As the Big Ten becomes a coast-to-coast conference, officials have revealed how they will set up their football schedules beginning with the 2024 season.
The Big Ten will add four teams next year, with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington all defecting from the Pac-12 and joining the conference, bringing it to 18 teams in all.
As a result, the conference had to throw out their original scheduling model, and while the division format will be scrapped, the new schedules will ensure that teams will play each of their 17 rivals over a five-year span.
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The full schedule for 2024 can be found here, along with links to the remaining four years of the five-year window.
The following rivalries were protected under the new format, and will be contested each year:
Illinois: Northwestern, Purdue
Big Ten
Indiana: Purdue
Iowa: Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin
Maryland: Rutgers
Michigan: Michigan State, Ohio State
Minnesota: Iowa, Wisconsin
Northwestern: Illinois
Ohio State: Michigan
Oregon: Washington
Purdue: Illinois, Indiana
UCLA: USC
USC: UCLA
Washington: Oregon
Here’s how the schedule will work, according to the conference:
-All 18 schools will play each of their conference opponents at least twice, once at home and once on the road, in each five-year cycle.
-Schedule-makers will attempt to limit travel each year based on distance, region and time zones.
-A nine-game conference schedule will continue.
More information, and the full schedule, remain forthcoming, according to the conference.