Big Ten prepares to welcome USC, UCLA next year, reveals football schedules for 2024, 2025

Big Ten officials Thursday unveiled the format for the 2024 and 2025 football seasons, the first with newcomers USC and UCLA. There will be 16 teams for the first time and the end to the divisional format.

Each team will continue to play nine conference opponents, leaving room for three outside the Big Ten.

In 2024, Penn State’s schedule at Beaver Stadium includes marquee opponents Ohio State and USC, plus Michigan State, Nebraska and Northwestern. The team will travel to Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin.

The 2025 home schedule includes Illinois, Minnesota, Rutgers and UCLA. The Nittany Lions will visit Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and USC.

The 2024 season also will be the first with the Flex Protect Plus model, featuring a combination of protected opponents and rotating opponents. Teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice — once home and once away — in a four-year period.

Conference schedules will include 11 protected matchups that will continue to be played annually and feature a combination of historic and geographic rivalries, as well as trophy games. These matchups are Illinois-Northwestern, Illinois-Purdue, Indiana-Purdue, Iowa-Minnesota, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Wisconsin, Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan- Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, and UCLA-USC.

Conference officials said schedules were formulated with several factors in mind, including balance of annual travel by distance, regions and time zones; historic, traditional and recent competitiveness; and television inventory.