In this Dec. 1, 2018, file photo, Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette (3) celebrates after an interception during the second half of the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Northwestern in Indianapolis. The Las Vegas Raiders selected Arnette with the 19th pick in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday, April 23. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
The Big Ten on Thursday announced the football schedule model over a five year period that begins next season when USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington join the conference.
For the four West Coast schools, the 2024-28 rotation includes the showdowns they were hoping to play.
Next year, in fact, Oregon plays Michigan and Ohio State, USC plays Michigan and Penn State, Washington plays Penn State and Michigan, and UCLA plays Penn State.
“When you see the quality of the matchups, there are so many great games,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said.
The Big Ten has identified the USC-UCLA and Oregon-Washington rivalries as two of the so-called “protected games,” meaning they will be played every year on a home-and-away basis.
Non-conference games are controlled by the schools and were not included in the rotation model released Thursday.
“It has been a whirlwind eight weeks,” said Kerry Kenny, the Big Ten’s chief operating officer. “When Oregon and Washington were announced (in early August), we went right to work.”
The conference built on the model of protected and rotating opponents that it established in the spring — a rotation that included USC and UCLA but not the Pacific Northwest duo.
The Big Ten went through 262 different versions of the model before settling on the format that best satisfies the schools and the conference’s network partners (Fox, CBS and NBC).
Using what it calls the “Flex Protect XVIII” model, the Big Ten crafted a nine-game conference schedule that includes protected and rotating opponents. Each team will play every other conference opponent at least twice (home and away) within the five-year window. The rotating opponents appear on the schedule no more than three times.
The schedule attempts to create balance based on travel by distance, regions of the conference and time zones.
It also factored what the Big Ten described as “historic competitiveness and recent competitive trends, including home/away balance of traditionally competitive schools.”
The conference did not provide any specifics regarding Friday night games but said there will be no 9 a.m. kickoffs on Saturdays on the West Coast campuses.
USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington could be asked to play at 9 a.m. body time on the road, just as they would currently for a non-conference matchup on the other side of the country.
The conference considered a rotation that allowed the four West Coast schools to play each other every year but eventually went with a different model.
“The best way to create cohesion in the conference is to play each other more, not less,” Kenny said.
Had the West Coast quartet been locked into three games against each other each year, it would have limited their matchups with the Big Ten’s existing schools.
There are instances in which one of the West Coast schools plays the other three, but that’s a function of the overall rotation, not a desire to create protected games.
Our focus below is the heavyweight matchups.
No offense to the likes of Minnesota and Maryland, but USC started the chain reaction that led to the Pac-12’s demise because the Trojans wanted to play Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State on a regular basis. (Also, because of the Big Ten money.)
So here’s a look at the games the West Coast schools will play against each other and against the Buckeyes, Wolverines and Nittany Lions.
Oregon
2024: Michigan and UCLA on the road; Ohio State and Washington at home
2025: Penn State and Washington on the road; USC at home
2026: USC and Ohio State on the road; Michigan, UCLA and Washington at home
2027: Michigan UCLA and Washington on the road; Ohio State and Penn State at home
2028: Penn State on the road; USC and Washington at home
UCLA
2024: Penn State and Washington on the road; Oregon and USC at home
2025: Ohio State and USC on the road; Penn State and Washington at home
2026: Michigan and Oregon on the road; USC at home
2027: USC on the road; Michigan and Oregon at home
2028: Penn State and Washington on the road; Ohio State and USC at home
USC
2024: Michigan, UCLA and Washington on the road; Penn State at home
2025: Oregon on the road; Michigan and UCLA at home
2026: Penn State and UCLA on the road; Ohio State, Oregon and Washington at home
2027: Ohio State and Washington on the road; UCLA at home
2028: Michigan, Oregon and UCLA on the road; Penn State at home
Washington
2024: Oregon and Penn State on the road; Michigan, USC and UCLA at home
2025: UCLA and Michigan on the road; Ohio State and Oregon at home
2026: Oregon and USC on the road; Penn State at home
2027: Penn State on the road; Oregon and USC at home
2028: OSU and Oregon on the road; Michigan and UCLA at home
The 2024 conference schedule, featuring dates and kickoff times, will be released at a later date.
*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716
*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline
*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.
Originally published at Jon Wilner