I still like the old-school helmets…

On Thursday, the Big Ten released the 2013 conference football schedule. There will be eight conference games for each team,  with a brand-new division alignment. It will also be the first season that new Big Ten members Maryland and Rutgers join in on the fun.

Illinois will face West Division foes Purdue (Oct. 4), Minnesota (Oct. 25) and Iowa (Nov. 15) at home, and will travel to Nebraska (Sept. 27), Wisconsin (Oct. 11) and Northwestern (Nov. 29). The Fighting Illini’s two cross-division opponent are Ohio State (Nov. 1, away) and Penn State (Nov. 22, home).

Beginning in 2014, the Big Ten football division alignments will feature Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers in the East Division and Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin in the West Division. Each school will play the other six schools in its division plus two teams from the other division in 2014 and 2015, which will serve as transitional years in which the schools will still be playing eight-game schedules. Beginning in 2016, each school will play three teams from the other division as part of its nine-game schedule. The cross-division games will include one protected matchup on an annual basis between Indiana and Purdue.

We’ve also got the non-conference schedule in place, so go ahead and start planning your football plans for next year:

Nov. 22               Penn State                    Memorial Stadium
Nov. 29               at Northwestern          Evanston, Ill.
Dec. 6 at Big Ten Championship Game Indianapolis, Ind.