Ohio State AD Ross Bjork Suggests Change to Big Ten Scheduling
Ohio State AD Ross Bjork Suggests Change to Big Ten Scheduling
Carter Stedman, Huskies WireSat, October 31, 2026 at 7:15 PM UTC
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As changes and proposals continue to spread like wildfire throughout college football, the latest movement has found its spark in the Big Ten. Ahead of the implementation of the 24-team College Football Playoff, the powerhouse conference had one of its most prominent voices suggest another change to the evolving sport.
On Thursday, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork went on "The Ryan Day Show", where he threw out the idea of a major scheduling shift within the Big Ten. The proposal would shift scheduling from two-year "home and home" matchups that are made years in advance to a yearly scheduling system that would be based on member schools' records from the previous season.
The adoption of the model would replicate that of the NFL, where teams that produce a winning season face a tougher schedule the following year, whereas teams that struggle will have a more forgiving schedule the next season, hypothetically. On paper, the changes would help create more balance in terms of conference strength of schedule, which is an underrated component when considering the Big Ten has 18 member schools.
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The one constant in this potential change is that all rivalry games would remain intact. In Bjork's statement, he alluded to the importance of protecting some of the biggest rivalries in the sport, highlighting his own program's annual meeting with the Michigan Wolverines. This means that more likely than not, Washington would continue to play Oregon on a yearly basis, along with more frequent meetings with USC and UCLA.
With the CFP set to double in size starting in 2027, the importance of having a sense of level ground within conference play is immense. The change would allow fans, media, and most importantly, the CFP Committee, to compare Big Ten teams to one another much more easily, assuming that their strength of schedule in conference play was relatively similar.
As the landscape of the sport continues to change in more ways than one, Bjork's idea sticks out from some of its fellow proposals. It's not about money, power, or creating an advantage for a conference, but rather creating a path where impacted programs will have an equal opportunity to pursue success.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Ohio State AD Ross Bjork Suggests Change to Big Ten Scheduling
Source: “AOL Sports”
