Back in July, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany announced a new “strength of schedule commitment” for its member teams beginning in 2016.
That commitment included several key stipulations:
- Each Big Ten school should schedule a non-conference game against an “autonomy five opponent” (commonly referred to as Power Five). That means a game against a team from the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, or SEC.
- In addition, Delany stated that games against BYU and Notre Dame will count towards the strength of schedule requirement.
- Also, the Big Ten will discontinue the scheduling of FCS teams beginning in 2016. According to Delany, this component is considered an “athletic directors agreement” rather than a mandate.
Last week, it was reported by the Indianapolis Star that Indiana had been granted an exception to count Cincinnati and UConn as Power Five teams for scheduling purposes.
The Hoosiers already have future home-and-home series set up against both Cincinnati and UConn, which dates back to last year. IU and Cincinnati are set for 2021 and 2022, while the Hoosiers will take on UConn in 2019 and 2020.
According to Big Ten senior associate commissioner Mark Rudner, more Group of Five teams could be included.
“We looked at their RPI for the last five or six years,” Rudner told the Star’s Mark Alesia. “If someone comes to us with a request, we’ll evaluate it. That’s what happened with these two. Those seemed to fit.”
Today we learned of two more schools, one Independent and one from the American Athletic Conference, that will supposedly count towards the Big Ten’s scheduling requirement. Those two teams are Army and Navy, per Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com.
If you think it’s starting to get a little confusing as to which conference can schedule a certain team and have it count under their mandate, you’re right. It would be easier to fall back to scheduling whoever you like and let the chips fall where they may, but I digress.
The ACC, Big Ten, and the SEC are the only three conferences that currently have a non-conference scheduling mandate. The Big Ten is the only conference of those three to play nine-conference games (beginning in 2016) and to discourage the scheduling of FCS schools moving forward.
Here’s a look at who each conference can currently schedule, per reports:
ACC (2017+)
Any team from the Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC, plus BYU and Notre Dame.
Big Ten (2016+)
Any team from the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC, plus Army, BYU, Cincinnati, Navy, Notre Dame, and UConn. No FCS opponents.
SEC (2016+)
Any team from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and Pac-12, plus Army, BYU and Notre Dame.
View Comments (45)
Looking at future schedules this can be labeled the Indiana exemption. The other schools who have Cincy, Uconn, Army on their schedules who have completed that year, also have a true P5 that same year. Indiana is the schools that has these G5 exemption schools treated as P5's as the only way to meet the new scheduling guidelines. Ie...the year Michigan has Cincy scheduled they also have a real P5 in Florida; another year they have Army but also have a real P5 in Arkansas. OSU has Cincy in 2019 but also has a real P5 in TCU. Indiana in comparison from 2019 thru 2022 has their full OOC scheduled and the only way they meet the new B10 requirements is by counting UConn and Cincy as P5's
If the Big Can't Count Conference wants to up it's strength of schedule, then it should play fewer conference games. I don't even consider that conference as one of the "Power 5". Weak!
Jack Off - How can you say the BIG is not a Power 5 conference when it has the reigning national champion, the top 2 teams in the country right now, and 2 other ranked teams?
Sorry Army as wells as UConn as an exemption.
Navy owns Army recently 13 wins in a row, but Army is an exemption and Navy isn't. Navy also has pulled more P5 upsets in recent history. UConn had 1 good year and lucked into a BCS bowl game. Cincy has case but not nearly as good as Boise St, who is not an exemption.
How on earth is Boise not on this list? (And this actually matters because Michigan State has them on future schedules).
It doesn't matter b/c MSU will schedule an actual P5 those years. The last time they played Boise they scheduled a real P5 that year, ND. MSU knows having BYU as your marquee OOC is not going to look good to the CFP and thus they will have a real P5 also. Knowing that is why MSU didn't seek an exemption status for their Boise games. IU clearly sought exemptions for UConn and Cincy. The other schools have those schools in the future have real P5's the same years. The fact is IU knows that going to 9 conf games, FCS phase out, they are going to have a tough time making bowl eligbility most years, They need years where they don't play a real P5 to give them a better shot.
Because the little 14 is doing whatever is most convenient for them. It's a farce. Looks good on paper, but the devil is in the details.
Army? UConn?!? ??? I'm dying over here... What? No App State?
You want a legit five exceptions? ND obviously, BYU, Cinci, Boise, UCF (seriously, throw this year out). Guess Penn State is too scared to get curb stomped by UCF AGAIN in Happy Valley.
I think the Big Ten didn't really want this to get out. I also think people are misinterpreting what is going on here. Indiana's future schedules were already quite full even before the Big Ten said they were going to nine conference games and therefore 3 non-conference games. So they were really in a box as far as scheduling goes. I think the Big Ten threw them a bone here and determined their schedules were in the spirit of what the Big Ten wants to do out of conference. I don't think if anyone tried to schedule UConn tomorrow the Big Ten would allow it at that time.
Wrong. IU just completed those years schedules recently. IU knows with a 9 game conf schedule that means another loss for them 80% of the time. The also know they have done poorly OOC vs P5's most of the time. They wanted to skirt playing a P5 OOC some years to have any shot of bowl eligibility by having 3 good chances of OOC wins and with no FCS's that makes it harder for them.
This is getting stupid.
Could this be related to the Big Ten media rights negotiations? Army, Navy, UConn, and Cincy deliver some of the top TV ratings among the non-Autonomy ranks and lineup nicely on the B1G's new eastern border.
NO! Media rights negotiations move the B10 made was on going to 9 games which means more cross division games among the better schools east/west . Networks aren't going to be be putting stock in OOC's vs not real P5's. Also, the top schools who are going to be the network games vabc/espn/espn2 are going to schedule more than "exemption schools" as their marquee OOC yearly. The exemptions are about bottom schools like IU, etc...who in some years don't want to play a P5 OOC b/c they will have 9 conf games
Delaney and the B1G is not going to force schools to rip up contracts. It's a "going forward" agreement. I am not sure UConn or Cincy really are counting for Indiana as the reporter implies or if more likely it's just Indiana's contracts are considered grandfathered, so they won't be penalized.
Considering how football's turning out, and basketball also, UConn might have been a better choice than Rutgers in some ways after all. So, why not UCF next?
What a convoluted mess.
So what about Fresno St (Gophers 18-19 home and home).and USF (Illni 17-18 home-and-home), And UCF is on Maryland 2016 schedule and Cincin on 2016 Purdue schedule.
And cannot call UConn an Indiana exception when Illinois has Uconn scheduled for 19-20.
I don't see Navy or Army on future B1G schedules, so I assume we should look for those adds coming soon.
Just add all AAC and MWC programs to the list and be done with it.
But I cannot fathom Army could be considered as a P5. If a B1G program cannot schedule better than that then they don't belong in the B1G.
Ohio State and Michigan both have Army on future schedules.
HOLY CRAP you people are stupid
It says you have to schedule ONE --- not all non conference games versus power 5
JEBUS the Midwest is backwoods dumb.
Appears Delaney & Co miscalculated when developing the mandate.
Appears to be a temporary reprieve for Indiana though 2022.
And possibly to help Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota out with scheduling issues in 2019-20.
I foresee NW taking advantage of these exceptions as well.
Still perplexed why Fresno St and USF not included in the list. And why Army is on the list.
Northwestern never has trouble scheduling Wake, Vandy, or Stanford, even Notre Dame or BC. So I doubt they'd ever use the exemption. I think it's just going to b e Indiana who gets the exemption because of the contracts they signed prior to the agreement