Recent Big Ten football schedule announcements have fans and sports commentators excited, and conferences also occupy a lot of attention.
Significant adjustments have been made with the conference’s inclusion of USC and UCLA as well as the expansion of the College Football Playoff.
Football Season Schedule with USC Arrival
The release of the timetable has spurred debate, analysis, and even trip preparation among supporters.
According to Ben Kenney of Badgers Wire, these modifications will make it harder for Wisconsin to reach the Big Ten Championship game.
With players of talent like Caleb Williams and a strong coaching staff like Lincoln Riley, USC is anticipated to be a formidable opponent.
All 12 of USC’s opponents for the 2024 season are now known, even though the dates for many of the games have not yet been revealed.
LSU vs. San Jose State on September 1 in Las Vegas and Notre Dame vs. LSU on November 30 are two games of note.
Traditional rivals like Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Penn State will also go off against USC.
With recruiting chances and the possibility to renew old Rose Bowl rivalries, the Trojans will visit a number of places, including Maryland, Northwestern, Purdue, and Illinois.
By the end of the 2025 season, both of the newcomers will have faced every Big Ten school at least once, and every Big Ten team will have visited either UCLA or USC during that time.
Kenny said increased travel and a third-time zone factored into the 2024 and 2025 opponents, as did avoiding repeat sites from the 2023 schedule and maintaining the alternating five-four split — five league home games one year, and four league home games the next.
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Historic Matchups and Division Evolution
The 2024 visit by Michigan to USC will be the school’s first since 1958. For the first time since 1994, USC will travel to Penn State.
Both UCLA and Ohio State will play at Michigan Stadium for the first time since 1996 and 2001, respectively.
Divisions were first used by the Big Ten in 2011 when Nebraska became the conference’s 12th member.
Based on team performance statistics, the earliest divisions, known as Legends and Leaders, were created to achieve competitive balance. Several yearly rivalries, like Wisconsin-Iowa, were sacrificed.
The division titles, however, were widely mocked, so the league ditched them in 2013 and opted to use the geographic names instead, which started in 2014 when Maryland and Rutgers joined the league.
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