The Big Ten Announces 2024 College Football Schedule
Starting in 2024, the Big Ten Conference’s new scheduling model that forgoing divisional boundaries and provides two guaranteed annual matchups between institutions will begin to take effect. Illinois will play their traditional rivals and also meet Maryland in both years.
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Michigan will keep playing Rutgers until 2025 as part of a two-play tier with USC, making up part of an annual series that began back in 2011.
Ohio State
On Thursday, the Big Ten released their football schedules through 2024-2025 seasons, marking Ohio State’s debut against UCLA and USC as part of new scheduling rules containing protected rivalries and rotating “two-play” opponents.
Ohio State will host Northwestern on Friday night of October and will also welcome relative conference newcomers Maryland, Nebraska, and Illinois for games at Columbus. Furthermore, Penn State, Michigan, Indiana as well as Rutgers and Iowa will travel for games against them during this season.
Ohio State stands out as an attractive nonconference schedule due to their annual battle against Michigan and their nonconference schedule isn’t all that impressive either, excepting Michigan games of course. Even then, it would probably only make sense for you to travel if your son or daughter was celebrating their fourth birthday party on any particular fall Saturday and watching Southern Mississippi, Western Michigan or Marshall vs TCU or Purdue was being shown live!
Michigan
The Big Ten schedule always boasts several rivalry games to get fans amped for the coming season. From Michigan State competing for Paul Bunyan Trophy to competing for Iowa’s Land of Lincoln and Old Oaken Bucket trophies, Michigan Wolverines fans should have plenty to cheer about in 2023!
Michigan will host USC and UCLA as they join Michigan on Michigan’s 2024 conference football schedule, as part of its revamped scheduling format that does away with divisions but still includes guaranteed rivalry games. Isaiah Hole takes a look.
Michigan will open their 2018-19 campaign at home against Rutgers on September 23 before embarking on their Big Ten conference schedule by traveling to Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota in consecutive weekends to begin Big Ten play. Wisconsin and Purdue will visit Michigan later in November before concluding their regular season schedule against Ohio State, Penn State and Maryland respectively.
Penn State
Penn State is well known for their history of participating in major bowl games, winning more than any other team during Joe Paterno’s tenure than ever before. Their success can be attributed to smart scheduling contracts with power conference opponents that include home-and-home matches against each of these foes.
With USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten, some modifications were made to its football schedule for 2024 and beyond. Eleven rivalry games have been secured while each member institution will rotate two-play opponents twice annually.
Nebraska should find its crossover draw advantageous as Illinois and Michigan State come out of the East Division, while Towson and Charlotte in nonconference play is better than last season when many games had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
Rutgers
Rutgers University has been patiently waiting to learn its conference schedules for 2024-2025 seasons since 2016. On Thursday, Big Ten released their new scheduling model that accommodates recent additions UCLA and USC.
The new system eliminates divisions and restricts West Coast trips while protecting rivalries by permitting programs to meet once every two years; for instance, Michigan State won’t play Ohio State or Michigan annually but instead meet twice in 2024 and once more in 2025.
Rutgers University – State University of New Jersey is a public research university founded in 1766 that boasts one of the oldest college campuses. Rutgers boasts many notable alumni including Nobel laureates Milton Friedman and Selman Waksman (the microbiologist who coined “antibiotic”) as well as over 150 undergraduate and graduate programs across New Brunswick, Newark and Camden campuses.
Indiana
Indiana Hoosiers football program represents University of Indiana Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football. Competing in the Big Ten Conference and playing its home games at Memorial Stadium, this team has won two Big Ten Conference Championships – in 1945 and 1967 respectively. Coach Tom Allen currently oversees his charges.
The Big Ten Conference recently unveiled a new scheduling format that will eliminate divisions while maintaining certain rivalries for all programs each year. Beginning in 2024, Flex Protect Plus allows each school to set three guaranteed annual match-ups and two rotating ones.
The league has already unveiled some protected matchups for the 2024 season. These include Illinois-Northwestern, Purdue-Indiana, Michigan-Michigan State, among others. In addition, their schedule will consist of both rotational and non-rotational opponents that change every year.
UCLA
UCLA will travel extensively during 2024-2025 Big Ten schedule releases. Their travel will include back-to-back visits to Nebraska and Rutgers under a “flex protect” scheduling model that ensures rivalries stay alive by guaranteeing they meet each year.
The Big Ten’s decision to forgoing divisions and preserve specific rivalries after USC and UCLA joined may have netted it an enormous financial boon, yet has also created an exhausting environment. No other conference in America requires its members to undertake such lengthy cross-country journeys like UCLA will in their initial two seasons with them; alone UCLA will travel over 28,000 miles roundtrip in 2024 alone against Rutgers and Maryland alone — that’s more miles than an average professional team covers in one season!
