Sun Devil Hockey announced Tuesday afternoon the program will join the Big Ten conference for the 2020-2021 season.

"We want to thank the Big Ten, commissioner Kevin Warren, and the university presidents and athletic directors for lending a hand and coordinating a scheduling arrangement for this season,” Arizona State Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson said in a statement.

The Sun Devils will play their entire 28-game schedule on the road against the conference’s seven opponents, meeting four times at each of the Big Ten venues. ASU will not compete in any holiday season tournaments in their schedule.

“This is going to be a change of pace for us, but we’re going to embrace it,” ASU head coach Greg Powers told members of the media in a press conference. “It’s going to be unique for me just to be handed a schedule. I’ve always had to try and piece one together like it’s a jigsaw puzzle as an independent.”

ASU has agreed to follow the Big Ten Conference’s health and safety protocols constructed by the Big Ten Return to Competition Task Force. These guidelines correspond closely to the Pac-12 conference, which aided the process of the scheduling agreement.

“We have a social responsibility right now because we are all depending on each other to do the right things,” Powers said. “Our game is the ultimate team sport. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that our guys are going to walk the line.

Powers added: “the term student-athlete applies more now than ever before. It’s school and hockey, that’s it.”

The Big Ten schedule is expected to be played over 17 weeks, beginning November 13th and leading up to the Big Ten Tournament, March 18-20.

ASU will not be able to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, which means ASU cannot earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

“The one unknown that nobody has the answer to is how the field of 16 teams will be picked this year,” Powers said. “There’s not going to be enough data for us to count on a PairWise because of not any conference crossover. I don’t think the PairWise is going to imply this year, so that’s why the internal competition we’re going to set with ourselves to finish as high up into our full Big Ten standings as possible to impress the right people so we can get in.”

The Sun Devils finished last season with a 22-11-3 record and were within reach of securing back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances before COVID-19 concerns forced the cancellation of winter and spring championships.

ASU was 10-8-0 on the road and went 1-3 against the Big Ten conference during the 2019-2020 season.

“You can make the case it is the premier conference in college hockey,” Powers said. “There are no layups. You have to be ready to play every week. I think that’s going to be an exciting challenge for us.”