A unique season calls for a unique schedule.
While we don't yet know exactly what the full Big Ten Conference schedule will look like, we do know the basics – and there's one interesting wrinkle.
The Big Ten will follow what Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez called an "8+1" schedule, featuring eight regular-games followed by a ninth cross-divisional game for every team to be played the same weekend as the Big Ten Championship game.
The cross-divisional matchups will be decided based on each team's divisional standing at the end of the season.
As usual, the top team in the east will play the top team in the west for the championship, but this year all the other teams will be matched up, as well, with the second-place teams facing off, the third-place teams facing off, and so on.
Here's how the matchups would have played out if the conference followed this format last season.
- Ohio State vs. Wisconsin
- Penn State vs. Minnesota
- Michigan vs. Iowa
- Indiana vs. Illinois
- Michigan State vs. Purdue
- Maryland vs. Nebraska
- Rutgers vs. Northwestern
The schedule was not available at the time of the Big Ten's announcement, but Alvarez says the complete conference slate would be available later in the tweek.
