The Indiana football team won’t be facing Big Ten powerhouses Michigan or Ohio State in 2024, when the conference expands to 16 teams with the addition of Southern Cal and UCLA.
Then, the league will abandon the East and West divisions instituted when Nebraska joined in 2011, meaning an end to the yearly games against division foes.
Teams will still play nine conference games each season, but starting in 2024, will do so under the ‘Flex Protect Plus’ model, which features a protected opponent – in IU’s case, Purdue – and a schedule rotating other schools. Teams will play every other Big Ten school at least twice in any four-year period, once home and once away.
And instead of division winners playing in the Big Ten championship game, the first- and second-place teams will now meet for the title.
Because of the nine-game schedule, schools will rotate between hosting five and four games each season.
Indiana will host five games in 2024 – Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue and UCLA. The Hoosiers’ road games will be at Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin.
In 2025, IU will host Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State and Rutgers, and travel to Illinois, Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue and USC.
The last time Indiana played neither Michigan nor Ohio State in a season was 2008.
Indiana went 4-8 last year and finished sixth in the Big Ten East with a 2-7 record.
The Hoosiers open the 2023 season Sept. 2 with a home game against Ohio State.
