on Sept. 4 before traveling to Notre Dame a week later. Information on attendance and season tickets for the 2021 season will be announced at a later date.
 
 
FUTURE TOLEDO NON-CONFERENCE FOOTBALL SCHEDULES
 
2021
Sept. 4- NORFOLK STATE
Sept. 11 – at Notre Dame
Sept. 18- COLORADO STATE
Oct. 2 – at UMass
 
2022
Sept. 3 – LONG ISLAND
Sept. 10 – UMASS
Sept. 17 – at Ohio State
Sept. 24 – at San Diego State
 
2023
Sept. 2 – at Illinois
Sept. 9 – WAGNER
Sept. 16 – SAN JOSE STATE
Sept. 30 – at UMass
 
2024
Aug. 31 – DUQUESNE
Sept. 7 – UMASS
Sept. 14 – at Western Kentucky
Sept. 21 – at Maryland
 
2025
Aug. 30 – at Kentucky
Sept. 6 – WESTERN KENTUCKY
Sept. 13 – MORGAN STATE
 
2026
Sept. 5 – at Michigan State
 
2027
Sept. 4 – at Kentucky
 
2028
Sept. 2 – KENTUCKY
Sept. 9 – at San Jose State
 
Schedules as of March 18, 2021