With USC and UCLA scheduled to join the Big Ten in 2024, it will mean the conference will likely switch from its current two-division system to a one-division system. How the one-division system will exactly work remains to be seen, but it’s believed that the Big Ten will continue to have nine in-conference games, with each program having three “protected” opponents that it would play every season. The other 12 programs would then switch between off between seasons, meaning that every Big Ten school would play one another at least twice during a four-year period.
Totally not convoluted, right?