James Franklin reacts to future B1G scheduling, says benefits mostly outweigh drawbacks

Penn State was one of those teams that saw its lack of a natural rival be exposed when future B1G scheduling came up earlier this summer.

James Franklin was asked on Wednesday about future scheduling and he referred to the ending of natural or historic rivalries that have come to be regular opponents for the Nittany Lions. Annual games against Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State will end. For example, in 2025, Penn State will not play Ohio State for the first time since joining the B1G.

“I think the Big Ten has obviously made some decisions that I think most people would agree, whether it’s athletics directors or coaches that we made decisions that we felt like would put the conference in the best position to compete for national championships, and not only that, give us the best chance to get multiple teams into the playoffs,” Franklin said. “I think you have to kind of build it, look at it from that way. I think our conference has made some decisions to do that. Obviously, with any decision you make, there’s going to be some give and take, there’s going to be some things that are gained and some things that are lost. But I think for the most part, the benefits will outweigh those things.”

As UCLA and USC come into the B1G, games against them will replace the more historic B1G games that fans and media have come to expect.

In the new scheduling model, each team plays 3 opponents, home and away, over a two-year span. In 2024-25, Penn State will play Michigan State, Rutgers and USC. Otherwise, Penn State will play the entire B1G over the next two seasons.

Keith Farner

Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.