Big Ten Conference
A clean index of 18 team countdown pages, built for fans tracking the 2026 college football season by conference.
The Big Ten in 2026
The Big Ten Conference operates as an 18-team coast-to-coast league following the additions of Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA. The conference's media deal with FOX, CBS, and NBC provides unprecedented television coverage, with Big Noon Kickoff on FOX and Saturday Night Football on NBC serving as flagship broadcast windows. Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Oregon, and USC lead a conference that now spans from New Jersey to Los Angeles.
Key storylines
The expanded Big Ten plays a nine-game conference schedule with no divisions, using a strength-of-schedule model to determine championship game participants. Travel logistics for West Coast teams playing in the Midwest and East Coast create unique scheduling challenges, while traditional rivalries like Michigan-Ohio State, Penn State-Michigan, and the new Oregon-USC conference matchup generate national interest every season.
Schedule note
Game dates and kickoff times are finalized on a rolling basis by FOX, CBS, and NBC. Use team pages as a countdown reference and verify official details before making plans.