Big Ten Will No Longer Schedule Conference Games Years In Advance

The conference is also discussing eliminating divisions to add flexibility to the schedule and have the top two teams play for the championship.

When the Big Ten announced a revised schedule for the 2022 season back in January to “account for alterations” made during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, it prompted questions about the need to schedule games years in advance.

After all, the conference had previously announced its conference schedule through the 2025 season, and those would also need to be modified as a result of this year’s changes. 

But now with UCLA and USC set to join the Big Ten in 2024 and commissioner Kevin Warren eyeing future expansion, the conference has decided it will only reveal its schedule 11 months in advance of the following season.

“We have made a determination that, in the future, you won't know our conference games for the next year until sometime in October,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said during his media availability on Thursday. “We’re used to having out games five or 10 years out. Well, that’s going to change. It’s kind of like how we’re waiting for basketball schedules for the season right now.

“We know it’s a model we have to go to and include our television partners in that process and structure it and have them be a part of the conversation. Now that we have them, we can begin that conversation and determined that type of thing. Is it based upon who’s going to be strong next year or based upon dates or whatever, and go from there.”

A significant part of those discussions will include future of divisions, which Smith is in favor of eliminating as soon as “next week” because of the flexibility it will bring to the schedule. It would also allow the top two teams in the conference to play for the championship.

“We’ve talked about no divisions, but we haven’t finalized that decision,” Smith said. “We need to come together and finalize that decisions. We need to bring in (USC athletic director) Mike Bohn and (UCLA athletic director) Martin Jarmond into those conversations and start meetings around that.

“If we go no divisions, then what are our tiebreakers? I mean, there’s just so many different things we need to ultimately get to that we just haven’t gotten to yet because we’re so focused on this (media rights deal).”

In such a scenario, Ohio State and Michigan could potentially meet in the Big Ten Championship Game just one week after The Game is played in the regular-season finale. 

Had divisions not existed in years past, dating back to when the conference implemented a championship game in 2011, the Buckeyes and Wolverines would have already played for the title in 2018 and 2021.

“At the beginning, I had that concern, right when we first started this (discussion),” Smith said. “I don’t now. I got over that. It could happen. At the end of the day, from a season-long scheduling point of view, when you’re bringing in USC and UCLA and the fact that we’re trying to do the best matchups the year before, having no divisions is better.”

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