Which Big Ten football team has the toughest conference schedule in 2024?
The Big Ten football season is going to look different in 2024.
New additions USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington bring more formidable opponents to the table. But more importantly, gone is the East-West Division model, replaced by a format of conference standings similar to that in basketball.
There are some blockbuster out-of-conference games to monitor before the conference slate begins this fall. Wisconsin hosts Alabama, USC faces LSU and Michigan meets Texas. Then begins the conference schedule, which is filled with big-time matchups every weekend.
So far this offseason we’ve already ranked all 18 programs in the Big Ten, ranked the 18 head coaches, predicted each Big Ten team’s 2024 record and checked in on the Las Vegas win totals for each team in the conference.
Now it’s time to take a look at each team’s 2024 conference schedule:
So, to rank each program’s 2024 Big Ten schedule as we preview the 2024 season we’ve taken each team’s ESPN SP+ rating and found numerical values for every game, and therefore every schedule.
The equation is simple. Every opponent’s SP+ rating is added together to find a Total Opponent Score. That large number is then divided by the nine conference games to find the Average Opponent Score — a number that can then be compared to the SP+ leaderboard to find the average quality of team each schedule contains.
Here is how each program’s 2024 Big Ten Conference schedule ranks, from easiest to most challenging:
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Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Total Opponent Score: 44.8
Average Opponent Score: 4.97 (akin to the 41st-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Washington (9.2)
Nebraska (5.6)
Wisconsin (11.0)
UCLA (6.2)
USC (11.5)
Minnesota (4.2)
Maryland (3.5)
Illinois (-1.3)
Michigan State (-5.1)
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Total Opponent Score: 57.4
Average Opponent Score: 6.37 (akin to the 37th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Illinois (-1.3)
Purdue (-6.7)
Rutgers (4.0)
Indiana (-8.3)
Ohio State (30.1)
UCLA (6.2)
USC (11.5)
Wisconsin (11.0)
Iowa (10.9)
Iowa Hawkeyes
Total Opponent Score: 65.2
Average Opponent Score: 7.24 (akin to the 36th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Minnesota (4.2)
Ohio State (30.1)
Washington (9.2)
Michigan State (-5.1)
Northwestern (0.5)
Wisconsin (11.0)
UCLA (6.2)
Maryland (3.5)
Nebraska (5.6)
Penn State Nittany Lions
Total Opponent Score: 67.7
Average Opponent Score: 7.522 (akin to the 36th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Illinois (-1.3)
UCLA (6.2)
USC (11.5)
Wisconsin (11.0)
Ohio State (30.1)
Washington (9.2)
Purdue (-6.7)
Minnesota (4.2)
Maryland (3.5)
Michigan Wolverines
Total Opponent Score: 70.1
Average Opponent Score: 7.788 (akin to the 35th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
USC (11.5)
Minnesota (4.2)
Washington (9.2)
Illinois (-1.3)
Michigan State (-5.1)
Oregon (29.3)
Indiana (-8.3)
Northwestern (0.5)
Ohio State (30.1)
Indiana Hoosiers
Total Opponent Score: 70.3
Average Opponent Score: 7.81 (akin to the 35th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
UCLA (6.2)
Maryland (3.5)
Northwestern (0.5)
Nebraska (5.6)
Washington (9.2)
Michigan State (-5.1)
Michigan (27.0)
Ohio State (30.1)
Purdue (-6.7)
Maryland Terrapins
Total Opponent Score: 72.6
Average Opponent Score: 8.06 (akin to the 35th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Michigan State (-5.1)
Indiana (-8.3)
Northwestern (0.5)
USC (11.5)
Minnesota (4.2)
Oregon (29.3)
Rutgers (4.0)
Iowa (10.9)
PSU (25.6)
Oregon Ducks
Total Opponent Score: 73.9
Average Opponent Score: 8.21 (akin to the 34th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
UCLA (6.2)
Michigan State (-5.1)
Ohio State (30.1)
Purdue (-6.7)
Illinois (-1.3)
Michigan (27.0)
Maryland (3.5)
Wisconsin (11.0)
Washington (9.2)
Northwestern Wildcats
Total Opponent Score: 75.4
Average Opponent Score: 8.377 (akin to the 34th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Washington (9.2)
Indiana (-8.3)
Maryland (3.5)
Wisconsin (11.0)
Iowa (10.9)
Purdue (-6.7)
Ohio State (30.1)
Michigan (27.0)
Illinois (-1.3)
Ohio State Buckeyes
Total Opponent Score: 78.8
Average Opponent Score: 8.75 (akin to the 32nd-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Michigan State (-5.1)
Iowa (10.9)
Oregon (29.3)
Nebraska (5.6)
PSU (25.6)
Purdue (-6.7)
Northwestern (0.5)
Indiana (-8.3)
Michigan (27.0)
Illinois Fighting Illini
Total Opponent Score: 84.4
Average Opponent Score: 9.377 (akin to the 29th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Nebraska (5.6)
PSU (25.6)
Purdue (-6.7)
Michigan (27.0)
Oregon (29.3)
Minnesota (4.2)
Michigan State (-5.1)
Rutgers (4.0)
Northwestern (0.5)
Wisconsin Badgers
Total Opponent Score: 84.9
Average Opponent Score: 9.433 (akin to the 28th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
USC (11.5)
Purdue (-6.7)
Rutgers (4.0)
Northwestern (0.5)
Penn State (25.6)
Iowa (10.9)
Oregon (29.3)
Nebraska (5.6)
Minnesota (4.2)
Purdue Boilermakers
Total Opponent Score: 87.4
Average Opponent Score: 9.711 (akin to the 27th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Nebraska (5.6)
Wisconsin (11.0)
Illinois (-1.3)
Oregon (29.3)
Northwestern (0.5)
Ohio State (30.1)
Penn State (25.6)
Michigan State (-5.1)
Indiana (-8.3)
Michigan State Spartans
Total Opponent Score: 88.5
Average Opponent Score: 9.833 (akin to the 27th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Maryland (3.5)
Ohio State (30.1)
Oregon (29.3)
Iowa (10.9)
Michigan (27.0)
Indiana (-8.3)
Illinois (-1.3)
Purdue (-6.7)
Rutgers (4.0)
UCLA Bruins
Total Opponent Score: 92
Average Opponent Score: 10.22 (akin to the 27th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Indiana (-8.3)
Oregon (29.3)
PSU (25.6)
Minnesota (4.2)
Rutgers (4.0)
Nebraska (5.6)
Iowa (10.9)
Washington (9.2)
USC (11.5)
USC Trojans
Total Opponent Score: 96.3
Average Opponent Score: 10.7 (akin to the 26th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Michigan (27.0)
Wisconsin (11.0)
Minnesota (4.2)
PSU (25.6)
Maryland (3.5)
Rutgers (4.0)
Washington (9.2)
Nebraska (5.6)
UCLA (6.2)
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Total Opponent Score: 98.4
Average Opponent Score: 10.93 (akin to the 26th-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Iowa (10.9)
Michigan (27.0)
USC (11.5)
UCLA (6.2)
Maryland (3.5)
Illinois (-1.3)
Rutgers (4.0)
PSU (25.6)
Wisconsin (11.0)
Washington Huskies
Total Opponent Score: 106.7
Average Opponent Score: 11.85 (akin to the 22nd-best team in the country)
Conference Schedule (with SP+ rating):
Northwestern (0.5)
Rutgers (4.0)
Michigan (27.0)
Iowa (10.9)
Indiana (-8.3)
USC (11.5)
PSU (25.6)
UCLA (6.2)
Oregon 29.3
