Michigan-Michigan State. USC-UCLA. Michigan…Maryland?

Even that last one — along with many other curious matchups — are now rivalries according to a recent decision by the Big Ten.

The conference announced on Friday the first-ever “Big Ten Rivalry Series presented by Venmo,” a series of matchups across football and men’s and women’s basketball.

It kicks off on Saturday night with Penn State hosting Oregon on the gridiron (7:30 p.m., NBC). It’s a top-10 matchup but not a classic rivalry. Oregon was one of four West Coast schools to join the Big Ten just last year.

In total, 17 football games featuring all 18 league members are included in the series. Some are trophy games, like Minnesota-Iowa and Indiana-Purdue. Others are forced, like Ohio State-Wisconsin and Michigan-Maryland, which w

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