by Fitzgerald Cecilio

Madison, WI

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez revealed that Big Ten teams have agreed to stop scheduling non-conference games against FCS programs, preferring to face Division I schools in their future games.

"The nonconference schedule in our league is ridiculous," Alvarez told WIBA-AM in Madison, Wisconsin. "It's not very appealing so we've made an agreement that our future games will all be Division I schools. It will not be FCS schools."

Alvarez did not mention when the agreement will take effect but it could happen in 2016 as several Big Ten teams already agreed to play FCS teams in the next three seasons.

Wisconsin, for its part, has one FCS team on its schedule in 2013, a Sept. 7 meeting against Tennessee Tech.

Recently, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany indicated that the number of conference games would increase from eight games to nine and possibly 10 by the 2014 season when Maryland and Rutgers join the Big Ten.

If the Big Ten plays 10 conference games, teams will have room for two non-conference opponents.

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Big Ten Teams to Stop Scheduling Games Against FCS Teams