One of the highlights of the 2024 college football season features the Big Ten moving into the iconic 3:30 p.m. ET slot on CBS Sports on a full-time basis as the new-look conference evolves into an 18-team league. On Tuesday, two of the game selections for the first month of the season were unveiled, and these matchups spotlight some of the sport’s most recognizable programs
The first game is actually a nonconference matchup for the Big Ten, but it’s clearly one of the biggest nonconference games of the year as Notre Dame renews its in-state rivalry with Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday, Sept. 14. The two programs have met 87 times in a series that dates back to 1896, with Notre Dame holding a 57-26-2 lead overall and a six-game winning streak dating back to 2008.
The next game on the slate brings one of the Big Ten’s new members into focus as USC visits the Big House to battle reigning national champion Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 21. This game will serve as the Big Ten conference opener for the Wolverines, who will already have been tested by another title contender early with a visit from Texas two weeks prior on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Though both Michigan and USC are among the most iconic programs in college football history, they have played just 10 times with eight of those 10 meetings being Rose Bowl games. The two programs played a home-and-home in 1957 and 1958 (Michigan won both) and have not played in the regular season since. USC holds a 6-4 edge in the series, which hasn’t featured another meeting since a 32-18 Trojans win in the Rose Bowl to cap the 2006 season.
The arrival of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington has created a new era for the Big Ten as the conference is getting rid of divisions and reworking its schedule rotations to accommodate an 18-team league. It’s led to more games between some of the top college football programs in the country — such as pairing USC and Michigan for a regular-season showdown with championship stakes at both the Big Ten and College Football Playoff levels.
CBS Sports also announced Tuesday that the Big Ten Championship Game will commence at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 7. The game will rotate among the Big Ten’s partners over the course of its television contract, but in its first year with the Big Ten as its primary footballl product, CBS will present the game on the final week of the regular season.
