The Big Ten is the first of college football’s Power 5 conferences to make a major move to change the complection of the season. The conference has decided its teams will only play conference games this fall according to a report from ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Heather Dinich.
Every team’s schedule will be reduced from twelve games to ten. That means everyone will add one conference game. It isn’t the move several schools wanted according to Dinich and Schlabach.
“Some Big Ten schools preferred playing only conference foes with one additional non-league game — which would preserve some of the marquee non-Big Ten matchups — but there is overwhelming support for a 10-game conference-only schedule, the sources said.”
Amongst the marquee non-conference games being lost are Ohio State’s visit to Oregon, which would most certainly feature a matchup of two top ten teams, and Michigan’s visit to Washington, which likely would have been a top 25 matchup.
The teams that were set to play non-conference games against Big Ten opponents are certainly left scratching their heads today. Six schools will lose two games, as they had multiple games scheduled against Big Ten schools.
TV networks will also feel the effects of the change. FOX is the primary rights holder for Big Ten football. The network’s Big Noon Saturday package will certainly feature plenty of conference games later in the season, but given FOX’s relationships with the Big 12 and the Pac-12, there were plenty of non-conference games that likely also would have been a part of those broadcast plans.
ESPN also holds rights to Big Ten games. The cable network and ABC will both be effected by a smaller schedule.
The obvious media loser in all of this is the conference’s own network. The Big Ten Network is a join venture of the conference and FOX Sports. It is also the regular home for games between conference members and teams from smaller conferences.
None of the media partners have announced how the conference’s decision will effect their plans this fall.
