Changes coming for Penn State football schedule, Big Ten conference

(WHTM) - The Big Ten unveiled its 2024 and 2025 football conference games on Thursday, while also announcing that divisions will be eliminated after the 2023-24 season.

The conference also announced that going forward with no divisions, the Big Ten Championship will be the top two teams in the whole conference.

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The Big Ten teams will play under the new Flex Protect Plus scheduling model, which means schools have two-play opponents that they will play in 2024 and 2025. Two-play opponents will change every two years.

Penn State 2024 conference games:

• Home games:
  • USC
  • Ohio State
  • Michigan State
  • Nebraska
  • Northwestern
• Away games:
  • Wisconsin
  • Indiana
  • Purdue
  • Rutgers

The dates and times for the 2024 football schedule will be announced at a later date.

Penn State 2025 conference games:

• Home games:
  • UCLA
  • Minnesota
  • Illinois
  • Rutgers
• Away games:
  • Michigan
  • Iowa
  • Maryland
  • Michigan State
  • USC

The Big Ten Administrators Council approved the 2024 and 2025 opponent rotations after considerations such as:

• Maintaining control and flexibility as the college football postseason format evolves, with the goal to create access for programs into an expanded College Football Playoff.
• Balance of annual travel by distance, regions of the conference, and time zones.
• Balance of historic competitiveness and recent competitive trends that includes:
  • Home/away balance of traditionally competitive schools.
• Balance and maximization of television inventory each season.

The Big Ten also announced that schools will have protected opponents that they will play each year. Penn State is the only school without a protected opponent.

Protected opponents by school include:

Illinois

• Northwestern
• Purdue

Indiana

• Purdue

Iowa

• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Wisconsin

Maryland

• Rutgers

Michigan

• Michigan State
• Ohio State

Michigan State

• Michigan

Minnesota

• Iowa
• Wisconsin

Nebraska

• Iowa

Northwestern

• Illinois

Ohio State

• Michigan

Purdue

• Illinois
• Indiana

Rutgers

• Maryland

UCLA

• USC

USC

• UCLA

Wisconsin

• Iowa
• Minnesota

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