B1G schedules were set several years ago through 2025 but COVID forced a reset for 2021-22, while 2023-2025 were completely scrapped. We’re less than 11 months from the start of the 2023 season and the B1G schedule for next year has still not been released.
Scott Dochterman covers Iowa for The Athletic. He has a paywalled article about the B1G’s issues with setting schedules for 2023 and beyond.
Big Ten remains in flux over 2023 schedule/format. Some admins want status quo until USC/UCLA. Others want no divisions.
There are CFP/rivalry ramifications. Divisions could help B1G get 2 CFP teams or shut them out. Plenty of "nuance" per Kevin Warren.https://t.co/5XYXr7njoJ
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) October 14, 2022
I am not an Athletic subscriber and unable to read the article in its entirety; however, I was browsing through MGoBlog and saw a thread by M_Born M_Believer who provides a nice summation (this is a direct lift of his post but slightly reformatted to fit 11W):
- BIG TEN still in deliberations on how to schedule the football season for '23 as well as '24 and beyond when our new friends USC and UCLA join
- Warren and the ADs have 2 overriding considerations (in no particular order)
1) Setting a schedule that optimizes getting teams into the expanded CFP playoffs (and CFP home games)
2) Protecting rivalries (how many protected games?)
- For '23 they are considering doing away with divisions
- PSU's AD wants to do away with divisions because he is tired of finishing 3rd in the East yet finished 4 times (2016-2019) in the Top 12 of the CFP rankings
- Iowa's AD wants to protect as many rivalries yet understands the need for CFP flavored scheduling
- 2 main proposals (for now) for scheduling '24 and beyond
1) 2 protected games (rivals) and rotating the other 11 teams. His math states that we would see the other 11 teams 7 times over a 11 year cycle
2) 3 protected games (rivals) and rotating the other 10 teams. Here he has the math messed up but we would see the other 10 teams more often, in theory.
Dochterman also proposes the three schools that he thinks would be permanent rivals for option 2: for Ohio State, Michigan would be one but because I’m not an Athletic subscriber, I don’t know who the other two are.
Assuming everything else he reported is true, this part sounds like it might be more his opinion.
I personally don’t believe the B1G has closed the book on expansion but that’s an issue for 2024, which is when USC and UCLA, at a minimum, will join the B1G. Right now, that’s not the most pressing issue.
The obvious priority is next season. To me, this is a leadership issue: while Warren may not be able to gain a unanimous vote due to wildly differing positions—I can see the West schools wanting to keep the divisions, while the East would want to do away with them—it’s mind boggling that the 2023 schedule still hasn’t been set. Even the SEC, which has notoriously been the last P5 conference to release its schedules, has its 2023 games set.
I am inclined to believe Jim Delany would have had this all worked out by now.