COLUMBUS – The next two college football seasons will usher in a new era in the Big Ten Conference as it welcomes two new members and abandons the two-division format it has used since 2011.
For Ohio State, that means the 2024 season will feature eight home games, including the 120th all-time matchup against Michigan, and conference games against Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern and Rutgers.
Additional home games will be against Southern Mississippi, Western Michigan and Marshall.
Big Ten away games for Ohio State in 2024 will be at Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State and UCLA.
Dates for the 2024 games will be announced later this fall.
The 2024 season will also feature the elimination of divisions in the conference with all 16 teams, including newcomers UCLA and USC, playing a nine-game conference schedule that has every team playing every other conference opponent at least twice – once home and once away – in a four-year period, according to a release from the conference Thursday.
Also beginning in 2024, the conference championship game will match the top two teams in the overall conference standings at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with the winner almost certainly advancing to a spot in expanded College Football Playoff field.
Under the 12-team CFP, the four highest-seeded conference champions will receive first-round byes, while the teams ranked Nos. 5-thru-8 will host first-round games against the teams seeded ninth through 12th.
2025
The 2025 seven-game home schedule will kick off with a high-profile game against Texas in Ohio Stadium Aug. 30, and will also feature the first visit to Ohio Stadium by the USC Trojans in 16 years since the 2009 season.
The Buckeyes will also host Big Ten games against Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska, and a non-conference game against UConn with one non-conference opponent still to be announced.
Away games in 2025 will be at Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.