Ever since UCLA and USC made the decision to leave the Pac-12 Conference for the Big Ten, the logistics of the move had many people wondering exactly what it would look like.
How will the travel be worked out? What will the kickoff times look like? What will the December road slate look like during those Midwest winters?
Well, for now, supporters of both schools learned Thursday who the home and road football opponents will be for the first two seasons in the conference.
The Big Ten unveiled a “flex protect plus” scheduling model during a special across its social media channels, preserving the conference’s established rivalries while integrating its two new members. As a result, UCLA and USC will continue to play annually as one of the 11 protected rivalries while other matchups rotate, according to The Athletic.
In addition, the 16-team conference announced there will be no divisions. The top two teams in the overall conference standings at the end of the regular season will play for the Big Ten championship. Tiebreaking procedures will be announced at a later date.
The Bruins’ nine-game Big Ten schedule will include contests at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena against Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and USC. The road schedule will include Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Rutgers in Year 1.
UCLA’s nonconference schedule in 2024 will include an Aug. 31 season opener at Hawaii followed by a Sept. 14 home opener against Fresno State and a Sept. 21 contest at LSU.
In 2025, Maryland, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin will travel to UCLA. The Bruins will hit the road for games at Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State and USC.
UCLA’s nonconference opponents in 2025 include Georgia (Aug. 30), at UNLV (Sept. 6) and New Mexico (Sept. 13).
Nebraska and Rutgers, which appear on UCLA’s schedule in both seasons in addition to the rivalry game with USC, are part of the conference’s “two-play opponents” plan under the flex model.
Teams will play every other conference opponent at least twice – once home and once away – in a four-year period.
For USC, the 2024 home slate will include Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin making the trip to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In addition to UCLA, the Trojans will travel to face Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State and Purdue.
In 2025, USC will host Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State and UCLA. Road games will be at Minnesota, Ohio State, Rutgers and Wisconsin.
Dates for the 2024 conference games will be announced later this year.
According to the release, the Big Ten Administrators Council approved the rotating opponents using criteria that includes balance of annual travel by distance, region and time zones, in addition to “balance of historic competitiveness and recent competitive trends.”
The announcement comes nearly a full year after the initial reports of UCLA and USC leaving sent shockwaves throughout college football.
Since then, the Big Ten inked a seven-year, multi-billion-dollar media rights deal last August.
The transition has come with some bumps for UCLA, including a months-long battle with the University of California Regents that was finalized last December.
The 11-5 vote came with a “Berkeley tax” provision, with the school expected to pay anywhere from $2 million to $10 million of its future Big Ten revenue annually to Cal. The amount will be determined after the Pac-12’s next media deal is finalized.
USC, a private institution, was not subjected to the same hurdles and has been cleared for the move since the June 30, 2022 announcement.
UCLA and USC will become official members Aug. 2, 2024.
