After winning national championships in each of the last two seasons, the Big Ten feels as though it’s sitting atop the college football world. There are several teams that look to be highly competitive in the Big Ten as well, with multiple contenders to once again win a national championship.
Ahead of the season, which is now just weeks away, ESPN released its final preseason Big Ten Football rankings. These particular rankings are going to be based on the SP+ metric. That’s been updated multiple times throughout the offseason and will be getting updated consistently once the season gets going.
SP+ is described as “a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency.” In that way, it looks to be a predictive metric, rather than looking at each school’s resume and ranking them on that basis. With all of that in mind, here’s how SP+ handled the Big Ten with their national rankings included:
The Ohio State Buckeyes finally got over the hump last season, winning the national championship. They did that, without needing to win the Big Ten in an expanded College Football Playoff field. That’s something that head coach Ryan Day would love to add in 2025, though.
A major challenge for Ohio State is going to be managing turnover. Much of the Buckeyes’ roster from last season moved on to the NFL. Still, Ohio State does have plenty of talent returning, and the Buckeyes always recruit well, which helped them land atop the ESPN rankings.
There are some massive expectations on Penn State’s shoulders going into the 2025 season. The Nittany Lions are expected to compete to win the Big Ten. They’re also expected, as demonstrated by this ESPN ranking, to be a serious CFP and national championship contender.
Much of the expectation on Penn State stems from its returning talent. The Nittany Lions bring back their entire backfield from last year’s team that went to the semifinal. That now includes star seniors at quarterback and running back. The defense is also expected to be elite once again.
The Oregon Ducks took the Big Ten by storm in 2024. An unbeaten regular season and a conference championship landed the Ducks the top spot in the CFP. Then, they lost badly in their first game there to Ohio State.
This season, Oregon is looking to bounce back from that loss. They’ll be doing it with their third quarterback in as many seasons, too. Still, Oregon is confident and has consistently played and recruited well under Dan Lanning.
Two years ago, Michigan won the Big Ten and a national championship. They’d take a step back in 2024, dealing with turnover to both the roster and the coaching staff. Now, ESPN has high expectations for the Wolverines once again.
Michigan needs to figure out its quarterback situation in 2025. Last year, it proved to be a major issue that the Wolverines never quite solved. This year, they have two quarterbacks, Mikey Keene and Bryce Underwood, battling for the job. If one of them can emerge, then Michigan should be a threat again.
USC has been a difficult team to pin down recently. Head coach Lincoln Riley consistently produces elite offenses and quarterback play. However, he’s also seen his win totals decrease over the last three seasons with the Trojans. Now, the pressure is starting to rise in Los Angeles.
The Trojans struggled in their first Big Ten season, going 4-5 in conference play. Now, Riley needs to find a way to avoid a repeat of that season. At the very least, ESPN remains confident that he can pull it off in their preseason rankings.
Perhaps no team in the entire country, and certainly in the Big Ten, was as pleasant of a surprise last season as the Indiana Hoosiers. In his first season as the head coach at Indiana, Curt Cignetti put together the best season in program history, going 11-2 and making the CFP.
Nobody is going to be surprised by Indiana next season. The Hoosiers both need to reload amid roster turnover and then compete as a team that most anticipate to be good. It’s not the same situation, but it’s one the Hoosiers are happy to find themselves in.
In recent seasons, Kirk Ferentz has seen his Iowa teams develop a reputation for excellent defense and special teams, but poor offenses. During that time, he’s also seen the Hawkeyes win double-digit games every other season going back to 2019.
Iowa brought in quarterback Mark Gronowski as a transfer this offseason. If he hits, then the Hawkeyes should be in line for another double-digit win season. That would also make the Hawkeyes a contender in the Big Ten next season.
Illinois is becoming a bigger and bigger threat in the Big Ten under head coach Bret Bielema. Now, after winning 10 games in 2024, it appears they’re knocking on the door of a Big Ten Championship and the CFP. Getting over that hump won’t be easy, but it would be special.
If there’s a clear strength that Illinois has going into the season, it’s experience. That includes quarterback Luke Altmyer, who is one of the most veteran quarterbacks in the conference. Paired with Bielema, Illinois has plenty of reasons to be confident.
The 2024 season was a big one for Nebraska. The Cornhuskers would make a bowl for the first time since 2016. Now, the goal is to take another leap forward. That may not quite be competing to win the Big Ten, but it does mean more than just making a bowl game.
Nebraska also has the talent to take another step forward. In particular, the Cornhuskers are going to be relying on the play of quarterback Dylan Raiola. Now a sophomore, if he can be more consistent and limit mistakes, Nebraska will be better again.
The Washington Huskies are two seasons removed from playing for a national championship. In the wake of that appearance, they suffered massive turnover, though, both to the roster and the coaching staff. So, their step back in 2024 shouldn’t have been a surprise.
Now in the program’s second season under Jedd Fisch, the hope is for Washington to take a major step forward. That’s not going to be easy to do, and as of now, ESPN has them toward the middle of the pack in the Big Ten. However, there is absolutely potential here.
Remaining Big Ten rankings from ESPN
11. Wisconsin Badgers (38th nationally)
12. Minnesota Golden Gophers (40th nationally)
13. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (47th nationally)
14. UCLA Bruins (50th nationally)
15. Michigan State Spartans (65th nationally)
16. Maryland Terrapins (67th nationally)
17. Northwestern Wildcats (86th nationally)
18. Purdue Boilermakers (100th nationally)
