Pennsylvania Duck Moderator No. 1 Share Posted August 9, 2023 How will the Big Ten schedule change this time? Good question. The Big Ten expanded to 18 teams for 2024 with the addition of Washington and Oregon last week. What does that mean for the Big Ten schedule? That is one of the questions considering the conference unveiled its Flex Protect Plus nine-game schedule for the 2024 season. That featured uneven protected rivalries from school to school. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reported the schedule will not change drastically despite the addition of the Ducks and Huskies. Why Big Ten should adopt a 10-game conference schedule for 18 teams in 2024 WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM There will be some changes given this is the first 18-team power conference in college football. The Big Ten could be another... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 2 Share Posted August 9, 2023 I mean as long as it doesn't hurt playoff chances it should be done. After all perhaps the biggest lesson learned from the mess of a 2020 season was that we really didn't miss the cupcake games. Does College Football Need Its Cupcakes? FISHDUCK.COM In any normal year, College Football is filled with early games against FCS schools that typically culminate with... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 3 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Thanks, PA for another great post. As expected, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has already come forth to question the format of the expanded playoff come 2024. A format he helped to design along with MW commissioner Craig Thompson (resigned), Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick (resigned), and B12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby (resigned.) With the Pac-12 going bye-bye as a Power 5 conference, Sankey argues that there should be 5 and not 6 spots in the field guaranteed for conference champions. He also is having second thoughts about seeding preferences for conference champions. With 9 G5 and P5 conferences remaining, this is rational and will likely be what we see format-wise come 2026. Of course, Sankey is not objective when it comes to altering the 2024/25 playoff format. Opening another at-large spot is more than likely to result in another SEC team in the field and SEC teams being higher ranked if there are not 4 1st round-byes for conference champions. As a B1G fan (say what?) I agree with Sankey's suggestions. there is no reason politically or otherwise to assure 2 G5 champions are in the field. Changing the seeding format in 2024/25 may not make sense but another at-large team makes perfect sense. Come 2024 with the expanded playoff, it makes sense for the B1G to go to a 10-game schedule and assure that all teams will have 5 home and 5 away conference games. As noted by the author, this would put pressure on the SEC to move to at least 9 games. If the playoff doesn't reward one of the Power 2 for playing two more conference games then perhaps the entire playoff will go away in 2026, notwithstanding the money to be made. As noted by the author, the B1G will not return to divisions. Permanent scheduling partners equal pods. Ohio State and Michigan will play every season and they have no desire to play Penn State every season as is the case today. Ditto Penn State when it comes to playing the Buckeyes and the Wolverines. Looking forward to the 2024 B1G schedule is fun and when announced, the B1G Network will have this covered top to bottom. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 4 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Well, the whole BigTen schedule will have to be re-worked, again. Just a couple months ago they announced how they were going to integrate USC/UCLA with most teams having protected annual rivalries, but there was significant variation. All the way from Penn State with zero, to Iowa with three: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska. The latter never making much sense to either Iowa or Nebraska fans, though the first two are definitely Iowa rivals. I think it may be difficult now to have more than one each. Two at the absolute most. But, it may get a bit complicated if the B1G says the West Four will each play each other every year. Glad I don't have to be the one to figure out the scheduling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 5 Share Posted August 9, 2023 On 8/9/2023 at 1:03 PM, HDuck said: Well, the whole BigTen schedule will have to be re-worked, again. Just a couple months ago they announced how they were going to integrate USC/UCLA with most teams having protected annual rivalries, but there was significant variation. All the way from Penn State with zero, to Iowa with three: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska. The latter never making much sense to either Iowa or Nebraska fans, though the first two are definitely Iowa rivals. I think it may be difficult now to have more than one each. Two at the absolute most. But, it may get a bit complicated if the B1G says the West Four will each play each other every year. Glad I don't have to be the one to figure out the scheduling. Great take. But go to 10 game conference schedule with 3 permanent opponents and it will work. Oregon - UCLA, USC, and UW. I'd prefer playing Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Rutgers, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Maryland over playing any B12 team OOC and welcoming Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan in Autzen often. Maybe with Gary Danielson doing the color commentary? 10 games in the conference would assure 5 B1G games in Autzen every season, an FCS layup, and a middle-of-the-road G5 team for 7 home games. With the revenue haircut Oregon is taking through 2031, 7 home games will be bottom-line imperative. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 6 Share Posted August 9, 2023 I think tOSU, Michigan and Penn State really catch a break in this format. There will be seasons where all three will not face each other. Just the protected game. Big advantage in missing a game against a Top 10 team. The West Coast BIG Teams will, most likely face each other. Not many teams with usuck, uclasuck, uw and the Ducks on their schedule run that table. Usuck missed uw and UO last season and that was 2 losses they may have dodged. No longer will that be the case. I like, with a 10 game schedule, that each team will face off every 2 years. If i read that correct in the article. So at some point we could have a season where we have usuck, uclasuck, uw, tOSU, Michigan and PSU. WOW....... OBDF Members we got some big time games on the horizon. GO DUCKS...... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 7 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 8 Share Posted August 9, 2023 On 8/9/2023 at 2:23 PM, Jon Joseph said: Directed in honor of Hayward's apt appellation, for 'our friends' in LA. AGREE! The schedule will be awesome and on occasion, beyond awesome. Build more seats and they will come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDuck No. 9 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Gives us a chance to play the barkrats annually, but existing non-conference agreements could get in the way for a while...eventually the civil war could resume. Then, every year we can still have one cupcake donation game to some FCS athletic departments budget, at Autzen. 6-7 home games a year Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tandaian No. 10 Share Posted August 9, 2023 If B1G goes to a 10 game conference schedule, is the conference going to reimburse each university to buyout teams? Oregon has 3 OOC games on their schedule thru 2028. Granted, there is 1 G5 team or 1 FCS team every year, so the buyout wouldn't be terrible. Years with 3 OOC games USC 2024-2026 UCLA 2024-2027 tOSU 2024 and 2026. Michigan 2024-2026 Penn St. 2024 and 2026 Michigan St. 2024-2025 Wisconsin 2024-2026 Iowa 2024-2026 Minnesota 2024-2026 Nebraska 2024-2026 & 2028 Purdue 2024-2028 Illinois 2024-2026 Indiana 2024-2027 Maryland 2024, 2025 and 2027 Washington is good to go. They don't have any season with 3 OOC already scheduled. Rutgers is good to go. Northwestern is good to go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
