ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced its new scheduling format and opponent matchups for the 2024 and 2025 football seasons on Thursday. With the additions of UCLA and USC into the conference, 2024 will be the first season with 16 teams and no divisional format.
Starting in 2024 the Big Ten will also debut the Flex Protect Plus model, which features a combination of protected opponents and rotating opponents for universities. Each member institution will continue to play nine conference games per season, and teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice – once home and once away – in a four-year period.
Illinois' annual protected games will be matchups with Northwestern and Purdue. For 2024 and 2025, the Illini will also play two contests, one home and one away, vs. Ohio State as the Orange and Blue's designated two-play opponent for the first two-year cycle.
ILLINOIS' 2024 BIG TEN OPPONENTS
- HOME: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and Purdue
- AWAY: Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Rutgers, and USC
ILLINOIS' 2025 BIG TEN OPPONENTS
- HOME: Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, and UCLA
- AWAY: Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin
Other protected matchups around the conference are: Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, and UCLA-USC.
The two-play opponents for each member institution will change every two years.
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.
The game dates for the 2024 football schedule will be announced later this year.
