The Big Ten Conference released its 2015 conference schedule early Monday morning, which wraps up the league's final transition year between playing eight and nine conference games.

The Badgers will play the same slate of teams from their 2014 conference schedule, with locations reversed.

Wisconsin will open its Big Ten season with a rivalry game on Oct. 3 against the Iowa Hawkeyes, and will take a trip to Lincoln, Neb., for the first time since 2012 for a game with the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Oct. 10.

The Badgers will then host Purdue and travel to Illinois in back-to-back weeks before playing two straight games against Maryland and Rutgers, who will enter the league in 2014 as part of the Big Ten West division.

The Badgers will travel to Rutgers in 2014, so they will host the Scarlet Knights on Halloween. The Badgers will then make their first appearance as a conference foe at Maryland's Byrd Stadium on Nov. 7.

Wisconsin gets its bye week later in 2015 than in 2014. The Badgers will get a week off on Nov. 14, before closing out their home conference schedule with a game against Northwestern on Nov. 21.

The Badgers will finish their Big Ten season for the second year in a row with their rivalry game against Minnesota in Minneapolis at TCF Bank Stadium on Nov. 28.

The fifth Big Ten Championship Game will be played on Dec. 5 in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium.

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