ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

If you haven't seen it already, check out colleague Pat Forde's story on the decline of nonconference scheduling during the last three decades. Forde examines how nonconference games between ranked teams have decreased since 1978, when marquee matchups were much more popular. 

The results: There were 11 games matching Top 20 teams in 1978, 15 in '88, eight in '98 and just four in '08. In other words: over the past two decades, the number of Top 20 nonconference matchups has decreased by half every 10 years. And the Top 10 matchups have virtually disappeared, going from five in '78 to seven in '88 to two in '98 and one in '08.

Here's a look at how Big Ten teams have scheduled during the same timeframe.

ILLINOIS

1978: Stanford, at Syracuse, at Missouri
1988: Washington State, at Arizona State, Utah
1998: at Washington State, Middle Tennessee, Louisville
2008: vs. Missouri (St. Louis), Eastern Illinois, Louisiana-Lafayette, vs. Western Michigan (Detroit)

INDIANA

1978: at LSU, Washington, Nebraska
1988: at Rice, Kentucky, at Missouri
1998: Western Michigan, at Kentucky, at Cincinnati
2008: Western Kentucky, Murray State, Ball State, Central Michigan

IOWA

1978: Iowa State, at Arizona, Utah
1988: at Hawaii, at Kansas State, Colorado, Iowa State
1998: Central Michigan, Iowa State, at Arizona
2008: Maine, Florida International, Iowa State, at Pitt

MICHIGAN

1978: at Notre Dame, Duke, Arizona
1988: at Notre Dame, Miami, Wake Forest
1998: at Notre Dame, Syracuse, Eastern Michigan, at Hawaii
2008: Utah, Miami (Ohio), at Notre Dame, Toledo

MICHIGAN STATE

1978: Syracuse, at USC, Notre Dame
1988: Rutgers, Notre Dame, at Florida State
1998: Colorado State, at Oregon, Notre Dame, Central Michigan
2008: at Cal, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame

MINNESOTA

1978: Toledo, at UCLA, Oregon State
1988: Washington State, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois
1998: Arkansas State, at Houston, Memphis
2008: Northern Illinois, at Bowling Green, Montana State, Florida Atlantic

NORTHWESTERN

1978: at Colorado, Arizona State
1988: Duke, at Air Force, Rutgers
1998: UNLV, Duke, at Rice, at Hawaii
2008: Syracuse, at Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio

OHIO STATE

1978: Penn State*, Baylor, SMU
1988: Syracuse, at Pitt, LSU
1998: at West Virginia, Toledo, Missouri
2008: Youngstown State, Ohio, at USC, Troy

PENN STATE (joined Big Ten in 1993)

1978*: Top games were at Ohio State, Maryland, at West Virginia
1988*: Top games were at Alabama, at West Virginia
1998: Southern Miss, Bowling Green, at Pitt
2008: Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, at Syracuse, Temple

*-Division I-A independent

PURDUE

1978: Ohio, at Notre Dame, Wake Forest
1988: Washington, Ohio, at Notre Dame
1998: at USC, Rice, Central Florida, at Notre Dame
2008: Northern Colorado, Oregon, Central Michigan, at Notre Dame

WISCONSIN

1978: Richmond, Oregon
1988: Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, at Miami
1998: at San Diego State, Ohio, UNLV
2008: Akron, Marshall, at Fresno State, Cal Poly

It's interesting to look back and see how things have changed dramatically for some programs and not so much for others.

Indiana has clearly downgraded its schedule as it tries to boost home revenues and make bowl games. Ohio State also used to face two BCS teams a season, which is a rarity these days. Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State and Purdue have kept the degree of difficulty fairly steady -- and reasonable -- over time. Michigan draws a lot of criticism for its scheduling, and there has been a slight drop-off in the last few years. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northwestern have a history of soft scheduling that goes beyond recent years. Penn State has watered down its schedule since joining the Big Ten.