One of the issues that comes with conference expansion is the unbalanced schedule. With the Big Ten entering its fourth season at 14 members, the conference is entering another season of a scheduling format that includes eight single plays and five home-and-home series each season.
The schedule is a major change from the previous 12-team format which included seven home-and-home pairings with just four single plays. But unless the league opts to add more games (a 20-game schedule has been the most frequently discussed scenario), the current format is here to stay. The unbalanced schedule is definitely a factor in the conference race each season.
Using the top ten teams in our post-NBA draft deadline power rankings published in May, we ranked the schedule difficulty (from most difficult to easiest) of the projected top ten of the league for next season:
