Big Ten schedule format revealed: USC, UCLA, Oregon and UW to face heavyweight foes in first season in the new conference

The B1G decided to protect existing West Coast rivalries, ensuring annual meetings

The Big Ten announced the football schedule model for the next five years on Thursday, which begins next season when USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington join the conference.

The four West Coast schools’ 2024-28 schedule includes the matchups they hoped to play.

Next year, Oregon will face Michigan and Ohio State, USC will face Michigan and Penn State, Washington will face Penn State and Michigan, and UCLA will face Penn State.

“When you see the quality of the matchups, there are so many great games,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said.

The Big Ten has designated the USC-UCLA and Oregon-Washington rivalries as “protected games,” which means they will be played every year on a home-and-away basis.

Non-conference games are under the control of the schools and were not included in the rotation model unveiled on Thursday.

“It has been a whirlwind eight weeks,” said Kerry Kenny, Big Ten chief operating officer. “When Oregon and Washington were announced (in early August), we went right to work.”

The conference expanded on its spring model of protected and rotating opponents, which included USC and UCLA but not the Pacific Northwest duo.

The Big Ten experimented with 262 different models before settling on the format that best meets the needs of the schools and the conference’s network partners (Fox, CBS, and NBC).

The Big Ten created a nine-game conference schedule that includes protected and rotating opponents using the “Flex Protect XVIII” model. Within the five-year window, each team will play every other conference opponent at least twice (at home and away). The rotating opponents appear no more than three times on the schedule.

The schedule attempts to strike a balance based on travel distance, conference regions, and time zones.

The Big Ten also took into account “historic competitiveness and recent competitive trends, including home/away balance of traditionally competitive schools.”

There will be no divisions in the 18-team conference.

Big Ten executives did not provide specifics about Friday night games, but they did state that there will be no 9 a.m. kickoffs on Saturdays on West Coast campuses.

USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington could be asked to play at 9 a.m. body time on the road, as they do now for a non-conference game on the other side of the country.

The conference considered a rotation in which the four West Coast schools played each other every year, but ultimately chose a different model.

“The best way to create cohesion in the conference is to play each other more, not less,” he said.

If the West Coast quartet had been forced to play three games against each other each year, it would have limited their opportunities to play the Big Ten’s existing schools.

There are times when one of the West Coast schools plays the other three, but this is due to the overall rotation rather than a desire to create safe games.

The heavyweight matches are highlighted below.

No offense to Minnesota or Maryland, but USC set in motion the chain reaction that led to the Pac-12’s demise because the Trojans desired to play Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State on a regular basis. (This is also due to the Big Ten money.)

So here are the games the West Coast schools will play against each other, as well as against the Buckeyes, Wolverines, and Nittany Lions.

OREGON

Michigan and UCLA will be on the road in 2024, while Ohio State and Washington will be at home. Penn State and Washington will be on the road in 2025, while USC will be at home. USC and Ohio State will be on the road in 2026, while Michigan, UCLA, and Washington will be at home. Michigan, UCLA, and Washington will be on the road in 2027, while Ohio State and Penn State will be at home. Penn State is on the road in 2028, while USC and Washington are at home.

UCLA

Penn State and Washington will be on the road in 2024, while Oregon and USC will be at home. Ohio State and USC will be on the road in 2025, while Penn State and Washington will be at home. Michigan and Oregon will be on the road in 2026, while USC will be at home. USC on the road in 2027; Michigan and Oregon at home Penn State and Washington will be on the road in 2028, while Ohio State and USC will be at home.

USC

Michigan, UCLA, and Washington will be on the road in 2024, while Penn State will be at home. In 2025, Oregon will be on the road, while Michigan and UCLA will be at home. Penn State and UCLA will be on the road in 2026, while Ohio State, Oregon, and Washington will be at home. Ohio State and Washington will be on the road in 2027, while UCLA will be at home. Michigan, Oregon, and UCLA will be on the road in 2028, while Penn State will be at home.

WASHINGTON

Oregon and Penn State will be on the road in 2024, while Michigan, USC, and UCLA will be at home. UCLA and Michigan will be on the road in 2025, while Ohio State and Oregon will be at home. Oregon and USC are on the road in 2026, while Penn State is at home. Penn State is on the road in 2027, while Oregon and USC are at home. Ohio State and Oregon will be on the road in 2028, while Michigan and UCLA will be at home.

The 2024 conference schedule, including dates and kickoff times, will be announced later.