The Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences announced a new football scheduling alliance today that is expected to make it more difficult for the University of Hawaii to play those teams in the future.

Under the plan, each Pac-12 and Big Ten team will schedule at least one opponent from the other conference for a non-league game beginning by 2017.

"That obviously takes a nonconference game off the table for those teams in the future," said Jim Donovan, UH athletic director."That makes it difficult since we were working from a limited window to begin with."

Pac-12 teams already play nine conference games and by adding the Big Ten component that will leave Pac-12 teams with just two non-conference openings per year. Most also prefer to play one Football Championship Subdivision team.

They may play a 13th game only if they play at Hawaii. Increasingly, however, coaches are reluctant to schedule a 13th game, especially if they have a conference game after returning from Hawaii or are left without an open date.

UH will play USC in 2012 and USC and Oregon State in 2013.