The Big Ten is expanding its footprint.
That seems to be the main takeaway after the conference announced Tuesday its new bowl game deals beginning in 2020 and running through 2025. The Rose Bowl game will be out in Pasadena like always and pit a Big Ten champion against a Pac-12 champion like always, but the conference reach will now also extend to Vegas and Phoenix, as well as out east in North Carolina.
The Big Ten’s future bowl lineup consists of the following postseason games:
- Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual (Pasadena, Calif.)
- Capital One Orange Bowl (Miami)
- Citrus Bowl (Orlando, Fla.)
- Outback Bowl (Tampa, Fla.)
- Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas)
- Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tenn.)
- New Era Pinstripe Bowl (Bronx, N.Y.)
- Belk Bowl (Charlotte, N.C.)
- Cheez-It Bowl (Phoenix)
- Redbox Bowl (Santa Clara, Calif.)
- Quick Lane Bowl (Detroit, Mich.)
With the additions of the Las Vegas, Belk and Cheez-It bowls, the Big Ten’s partnership with the Holiday, Foster Farms and Lockheed Martin Armed Services bowls come to an end.
Per a release from the conference, the 11 bowl partners feature sites that either have hosted or will host 29 different Super Bowls in nine different stadiums. It’s also the first time the Big Ten will have played a postseason game in Phoenix, Arizona, since 2013.
The Big Ten and its current partners—the Citrus, Music City, Outback, Quick Lane and Redbox Bowls—agreed to six-year extensions while the conference signed new six-year agreements with the Belk, Cheez-It and Las Vegas Bowls. The Big Ten’s current agreement with the Pinstripe Bowl, which previously ran through 2021, has been extended through 2025. The Big Ten also isn’t giving up its stake in the Rose Bowl, after previously announcing a 12-year extension to face a Pac-12 team through the 2025 campaign.
The new lineup will also feature the same selection process that has been used since 2014 to ensure rotating participants. The Citrus, Outback, Music City, New Era Pinstripe, Cheez-It, Redbox and Quick Lane Bowls will feature a Big Ten team in each year of the agreement, while the Las Vegas and Belk Bowls will rotate annually and each feature three teams over the six-year agreement.
