After months of speculating, the Big Ten Conference finally unveiled its future conference football schedules when USC and UCLA join in 2024.
As expected, the 2023 football season will be the last with the East and West Divisions as the Big Ten shifts to 16 teams. The Big Ten Football Championship will feature the top two teams in the conference — setting up potential rematches between perennial leaders Michigan and Ohio State.
USC, in its first year as a member, will host Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Trojans will travel to Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue and across town to UCLA. The Bruins will host Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Ohio State while hosting their rivals. UCLA travels to Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Rutgers.
Michigan will see its two top rivalries with Michigan State and Ohio State protected, hosting the Spartans and traveling to Columbus. The Wolverines will also welcome Maryland, Minnesota, UCLA and Wisconsin. The team will travel to Illinois, Rutgers and USC.
Northwestern will host just four conference games in 2024, including its protected rivalry with Illinois and a visiting USC, Nebraska and Indiana. The Wildcats face a stacked road schedule in that season, going up against Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and UCLA.
The USC-UCLA rivalry will be protected by the conference, while the Trojans will face Penn State and Wisconsin twice as the Bruins face Nebraska and Rutgers twice.
Ohio State’s only protected rivalry is with Michigan, but will face Northwestern and Illinois twice in those years. The Buckeyes will travel to UCLA in 2024 and host USC the following season.
Full schedules for each Big Ten team in 2024 and 2025, as well as protected rivalries and two-play opponents, can be seen below on the Big Ten Conference’s Facebook post.
The addition of the two Los Angeles schools creates a geographic footprint for the Big Ten that spans the country from coast to coast.
