What teams are going to be in the Big Ten next year?

It’s never too early to look ahead to next season, especially when next season will bring so much change to the landscape of college football, and the rest of college sports. The Big Ten is right at the heart of that change, responding to the SEC’s move to add Texas and Oklahoma with four additions of its own, gutting the PAC 12. 

This is the first major conference realignment since 2010-14. Back then the Big Ten added Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers over a few-year period. That brought the Big Ten up to 14 teams, but now with the addition of Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, the conference will include 18 teams in 2024. 

The conference will also abandon the divisional model and will debut the “Flex Protect XVIII” model for scheduling which features a combination of protected opponents, who teams will play every year, and rotating opponents. Teams will play every conference opponent at least twice over a five-year period, once home and once away. 

The conference will protect rivalries with the protected matchups which, according to the Big Ten website, are: Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Oregon-Washington, and UCLA-USC. 

The Big Ten Football Championship Game, instead of featuring the two division winners, will feature the two top teams in the overall conference standings. 

The College Football Playoff is also expanding to 12 teams in 2024, which could open the door for more Big Ten schools to have a chance to win the national championship. In the 10 years of the four-team CFP, Michigan, Ohio State, Washington, Oregon, and Michigan State are the only teams from the current Big Ten pool to make the CFP.

Who is in the Big Ten in 2024?

• Illinois Fighting Illini
• Indiana Hoosiers
• Iowa Hawkeyes
• Maryland Terrapins
• Michigan Wolverines
• Michigan State Spartans
• Minnesota Golden Gophers
• Nebraska Cornhuskers
• Northwestern Wildcats
• Oregon Ducks
• Ohio State Buckeyes
• Penn State Nittany Lions
• Purdue Boilermakers
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights
• UCLA Bruins
• USC Trojans
• Washington Huskies