All Power Four conferences have moved to a nine-game model for their conference schedules. There are positive and negatives to the additional conference games such as gaining more intriguing matchups.
But don’t tell me that means I can’t watch Ohio State take on Texas.
This is where I have a problem with the nine-game model. I’m not against playing more conference football, because it’s a part of what makes college football so special.
I am against Power Four programs playing Conference USA and Mid-American Conference schools to get an easy win instead of scheduling matchups against other Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference, Big Ten or Big 12 teams.
For example, Indiana and the University of Notre Dame added a home-and-home series, where Indiana was supposed to travel to South Bend in 2030 with Notre Dame coming to Bloomington in 2031.
This series was canceled in August, as Notre Dame replaced Indiana with USC, leaving the Hoosiers without a scheduled Power Four nonconference opponent.
On top of this, Indiana was supposed to have a home-and-home with the University of Virginia, but this was canceled in 2025. Curt Cignetti explained that the Hoosiers backed out of the series to pickup an extra home game. Instead, Indiana replaced Virginia with Kennesaw State University in 2027 and Austin Peay State University in 2028.
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand why Indiana did this. It’s hard to win in the Big Ten and having easy wins at the beginning of the year makes your record look better before getting into conference play. Conference games hold more value at the end of the season because they can affect a team’s path to their conference championship and the playoff.
But this warm-up slate isn’t what the fans want to see.
We want to see new, exciting matchups like Ohio State against the University of Texas or the University of Mississippi playing the University of Louisville. I want to see teams play that have rarely played each other because college football is better when we get games we rarely see. In conference play, we get the same matchups every year, so non-conference games give us a way to create new matchups.
What I don’t want to see is Indiana up 30 points in the second quarter against an obvious inferior team. And Indiana isn’t the only example, either.
Clemson University and the University of Georgia were supposed to have a home-and-home over four years. However, it was canceled Tuesday as both teams are trying to adjust to the nine-game conference model.
This season is the first year of the new model for the SEC and ACC, after switching because of the expanded CFP and to help strength of schedule. The Big 12 started using this model in 2011 after the conference reduced to ten teams, and the Big Ten started in 2016.
This is what has become the new normal in college football. Start the year off beating up on bad teams, while just focusing on the conference slate.
It's boring.
Dare I say, soft?
We aren’t able to watch these marquee matchups year in and year out. They’re unique and they should be played. That’s what makes college football so great.
Though conference games are ultimately what matters for teams because a conference victory earns a spot in the College Football Playoff, marquee matchups are for the fans.
It’s what we want to see.
I don’t blame these teams for wanting to make their schedules easier early in the year. After all, an early-season slip-up or two could be detrimental to the rest of the season. This is only magnified by the transfer portal, conference schedules and an expanded playoff making every game that much more important, and every loss sting that much more.
But I also think the fans shouldn’t have to be at the expense of this.
If every team makes its out-of-conference slate as easy as possible, we as fans won’t get to see some of the games that make college football worth watching.
The regular season is more than a team’s path to the playoff. It’s why we get up every Saturday to be glued to the couch. Some of the best and most entertaining games are the ones we don’t see every year.
In today’s game, it’s basically playoff or bust. This drives us away from seeing these ranked matchups early in the year, as it can come back to haunt a team.
We saw it with Notre Dame last year, although I know they aren’t in a conference. Two early-season losses to ranked teams kept the Fighting Irish out of the playoff, and teams don’t want to risk that. Instead, it seems as if teams are being rewarded for avoiding this risk because they win, even though it's against teams without a pulse.
With that being said, give me nine conference games. Conference football is good. But make sure you also give me Notre Dame traveling to Bloomington in a top-five matchup in September.
Hayden Pope (haypope@iu.edu) is a senior studying sports media and is the Indiana Daily Student’s national sports columnist.
