Big Ten Announces 2016-17 Opponents

MI and Penn State could be two of the more improved teams in the Big Ten next year, so getting to play them in Iowa City should be a nice advantage.

CBS will also renew its basketball-only package for $10 million per year through 2023.

Maintaining a relationship on ESPN gives coaches a wide swath of coverage for Big Ten fans and allows the conference to spread the conference brands further if games were just on Fox.

Also, defending league champion IN will be adapting to life without All-Big Ten and All-American point guard Yogi Ferrell following his graduation.

The matchups provide a glimpse into how hard the Spartans will have it in the Big Ten’s unbalanced scheduling formula this season.

The schedule features both a home and away game against Purdue after only having a game in Bloomington last season.

Media payouts for member institutions will get a huge increase.

When you factor in Fox’s annual terms, the Big Ten will be raking in approximately $440 million every year – that totals out to $2.64 billion over the next six years. Its campaign to show the conference it can be a destination for big events apparently worked. That package includes the Big Ten basketball tournament semifinals and the championship game.

Big Ten schools on Monday released opponents for the conference season, and Nebraska has what can labeled as a fairly balanced draw. Plus, it sends a message to the other conferences that the Worldwide Leader won’t be getting out of the college sports business anytime soon.