The Big Ten made the surprising announcement Thursday that it would only play conference games in 2020. That, of course, eliminates non-conference foes from the schedule.

Smaller Group of 5 teams rely on big checks from Power 5 teams to help build and grow their programs. Other non-conference games feature Power 5 vs. Power 5 matchups that are essentially College Football Playoff elimination games during the regular season.

Following the Big Ten’s announcement, we’ll miss the following 5 big-time non-conference matchups:

  • Michigan at Washington, September 5th
  • Ohio State at Oregon, September 12
  • Penn State at Virginia Tech, September 12
  • Iowa State at Iowa, September 12
  • Wisconsin at Notre Dame, October 3

While we cover the SEC here on SDS, we always enjoy primo non-conference matchups. That’s the beauty of college football, and for 2020, those 5 (at least) will be taken away.

The Big Ten hasn’t finalized its 2020 conference schedule yet, and it said those details will be revealed at a later date. The SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 haven’t made any official decisions yet, although the ACC and Pac-12 have reportedly been leaning towards a conference-only schedule, too.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey reacted to the Big Ten’s decision Thursday.