Three Takeaways From 2024-25 Indiana Football Schedule Release, Big Ten Realignment

The Big Ten Conference announced a new football scheduling model, which eliminates the East and West Divisions, protects rivalries and begins in 2024 when UCLA and USC join the conference. Here are three ways the conference realignment impacts Indiana.

With UCLA and USC joining the Big Ten in 2024, the conference decided it was time to change its structure and scheduling guidelines. 

The 2023 football season is the final year of the current Big Ten East and West Division format, and the conference will feature 16 teams and no divisions when the 2024 season kicks off. That means the 2024 Big Ten Championship game will feature the two teams with the best records, instead of the division winners.

The 2024 season also marks the debut of the Flex Protect Plus scheduling model, which features protected rivalry games and rotating opponents. Each Big Ten team 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.

While dates and times haven't been released, here are Indiana's Big Ten opponents for the 2024 and 2025 football seasons.

2024 Big Ten opponents

• Home: Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA
• Away: Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Wisconsin

2025 Big Ten opponents

• Home: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers
• Away: Illinois, Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue, USC

1. Indiana avoids powerhouses in 2024

Ohio State and Michigan made the College Football Playoff last year, and at least one has reached the playoff in six of nine years since its inception. Indiana has played both teams every year during that stretch – 2012 was the last year the Hoosiers didn't play Michigan, and 2008 was the last year without Ohio State on the schedule – but that's about to change. 

Neither Ohio State nor Michigan are on Indiana's 2024 schedule, which is rounded out with nonconference opponents Florida International, Louisville and Charlotte. Of course, Indiana still has to go out and play the games, but a break from Michigan and Ohio State for a year immediately boots the Hoosiers' chances of becoming bowl eligible.

2. Eliminating divisions benefits Indiana

Since realigning to East and West Divisions in 2014, a team from the East has been crowned Big Ten champions all nine seasons. Ohio State leads the way with five titles, followed by Michigan with two, then Penn State and Michigan State with one apiece. And every year, the Hoosiers played all four teams no matter what. They'll get some sense of relief from that gauntlet following the 2023 campaign

Indiana's 2024 schedule already reveals the impact of new no-division format in the Big Ten, with former West division teams Minnesota, Purdue, Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin all on the schedule. In past seasons, Indiana played just three West division teams each year, and one of them was always Purdue, a protected rivalry game. No Big Ten opponent is a pushover, but this trade should make six-win seasons more realistic for Indiana in the long term.

3. New scheduling model retains rivalries

One concern with nationwide conference realignment is college football eventually straying away from the traditional aspects that make the sport special. But with the Big Ten's Flex Protect Plus scheduling model, rivalry games that fans anticipate will still take place every year.

For Indiana, that means the Old Oaken Bucket game is here to stay. Purdue is Indiana's one protected opponent, so the in-state rivals will continue to battle every fall. The amount of protected opponents varies from one to three for Big Ten teams – Iowa will play Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin every year, for example – in order to maintain rivalry series.

This scheduling model also features two-play opponents, which will rotate home and away for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Indiana's two-play opponents include Maryland and the Old Brass Spittoon game against Michigan State.

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• 2024-25 FOOTBALL OPPONENTS ANNOUNCED: The Big Ten announced its new football scheduling formula on Thursday now that USC and UCLA are joining the league in 2024. There are no more divisions, and the Old Oaken Bucket game is one of 11 protected rivalries. UCLA will come to Bloomington in 2024, and the Hoosiers will travel to Los Angeles to play USC in 2025. CLICK HERE
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