Big Ten Football Schedule Format Announced for 2024 & 2025
6/8/2023 4:30:00 PM | Football
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced league opponents for the 2024 and 2025 football seasons today. With the additions of UCLA & USC into the conference starting in 2024, the Big Ten will move to a Flex Protect Plus model, which features a combination of protected opponents and rotating opponents. The 2024 season will be the first with 16 teams and no divisions.
Each Big Ten team will continue to play nine intraconference games per season, and teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice – once home and once away – in a four-year period. Conference schedules will include 11 protected matchups that will continue to be played annually and feature a combination of historic and geographic rivalries, as well as trophy games.
Maryland's protected matchup will be against Rutgers. The other two-play opponents for each member institution will change every two years. For 2024 and 2025, Maryland will play Indiana, Michigan and Rutgers both seasons.
The other annual protected matchups are Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, and UCLA-USC.
The 2024 season will conclude with the annual Big Ten Football Championship Game, which will feature the top two teams in the overall conference standings at the end of the regular season, with the winner earning the Big Ten Championship. Tiebreaking procedures will be announced later.
The 2024 and 2025 opponent rotations were approved by the Big Ten Administrators Council after careful consideration and constructs that included:
2024
Each Big Ten team will continue to play nine intraconference games per season, and teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice – once home and once away – in a four-year period. Conference schedules will include 11 protected matchups that will continue to be played annually and feature a combination of historic and geographic rivalries, as well as trophy games.
Maryland's protected matchup will be against Rutgers. The other two-play opponents for each member institution will change every two years. For 2024 and 2025, Maryland will play Indiana, Michigan and Rutgers both seasons.
The other annual protected matchups are Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, and UCLA-USC.
The 2024 season will conclude with the annual Big Ten Football Championship Game, which will feature the top two teams in the overall conference standings at the end of the regular season, with the winner earning the Big Ten Championship. Tiebreaking procedures will be announced later.
The 2024 and 2025 opponent rotations were approved by the Big Ten Administrators Council after careful consideration and constructs that included:
- Maintaining control and flexibility as the college football postseason format evolves, with the goal to create access for programs into an expanded College Football Playoff.
- Balance of annual travel by distance, regions of the conference, and time zones.
- Balance of historic competitiveness and recent competitive trends, including home/away balance of traditionally competitive schools.
- Balance and maximization of television inventory each season.
2024
- Home: Michigan State, Purdue, Rutgers, USC, Wisconsin
- Away: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan
- Home: Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State
- Away: Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Rutgers, UCLA
-MARYLAND-
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