Big Ten changes way it schedules football games starting in 2024
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Big Ten Conference is changing the way it schedules football games starting in 2024.
The league will welcome in USC and UCLA and usher out divisions. Instead, the 16-team league will have nine-game schedules which contain guaranteed annual matchups and rotating ones.
The protected annual matchups include Illinois vs. Northwestern, Illinois vs. Purdue, and Indiana vs. Purdue.
In this format, every conference pairing will take place at least twice in a four-year span.
So with 16 teams and no divisions, it will be the top two teams who will advance to the Big Ten Championship game, which might be fine since the east division teams have gone undeafeated against the west teams in the conference title game since 2014.
