College Football Rivalries

The College Football Playoff Schedule For 2023-2024

The 2023-2024 college football schedule promises some highly anticipated games. Texas against Alabama promises to be an explosive nonconference showdown, since Alabama edged Texas in an intense, one-game contest last season.

The Big Ten Conference released its schedules for 2023-2024 seasons, protecting 11 rivalries. UCLA and USC joined Ohio State and Michigan as new additions, while they’ll continue their annual faceoffs.
Purdue’s non-conference schedule

Purdue will have some unfamiliar opponents on its 2023-2024 schedule due to the Big Ten’s expansion and elimination of divisions this season, including annual protected rivals Illinois and Indiana as well as two-play opponents UCLA and USC; these teams will play each other twice within a two-year span in home-and-home series.

Purdue’s new conference structure means they will face Maryland and Rutgers twice each over four seasons, Iowa, Michigan State, and Ohio State will each visit West Lafayette once. Purdue will also host Notre Dame in 2024 before meeting North Carolina the following year for non-conference play.

Purdue’s 2024 season will kickoff with an opening game against Notre Dame at South Bend, marking their inaugural visit to West Lafayette. Purdue then travels to Illinois to face the Illini before returning home for their series with Indiana.

Indiana fans may be dismayed to discover their team will host both UCLA and USC for their inaugural Big Ten seasons, considering these programs haven’t met since 1996 and 1978 respectively. But with no divisional schedule anymore, Indiana won’t need to face Ohio State, Michigan or Penn State annually in their conference play-off schedule.
Purdue’s Big Ten schedule

On Thursday, the Big Ten released its conference football schedules for 2024-2025. Gone are divisions, as every team will play nine league games every season and rotate home/away matches between schools; every four years.

Purdue’s 2024 schedule features rivalry games against Indiana and Illinois as well as USC. Michigan and Ohio State will also make appearances, while Nebraska, Northwestern and Iowa will play host. Illinois will face Purdue again while this meeting with Indiana will mark their first meeting since 1978.

UCLA will make its Big Ten debut during 2023-2024 schedule, visiting Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio State before hosting Indiana and Rutgers before traveling the rest of their schedule on the road; these games include their inaugural meeting with Iowa.

Michigan State is also in a tricky spot as they will face both USC and UCLA during Big Ten play, in addition to home-and-home matchups against Michigan and Ohio State that must be won if they want to qualify for CFP playoffs – an enormous task given that most Big Ten teams qualify automatically.
Purdue’s SEC schedule

The Big Ten conference announced its 2024 and 2025 conference schedules Thursday. While keeping nine conference games each season, this new format includes protected rivalry matchups as well as rotating opponents for each team – meaning Indiana and Purdue’s annual rivalry will remain intact, along with traditional rivalries between Michigan and Ohio State.

The new schedule for the American Athletic Conference will feature games against its two newcomers – UCLA and USC – along with home and away matches against Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Penn State as well as Purdue travels to Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Purdue’s non-conference schedule will feature a game against UT Martin on September 2, and they are likely to select either junior Carson Beck or freshman Brock Vandagriff as its starting quarterback – two players who have battled hard for that spot since spring training began, with Beck emerging as an early favorite.

In conference play, Purdue will face Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa and Rutgers; at home they’ll also play Wisconsin and Maryland. This new format for scheduling Big Ten matches offers more competitive play that could put more teams into contention to reach the College Football Playoff.
Purdue’s Pac-12 schedule

After the Big Ten released its 2024 and 2025 scheduling format, some fans were disappointed that their teams wouldn’t play Ohio State or Michigan as often due to its new division-less structure, which pits each division’s best team against one another. To maintain some traditional rivalries between schools, there has also been implemented a protected rivalry schedule which keeps some matchups alive.

As well as continuing their rivalry with USC-UCLA, UCLA also plays home-and-home series against Nebraska and Rutgers to maintain balance and competitiveness in its football schedules. These series games help maintain balance within conference football schedules by maintaining balance. With nine conference games per season planned under this flex model, key rivalries may also be protected through safeguards to preserve them.

The Big Ten’s new scheduling model could create exciting rivalries, yet also potentially lead to more blowouts during its championship games. The East has historically dominated Big Ten title matches; adding USC and UCLA may lead to even more outright victories for one team over another in these crucial matches.

While Purdue will gradually adjust to their new schedules, Indiana and Illinois as permanent conference opponents will need time to adjust. But this change should allow Purdue more resources for recruiting and building depth.