Big Ten Football Preview and Predictions for 2025 Season

After boasting four College Football Playoff teams and the national championship last year, the Big Ten is aiming for a dramatic encore in 2025.

Ohio State is set to defend its crown with a retooled yet respected roster, while Penn State enters the campaign as another top-ranked team. Oregon, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana all landed in the preseason AP Top 25, as well.

In short: The road to Indianapolis will be a hotly contested one.

The following preview features a look at top players, major storylines, key games and several other topics to know in 2025.

Considering the depth of the league—you know, a meager 18 teams—this section could get rather long in a hurry.

Ohio State boasts two of the nation's overall best players with receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has plenty to prove but enters the season in that discussion, too.

Those two programs have a ton of other top talent, such as Penn State running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, PSU edge-rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton and Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles.

Indiana's Mikail Kamara, Illinois' Gabe Jacas and Oregon's Matayo Uiagalelei are excellent pass-rushers, and Indiana corner D'Angelo Ponds is terrific.

Oregon offensive tackle Isaiah World, a key transfer from Nevada, has a chance to establish himself at the power-conference level. Purdue transfer Dillon Thieneman is now Oregon's top safety, too.

Iowa blockers Logan Jones and Gennings Dunker, USC receiver Makai Lemon and Washington back Jonah Coleman are among the many others.

Penn State's All-In Season

After seeing Ohio State's senior-heavy approach lead to a national title in 2024, Penn State took a similar stance for 2025. Several top veterans—including Allar, Singleton, Allen, Dennis-Sutton and defensive tackle Zane Durant—are back to lead the Nittany Lions' pursuit of a championship.

Potential Party-Crashers

Indiana made an incredible surge in Curt Cignetti's debut season and reached the CFP. Can another mid-tier Big Ten squad do the same? Illinois has reasonably high expectations, while Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and USC all project as likely bowl teams. Are any of them actually much better than a 7-5, 8-4 type of team?

Big Ten's Role in CFP Expansion

Whether you want to see further CFP expansion is a fine conversation. The reality is that's probably on the way, though, for obviou$ rea$on$. Together with the SEC, the Big Ten is poised to have noticeable power in those discussions.

Tier 1: Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State

No surprises here, considering OSU and Penn State are preseason top-three teams and Oregon—the defending Big Ten champion—is a top-10 program. Each one is expected to hit double-digit victories this season.

Tier 2: Illinois and Michigan

The upside is clear. Now, will execution follow? Illinois has an experienced roster, and Michigan is still plenty talented in the early post-Jim Harbaugh era. Both teams meet Ohio State at some point, but their schedules are pretty favorable with neither one taking on Oregon, Penn State, Iowa or each other.

Tier 3: Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and USC

Indiana rose to relevance out of nowhere last season and, thanks to Cignetti, is a real threat to compete again. Iowa brought in star South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski to spark a listless offense, while USC hopes Jayden Maiava is the answer at QB. Nebraska's defense could be excellent again, too. Lots of questions at these programs, but plenty of opportunity.

The phrase "home-run hire" properly applied to Luke Fickell when Wisconsin snatched him from Cincinnati a few years ago.

It just hasn't worked out as hoped. Yet?

Wisconsin is just 12-13 in Fickell's tenure, and that 5-7 record last season doubled as the end of a 22-year bowl streak. Simply reaching a bowl isn't the ultimate goal, of course, but that's a minimum expectation in Madison.

Elsewhere, the coach to watch is Maryland's Mike Locksley. His seat is not scorching, but a 4-8 finish in 2024 has created some hesitance about his future.

Lincoln Riley occasionally falls into these conversations, but a buyout somewhere around $80 million means a change at USC is highly unlikely.

Nonconference Games

Aug. 30: Texas at Ohio State
Sep. 6: Michigan at Oklahoma; Iowa at Iowa State
Sep. 13: Wisconsin at Alabama
Oct. 18: USC at Notre Dame

The first one is kinda massive! The nation's top-ranked team comes to Columbus for a Week 1 showdown. Michigan is eyeing a solid win at OU in Week 2 as Iowa has a chance to secure a road, rivalry, Top 25 victory at ISU. Wisconsin and USC later have opportunities for a huge upset against a preseason top-10 opponent.

Top Conference Matchups

Sep. 20: Illinois at Indiana
Sep. 27: Oregon at Penn State
Oct. 11: Michigan at USC
Nov. 1: Penn State at Ohio State
Nov. 29: Ohio State at Michigan

The margin for error in the Big Ten is awfully thin, so Illinois and IU will be battling for a valuable early win. Penn State encounters both Oregon and OSU this season, and those inclusions are self-explanatory. Michigan and USC want to rejoin the best of the conference, and Ohio State—well, it desperately wants to avoid a fifth straight defeat at the hands of Michigan.

Best of the Rest

Sep. 20: Michigan at Nebraska
Sep. 27: Indiana at Iowa; USC at Illinois
Oct. 18: Penn State at Iowa
Nov. 8: Indiana at Penn State
Nov. 29: Oregon at Washington

All of these matchups are marquee games for third-tier contenders, plus an intriguing final-weekend trip to Washington for Oregon. Of particular note is Sep. 27, a loaded Saturday that looks primed to shape the Big Ten race.

Penn State is likely not going to have an overwhelming offense.

Last year, for example, the Nittany Lions ranked 26th nationally with 430.2 yards per game. They weren't particularly explosive in gains of 30-plus yards or any of the increments beyond that, really.

But they 10-yard-ed most opponents into oblivion and should again.

Drew Allar struggled against top defenses but averaged 8.4 yards per pass attempt. Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen both surpassed 1,000 rushing yards. They're all back behind a veteran-filled offensive line, and Penn State upgraded a weak receiving corps through the portal—notably with Syracuse star Trebor Pena.

If you're excited to watch a high-tempo, high-scoring unit, you'll be disappointed. If you appreciate elite efficiency, you'll love the Nittany Lions.

When you're picking a "best" anything, the criteria is important. As with Penn State for offense, my emphasis leans toward efficiency.

As a result, Oregon lands the nod.

The most important reason, obviously, is the talent on the Ducks' roster. Two second-team All-Big Ten players—edge-rusher Matayo Uiagalelei and linebacker Bryce Boettcher—return, as does key disruptor Teitum Tuioti (58 tackles, 5.5 sacks) and linebacker Devon Jackson (47 tackles).

Oregon also reinforced the secondary with cornerback Theran Johnson and safety Dillon Thieneman, a pair of recent All-Big Ten selections.

The other part? This schedule sets up nicely for elite defensive numbers.

Penn State's offense should be great, and both Indiana and USC figure to have productive units. After them, the toughest offenses on Oregon's slate seem to be Rutgers and Washington—which, on paper, is quite manageable.

1. Ohio State

2. Penn State

3. Oregon

4. Michigan

5. Illinois

6. Indiana

7. Nebraska

8. USC

9. Iowa

10. Washington

11. Wisconsin

12. Rutgers

13. Minnesota

14. Michigan State

15. UCLA

16. Maryland

17. Northwestern

18. Purdue

Breaking news: I believe the good teams are, in fact, good.

Penn State travels to Ohio State in early November, so a rematch in the Big Ten Championship Game is not a given.

Oregon, for instance, can shake up the projection with a September win at Penn State. Michigan's slate is very favorable—and, who knows, perhaps the Wolverines aren't done frustrating Ohio State just yet. Illinois could manage to parlay a hot start into a shot at a rare Big Ten title.

On the first weekend of December, though, I expect Penn State and Ohio State running out of the tunnels at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Both offenses have tremendous upside, and the defenses should be outstanding. They're the safest picks, for sure, but these programs are fully expected to make the College Football Playoff and a run at a championship.

And those journeys will make a pit stop in Indianapolis for the Big Ten title—with, in my estimation, Ohio State reclaiming the crown.