At the midpoint of its seven-year media rights deal, the Big Ten has put together its strongest schedule yet to help the league keep pace with the SEC in the battle for regular-season television ratings.With eight teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 and a condensed calendar that squeezed a bye week off of the college football schedule, the Big Ten’s media partners had a deeper pool of selections as they split up the games. Each week from Sept. 26 through Thanksgiving weekend contains at least three Big Ten matchups between ranked opponents, brand names or historic rivals. Six different Big Ten teams have qualified for the College Football Playoff semifinals the last three seasons, and all six are ranked in the preseason top 20.“Add to that broadcast and attendance records, we are confident that the Big Ten is in the strongest position in its history,” commissioner Tony Petitti said in July at Big Ten media days.Of last season’s 10 highest-rated college football games, eight involved Big Ten teams. Indiana’s national championship victory against Miami (Fla.) hit 30.1 million viewers, which at the time was the highest-rated non-NFL sporting event since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. The Hoosiers’ win against Ohio State in early December broke the Big Ten Championship Game ratings record, too.But the Big Ten needs to grow its regular-season viewership, especially when comparing itself to the rival SEC. Of the top 10 highest-rated games of the 2025 regular season, the Big Ten was involved in just two, while the SEC was involved in eight.“The SEC, because it’s more concentrated, there’s better matchups, so they get better ratings now,” said an industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to evaluate the market candidly. “It’s not that difficult to understand. There’s like four or five brands that really move the needle for the Big Ten, and there’s more for the SEC.”Big Ten officials enlisted feedback from its media partners and spent more time catering this year’s schedule toward television viewing windows. The league’s 130th season opens with a Week 0 game: USC hosting San Jose State at 3 p.m. ET Saturday on NBC. Here’s a breakdown of the league’s adjustments, what’s new and what has stayed the same for the upcoming season.Where things standThe Big Ten’s current media rights contract began with the 2023 football season and concludes after the 2029-30 basketball season. Fox, which owns the Big Ten’s distribution rights through 2036, was involved in choosing CBS and NBC as the league’s other broadcast partners.Fox has built its college football brand around the “Big Noon” window, and it almost exclusively airs a Big Ten game to lead off the day’s slate. CBS broadcasts a Big Ten game at 3:30 p.m. while NBC shows a 7:30 p.m. Big Ten game except when it moves Notre Dame into primetime, which will happen three times this fall.