The Big Ten may be gearing up to completely revamp the way it constructs its football schedule, with Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork sharing a bold concept inspired by the NFL. Instead of locking conference matchups years in advance, the league is considering a system that would set opponents each season based on the previous year’s standings. It would be a major shift in how teams plan their conference schedules and could change the path to the Big Ten title every year.

The Buckeyes are 6-1 and ranked No. 2, but they go to USC on Saturday without quarterback Julian Sayin, and the rotation that put them there is already under review. The question came up on The Ryan Day Show on 97.1 The Fan when a listener asked whether Ohio State was stuck playing two West Coast teams every year. Bjork noted that the scheduling rotation was designed based on historical data following the addition of USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington to the Big Ten.

“What we’re talking about in the Big Ten now is starting probably in 2028, is can we have a different scheduling model that’s based on current year standings?” Bjork told On3. “So next year’s schedule, we would not know who we’re playing other than protecting the rivalry games. Obviously we have the biggest one, right? Other than that the rest of the schedule could be based on how did the teams finish in the previous year. That’s how the NFL does it.”

To put it simply, if a team finishes near the top of the Big Ten, the program gets a tougher schedule the next year. If a team finishes near the bottom, it gets an easier one. Bjork noted that the 2027 rotation ought to be kept as is, meaning that with a new model, the 2028 matchups would remain undetermined until the 2027 season concludes. The NFL uses divisions; the Big Ten has none, and the number of protected rivals ranges from zero at Penn State to three at Iowa.

The 2026 slate shows why this is on the table. Ohio State plays the other five teams from last year’s top six (Indiana, Oregon, USC, Michigan, and Iowa), while six conference teams, Penn State and Wisconsin among them, play only two. Next year, the Buckeyes host USC, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Purdue and travel ot Michigan, Oregon, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Rutgers, with Indiana and Iowa drop off.

“Nothing is set in stone as far as scheduling,” Bjork said. “We know our rotation for next year, 2027. We anticipate that staying in place. But we’re having active conversations right now that we need to change the way we schedule. Transfer portal, right? NIL. There’s a lot more parity in the system. A 24-team playoff.”

Bjork believes that the Big Ten can build a smarter schedule that creates more attractive matchups for television, boosts ratings, and generates additional revenue for the conference. He also made it clear that no team is guaranteed the same opponents from year to year.

Indiana is one such example, as it has the lowest all-time winning percentage in the Big Ten at 0.424 and is the defending national champion, which a history-based rotation could not see coming. The catch here is that, as CBS Sports reported, the portal lets rosters turn over every offseason, while NFL teams hold players on multi-year deals, according to CBS Sports.

But the conference slate is only half of what the Big Ten wants to change. Commissioner Tony Petitti has been on the other half since October.

Petitti wants a better start to the season

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said the Big Ten is committed to fixing how the season opens, and that a 24-team playoff would change teams’ schedules.

“We need to play more good games,” Petitti said in early October, On3 reports. “I think we’ve been really clear about that. We think that the season can start way better than it does. We’re committed to that. If we get to a 24-team playoff, you are going to see many more competitive games scheduled.”

Petitti said the conference is committed to exploring the change and has already begun working through the details. He acknowledged that adjusting schedules will take time because teams have existing commitments, but believes that a 24-team College Football Playoff would further shift scheduling incentives and encourage the conference to build a more competitive slate.

Ohio State is at USC on Saturday, and hosts Oregon next week, followed by Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan before the Big Ten title game on December 5. The 2027 rotation stays, and the league still has to work out how an 18-team conference with no divisions borrows from the NFL. The 24-team playoff, expected as soon as next year, is on the clock for all of it.