Field Level Media
25 Sep 2025, 05:25 GMT+10
(Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
Beginning next season, three major conferences will require their members to face at least 10 power conference opponents -- but the Big Ten isn't joining them, according to a multiple reports on Wednesday.
The Big 12 will continue its policy of nine league football games plus one nonconference opponent from a power league, a standard it has used the past two years. The Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference to adopt similar minimums in 2026, consisting of nine conference matchups and one power opponent outside the league. Because the ACC has 17 teams, one school will play eight league games each season, but every member will still meet the 10-game power threshold.
The Big Ten will continue to play nine conference games, as it has since 2016, but will not add a requirement for a non-conference power foe.
That decision also lowers expectations for any change to the College Football Playoff for 2026. With no alignment on scheduling across leagues, the commissioners meeting this week in Chicago are expected to stay with the 12-team format used in 2024 and 2025.
The Big Ten's stance comes months after coaches and officials highlighted their in-league grind at media days.
'Everybody has to play the same number of conference games,' Penn State's James Franklin said in July in reference to SEC teams then only playing eight league games. 'Everybody should be playing eight or everybody should be playing nine.'
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti pushed for broader consistency: 'We need to standardize the schedule across the board if we want to have objective criteria for who should be in the playoffs and who shouldn't.'
In practice, several Big Ten programs are bypassing nonconference power opponents. This season, Penn State, Indiana, Washington, Rutgers, Northwestern and Maryland have none scheduled. Current versions of next season's schedules show Indiana, Nebraska, Penn State and Washington in the same position.
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Chicago Chronicle news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Chicago Chronicle.
More InformationNEW YORK, New York - U.S. stock markets ended lower on Wednesday, as investors took a cautious stance ahead of key economic reports...
BOSTON, Massachusetts: Luxury fashion houses are racing to win over Gen Z shoppers, a generation whose tastes could redefine the industry...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump said media mogul Rupert Murdoch, his son Lachlan Murdoch, and Dell Technologies founder Michael...
BENGALURU, India: India's US$283 billion information technology industry faces a dramatic reset after U.S. President Donald Trump's...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks retreated from record levels on Monday following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that...
PHOENIX, Arizona: Tesla has received the green light to test autonomous robotaxis in Arizona, expanding its efforts to roll out a driverless...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. regulators and a coalition of states have accused Live Nation and its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster of working...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The White House rushed to calm fears among immigrant workers after President Donald Trump's plan to impose a $100,000...
(Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images) Beginning next season, three major conferences will require their members to face at least...
(Photo credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images) Brice Turang singled home the tiebreaking run in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday,...
(Photo credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images) Los Angeles Angels right-hander Kyle Hendricks says that news of his imminent retirement...
(Photo credit: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images) Tennessee quarterback Cam Ward was a limited...
