The new alignment , however , caused some of the above permanent rivalries to be discontinued . These were : Iowa – Wisconsin , Northwestern – Purdue , and Michigan State – Penn State . These matchups would continue to be played , but only twice every five years on average . More rivalries were disrupted , and some resumed on a yearly basis , when the league realigned into East and West Divisions for the 2014 season with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers . The two new schools were placed in the new East Division with Penn State , and the two Indiana schools were divided ( Indiana to the East and Purdue to the West ) . With the move to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016 , all cross-division games will be held at least once in a four-year cycle except for Indiana – Purdue , which is the only protected cross-division game . The conference later announced that once the new scheduling format takes effect in 2016 , members will be prohibited from playing FCS teams , and required to play at least one non-conference game against a team in the Power Five conferences ( ACC , Big 12 , Pac-12 and SEC ; presumably , this would also allow for non-conference games against Big Ten opponents that are not on the conference schedule ) . Games against independents Notre Dame ( an ACC member in non-football sports ) and BYU will also count toward the Power Five requirement
independents
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
Big Ten Conference