The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will play at the Michigan State Spartans in 2021, the school announced on Thursday.

WKU will travel to take on Michigan State at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Oct. 2, 2021. The game will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Western Kentucky also confirmed our report from Wednesday that stated the Hilltoppers will play at Alabama on Sept. 16, 2023.

“We always want to measure ourselves against the best, and certainly road games in Big Ten and SEC environments are formidable challenges,” WKU Director of Athletics Todd Stewart said. “Both of these games are exciting matchups against excellent programs but also provide excellent opportunities for our program, players and coaches. Additionally, each are close enough for our fans to be able to travel and attend the games in person and support our football team on the road which is a key component of our scheduling philosophy.”

WKU now has three non-conference games scheduled in 2021 and two in 2023. In 2021, the Hilltoppers are also slated to play at Army on Sept. 11 and host Indiana on Sept. 25.

The only other game WKU has scheduled in 2023 is home contest against USF to open the season on Sept. 2.

The addition of WKU completes Michigan State’s 2021 football schedule. Other non-conference games include Youngstown State at home on Sept. 11 and Miami (FL) on the road on Sept. 18.

In Big Ten play, Michigan State is set to host Nebraska, Penn State, Indiana, and Maryland and travel to Northwestern, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, and Rutgers.

Football Schedules