The Big Ten will be going to a conference-only model for all fall sports, which means no Ohio State-Oregon or Michigan-Washington. But what does it mean for the rest of the conferences and Notre Dame?
The Big Ten athletic directors and presidents on Thursday decided to move all fall sports to a conference-only model, a decision that will have a snowball effect on the rest of college football.
It will affect 36 scheduled opponents, including 28 from the FBS and eight from the FCS. Six FBS schools — Ball State, Bowling Green, BYU, Central Michigan, UConn and Northern Illinois — were scheduled to play two Big Ten opponents this season.
The Big Ten will lose marquee nonconference matchups, including Michigan’s road game at Washington on Sept. 5, Ohio State’s trip to Oregon on Sept. 12, Michigan State’s home game against Miami on Sept. 26, and Wisconsin’s contest against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field on Oct. 3.
While so much about the 2020 college football season remains unknown, here are the biggest questions raised by the Big Ten’s move.
Are other conferences going to follow suit?
Probably, though the SEC would likely show the most resistance to it because of enormous pressure from within the conference to play as many games as possible. If the other four major conferences are in lockstep, though, it probably will force SEC commissioner Greg Sankey to join them.
As for the Pac-12, it just lost one of its biggest nonconference games. Remember, Ohio State was supposed to play Oregon in one of the most highly anticipated nonconference games of the season — forcing Buckeyes athletic director Gene Smith to now cancel a game with his friend and former fellow CFP selection committee member Rob Mullens. A source told ESPN the Pac-12 presidents are meeting Friday.
A source in the Big 12 told ESPN recently that the conference athletic directors were unanimously in favor of playing a full schedule, but commissioner Bob Bowlsby might be able to convince them otherwise, especially on the heels of the Big Ten’s news.
