‡ Denotes national champion When Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014 , the division names were changed to " East " and " West " , with Purdue and the six schools in the Central Time Zone in the West and Indiana joining the remaining six Eastern Time Zone schools in the East . The only protected cross-division game is Indiana – Purdue . Beginning in 2016 , the Big Ten adopted a nine-game conference schedule . All teams have one cross-division opponent they play annually that changes every six years except for Indiana and Purdue , whose crossover is permanent . The other six opponents are played every three years during that cycle . For 2016-2021 , the pairings are Maryland-Minnesota , Michigan-Wisconsin , Michigan State-Northwestern , Ohio State-Nebraska , Penn State-Iowa , and Rutgers-Illinois , and for 2022-2027 the pairings are Maryland-Northwestern , Michigan-Nebraska , Michigan State-Minnesota , Ohio State-Wisconsin , Penn State-Illinois , and Rutgers-Iowa . In 2016 , the Big Ten no longer allowed its members to play Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) teams and also requires at least one non-conference game against a school in the Power Five conferences ( ACC , Big 12 , Pac-12 , SEC ) . Contracts for future games already scheduled against FCS teams would be honored . However , in 2017 , the Big Ten started to allow teams to schedule an FCS opponent during years in which they only have four conference home games ( odd-numbered years for East division teams , even-numbered years for West division teams ) . At the time this policy was first announced , games against FBS independents Notre Dame and BYU would automatically count toward the Power Five requirement . ESPN , citing a Big Ten executive , reported in 2015 that the Big Ten would allow exceptions to the Power Five rule on a case-by-case basis , and also that the other FBS independent at that time , Army , had been added to the list of non-Power Five schools that would automatically be counted as Power Five opponents
FBS independents
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
Big Ten Conference