The Big Ten is set to make some major changes to its conference schedule in the near future with both the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins joining the conference ahead of the 2024 season. But it looks like the conference will wait one more season before making those changes.
According to a report from Iowa Hawkeyes football reporter Scott Dochterman of The Athletic, the Big Ten will keep its current East and West divisions for one more season in 2023 before reconfiguring and restructuring the conference once USC and UCLA join the fold in 2024.
“There was strong consideration to revamp from geographic divisions to a single-conference entity for 2023 but there were too many issues to implement for next season,” Dochterman wrote in The Athletic. “Among the most discussed issues for Big Ten administrators and school officials include the desire to unveil one new system for USC and UCLA rather than in consecutive years, the number of protected games and television concerns.”
As a result of the move, the Big Ten’s East and West divisions will remain in place for one more season. As a result, the college football world had plenty of jokes about the Big Ten West’s inability to win a conference championship.
congratulations to ohio state/michigan/penn state if a few things go their way on the 42-10 win in indianapolis https://t.co/CV6vslQ0lN
— Bill DiFilippo (@billdifilippo) October 24, 2022
Since the Big Ten moved to its current East and West divisions ahead of the 2014 season, no team from the West division has ever won the Big Ten Championship Game with the Ohio State Buckeyes winning five of the last eight out of the East.
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