The Penn State Nittany Lions have added the Maine Black Bears to their 2027 football schedule, according to a report by Matt Fortuna.
Penn State will host Maine at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa., on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2027. The matchup replaces the Nittany Lions’ previously scheduled game against Delaware, which the two schools mutually agreed to cancel on Wednesday.
Sources: Penn State will now host Maine in 2027.
This replaces Delaware for PSU. When that game was scheduled in 2018, Delaware was still in the FCS.
The Blue Hens and Nittany Lions worked together to find a replacement, with Delaware covering the difference in guarantee cost. https://t.co/ZMMOwszP59
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) January 22, 2026
The 2027 meeting will be the first-ever football game between Penn State and Maine.
With the addition of Maine, Penn State’s 2027 non‑conference schedule is tentatively complete. The Nittany Lions are set to open the season at home against Syracuse on Sept. 4 and will also host Temple on Sept. 18.
In Big Ten play, Penn State is scheduled to host Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, and Washington, while traveling to Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Purdue, and Wisconsin.
Maine now has three non‑conference opponents lined up for 2027. The Black Bears are slated to visit Akron on Sept. 18 and will host Merrimack on a new date to be determined, after the matchup was moved from its original Sept. 11 slot.
Football Schedules
Kevin, I know you said the Penn St./Delaware game was a mutual cancellation but we both know one school had to initiate the discussion. Have you heard which school it was and why did they want to cancel? Interesting that Delaware replaced Penn State with another Big 10 school which seems odd if it was Delaware.
See Craig’s comment.
Penn State and Delaware scheduled the game in 2018 when Delaware was FCS. PSU probably agreed to pay Delaware something like $400-500K for the game.
Delaware has since risen to FBS and FBS teams are guaranteed usually over $1 million, sometimes as much as $1.5 million or more for guarantees. Delaware wants to get paid. Penn State doesn’t want to pay. FBS rates (even though they have no other guarantee games on the schedule for 2027.
So really the switch allows Delaware to make an additional $500K or more and allows Penn State to play an actual FCS school and save that extra money, which seems to be their preference.
At least Illinois Fighting Illini now gets Delaware Blue Hens while Penn State Nittany Lions gets Maine Black Bears.
Excellent move by both Big Ten schools.