Big Ten Announces Football Division Alignments and Move to Nine-Game Conference Schedules

New division alignments begin in 2014 and nine-game schedules start in 2016

April 28, 2013

The Big Ten Conference office announced football division alignments set to begin in 2014 and nine-game conference schedules set to start in 2016.  The changes were unanimously recommended by conference directors of athletics and supported by the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors.

“Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany.  “The directors of athletics also relied on the results of a fan survey commissioned by BTN last December to arrive at their recommendation, which is consistent with the public sentiment expressed in the poll.”

The new division alignments will feature Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers in the East Division and Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin in the West Division. All schools in the East Division are in the eastern time zone and all schools in the West Division are in the central time zone with the exception of Purdue. Each school will play the other six schools in its division plus two teams from the other division in 2014 and 2015, which will serve as transitional years in which the schools will still be playing eight-game schedules. Beginning in 2016, each school will play three teams from the other division as part of its nine-game schedule. The cross-division games will include one protected matchup on an annual basis between Indiana and Purdue.

With the start of the nine-game conference schedule in 2016, teams from the East Division will host five conference home games during even-numbered years, while teams from the West Division will host five conference home games during odd-numbered years. As a result of the nine-game conference schedule and the Big Ten’s schedule rotation, every student-athlete will have the opportunity to play against every other team in the conference at least once during a four-year period. The Big Ten is returning to a nine-game conference schedule for all teams for the first time since the 1983 and 1984 seasons.

“Big Ten directors of athletics met in person or by conference call six times from December to March to discuss a new Big Ten football model,” Delany said.  “The level of cooperation and collaboration was reflective of what we’ve come to expect from this group of administrators who have worked extremely well together on a number of complex matters over the past several years.  We are all looking forward to ushering in this new era of Big Ten football.”

The Big Ten will hold the 2013 Football Media Days and 42nd annual Kickoff Luncheon on Wednesday and Thursday, July 24 and 25, at the Hilton Chicago, featuring all 12 head coaches and some of the nation’s top returning players. The 118th season of Big Ten football kicks off Thursday, August 29, and culminates with the third annual Big Ten Football Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 7, to be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and televised by FOX. The winner of the title game will earn the Big Ten Championship and a chance to play in either the Rose Bowl Game or Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game.

The University of Maryland will be moving to the Big Ten starting with the 2014-2015 season. We learned more about who they will be playing with more regularity.

ESPN’s Brett McMurphy and Adam Ritterberg reported the league is set to split their 14 schools into two conferences, abandoning the “Legends” and “Leaders” monickers in favor of much more simple “East” and “West”. All of the schools in the Central Time Zone (Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Northwestern) will comprise the Western Division along with Purdue, the westernmost school in the Eastern Time Zone.

That will leave the Eastern Division to be made up of Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State and the two incoming schools-Rutgers and Maryland. The Eastern Division will be home to eight of the last 12 conference football champions, ten of the last 12 conference basketball regular season champions and five of the last seven Big Ten Tournament champions.

The report also noted that the league will expand to nine conference football games starting in 2016, with teams playing all six other opponents from their own division and three from the opposing division. The only protected annual inter-divisional game will be Purdue-Indiana. The league had hoped to expand to a ten game regular season schedule but decided otherwise because it would prevent schools from being able to guarantee seven total home games each year.

The divisional changes should alleviate some of the concerns about the Terrapins’ move a group of fans and alumni had based on the travel expenses that could be incurred based on the distance between College Park and many of the conference’s western programs. The Baltimore Sun previously reported that on top of the “lucrative” annual payouts the school will receive as part of the Big Ten (or B1G), they will also receive a travel subsidy worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-$30 million.

The Terps have some history with some of their upcoming divisional rivals. They split a home and home football series with Rutgers in 2007 and 2009. They played the Nittany Lions 37 times in football between 1917 and 1993, winning just once in the series. Maryland has never played Ohio State in football.

Maryland famously defeated the Hoosiers 64-52 in the 2002 NCAA basketball Championship Game. They have split four basketball games with the Spartans since 2003, the two losses both coming in the NCAA Tournament (one coming in 2010 when Korie Lucious drained a three pointer at the buzzer).

The changes will be voted on next week by conference presidents and chancellors and are expected to pass, according to the report.  

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND TO JOIN THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) announced unanimous approval today for the University of Maryland to join the Big Ten Conference effective July 1, 2014, with competition to begin in all sports for the 2014-15 academic year. The University of Maryland also looks forward to joining the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a consortium of world-class research institutions dedicated to advancing their academic missions.

“Today is a watershed moment for the University of Maryland,” said university president Wallace D. Loh.  “Membership in the Big TenConference is in the strategic interest of the University of Maryland.  It will not only ensure the financial vitality of Maryland Athletics for decades to come, but the extensive opportunities in the CIC for collaborations with our peer AAU and flagship universities in education, research, and innovation will boost the University of Maryland’s ascendancy in academic excellence.”

“The Big Ten Presidents and Chancellors are pleased to welcome the University of Maryland to the Big Ten Conference,” said COP/C Chair and University of Iowa President Sally Mason.  “The University of Maryland is one of the premier public research universities in the country and represents a natural alignment with our other member institutions.  Their top-ranked academic and athletic programs will be a tremendous addition to our conference.”

“Today is a historic day for both the University of Maryland and for Maryland Athletics,” said director of athletics Kevin Anderson. “The Big Ten is an outstanding conference comprised of flagship research universities. Our new peers share our pursuit of both athletic and academic excellence.  We are thrilled to join the Big Ten and look forward to beginning this next chapter in Maryland Athletics starting in 2014.”

In order for an institution to be admitted to the Big Ten Conference, it must submit a written application, which must then be approved by at least 70 percent of the Big Ten COP/C.  The University of Maryland formally submitted an application to join the Big Ten Conference Monday morning. The Big Ten COP/C then met via conference call and unanimously approved UMD’s application.

“The Big Ten Conference is excited to welcome the University of Maryland beginning with the 2014-15 academic year,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. “Maryland is a tradition-rich institution with a history of academic and athletic excellence. They’re a great fit and we look forward to a great future.”

About the University of Maryland:  The University of Maryland is the state’s flagship university and one of the nation’s preeminent public research universities. Ranked No. 19 among public universities by U.S. News & World Report, it has 30 academic programs in the U.S News Top 10. UMD is one of only six universities in the world with top 25 programs in Computer Science, Engineering, Economics and Business, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Physics and Social Sciences, according to the Academic Ranking of Worldwide Universities.

About the Big Ten Conference: The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in student-athletes’ lives and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based athletic programs of the 12 Big Ten institutions sponsor 298 teams competing for championships in 25 official conference sports, 12 for men and 13 for women. Big Ten universities provide in excess of $136 million in athletic scholarship aid to nearly 10,000 men and women student-athletes, the most of any conference. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.