The league is looking ahead to next season, the last before USC and UCLA join.
with three league games on the opening weekend—including Nebraska’s new coach facing a road challenge in his debut.
The Cornhuskers open at Minnesota Sept. 2. Nebraska’s first two games are both on the road, with the second contest a trip to Colorado.
Other league lid-lifters: Ohio State at Indiana and Northwestern at Rutgers.
There are no conference games in week two and only one in week three—Penn State at Illinois.
That will mark the Nittany Lions’ eighth straight season playing their Big Ten opener on the road,
something coach James Franklin complained about at conference media day in July.
That complaint apparently went unheard by the league office.
The Big Ten will maintain its current divisional structure through the 2023 season,
and the nine-game conference format remains in place as well. USC and UCLA join the conference in 2024,
which will necessitate structural change.