The question: Which program is the best in the Big Ten?
It’s not a hard one to answer. While Indiana is the defending national champion, Ohio State leads the pack in the nation’s best overall conference.
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The Big Ten is now working on three national championships in a row, beginning with Michigan in 2023. While the overall depth doesn’t match what the SEC brings to the table, recent banners and head-to-head results place the league atop the Power Four and broader Bowl Subdivision.
Our ranking of every Big Ten program heading into the 2026 season begins with the Buckeyes:
1. Ohio State
The Buckeyes are 165-21 since 2012. In 2024, Ryan Day became the program’s third full-time coach in a row to win a national championship. What else is there to say? Ohio State has won at least 10 games of every full season but one since 2005. It is simply the Bowl Subdivision gold standard and the envy of every program in the country in and out of the Big Ten.
Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) celebrates a first down against Oregon during College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the 2025 Rose Bowl.
Last year’s unbeaten record and out-of-nowhere national title puts Indiana a hair ahead of Oregon, even if the Ducks’ recent and not-so-recent history is far beyond anything the Hoosiers achieved before 2024. Even with it’s lack of long-term history, it’s hard to argue with a team that has 27 wins in two seasons and looks poised for another playoff run.
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3. Oregon
Probably the best program in the Bowl Subdivision without a national championship to its name, Oregon played for a pair during the Bowl Championship Series era and then advanced to last year’s semifinals before losing to Indiana. The Ducks are 46-8 under coach Dan Lanning and have blended into the Big Ten seamlessly with an unbeaten run to the conference title in their first year and an 8-1 record in 2025.
4. Michigan
Even during a tumultuous two-year run under former coach Sherrone Moore, the 2023 national champs went a combined 17-9 and beat rival Ohio State once. After a downturn under Rich Rodrigues and Brady Hoke, Michigan has won at least eight games in every non-COVID season since Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2015. How the adjustment goes with Kyle Whittingham will be one to watch.
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5. Penn State
The program was in crisis after NCAA sanctions related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Bill O’Brien set the foundation and James Franklin did the heavy lifting to get the Nittany Lions back into the elite of college football. After failing to land a title under Franklin, Penn State will reset under Matt Campbell. A heavy influx of Iowa State transfers will make Penn State difficult to predict heading into 2026, though a friendly schedule could yield around seven to nine wins.
6. Iowa
Iowa has been a model of consistency dating to the end of the last century, when a then-44-year-old Kirk Ferentz replaced a retiring Haden Fry. The Hawkeyes have just one losing season since 2006 and qualified for bowl games in the last 24 of his 25 seasons. The current run is the best of the Ferentz era: Iowa has won at least seven games in every year since 2013 and has played for two Big Ten crowns since 2021.
Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz reacts during the second quarter of his team’s 2025 game against Michigan State at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.
7. Southern California
The results haven’t been there for USC since joining the Big Ten. Things may be looking up after a nine-win 2025 season and the arrival of one of the nation’s top-ranked signing classes. Still, the Trojans haven’t played for a national title in two decades and never qualified for the College Football Playoff. They have several rungs to climb before reaching the top of the Big Ten.
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8. Washington
Last season saw the Huskies get back in stride with nine wins after struggling to get to bowl play in 2024 amid a significant amount of attrition after Kalen DeBoer’s departure following an appearance in the national title game. The Huskies have made a bowl in every non-COVID season but one since 2010 and posted double-digit wins five times. Jedd Fisch should continue that success as he enters his third season.
9. Illinois
Illinois is making moves under coach Bret Bielema. That could take a temporary pause given some of the personnel issues and general unknowns surrounding this year’s team. But it’s easy to forget how bad this program was before his arrival. Illinois had been to two bowls games in the previous nine seasons. The Illini have grasped Bielema’s scheme and seem to have raised their floor to six or so wins in a given season.
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10. Minnesota
Minnesota has yet to capitalize on an 11-win campaign in 2019, P.J. Fleck’s third season, that seemed to point to a program ready to climb back on the national map. Not a team that is going to have stars or play entertaining football, the Gophers have been steady, though, posting at least eight wins in four of the past five years with a 24-21 mark in the Big Ten.
11. Nebraska
With the possible exception of 2009, when poor quarterback play offset one of the top defenses in program history, Nebraska hasn’t been a national factor in well over 20 years. A school that once was a lock to make a bowl game didn’t make the postseason for seven consecutive seasons. There’s been recent progress with two bowl berths in a row even if noted turnaround artist Matt Rhule has yet to win more than seven games.
Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule walks the sidelines during his team’s game against Maryland at SECU Stadium.
12. Wisconsin
The bottom has dropped out in a flash for a program that was once among the most consistently successful in the Power Four. The Badgers were a consistent Big Ten contender punching above its weight through the latter stages of the Paul Chryst era. The poor results under embattled coach Luke Fickell have dropped Wisconsin into the bottom half of the league.
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13. Michigan State
Michigan State was among the dominant Big Ten programs of the 2010s, winning at least a share of three conference titles and making the College Football Playoff under Mark Dantonio. The Spartans then hit another brief high under former coach Mel Tucker before that tenure imploded. Things haven’t gotten that much better since, though the offseason hire of Pat Fitzgerald should bring some much-needed consistency back to East Lansing.
14. Northwestern
The Wildcats slipped to the bottom of the conference in Fitzgerald’s final two seasons but have made two bowl games in three years under David Braun. While there is always very little room for error, Northwestern has moved onto more secure footing than the four programs lower on this list.
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15. UCLA
One of the biggest frustrations in college football, there’s tremendous potential with the Bruins that has largely been unfulfilled in this century with just three seasons of double-digit wins. The hope is Bob Chesney can do what a run of recent UCLA head coaches could not: install an explosive offense, deliver multiple winning seasons in a row and pop into College Football Playoff contention if everything goes right.
16. Rutgers
The program’s posted just two winning seasons since 2014 and just three since joining the Big Ten a year earlier. While Greg Schiano’s second go-round has yielded three bowl bids, including one with off a 5-7 mark in 2021, the Scarlet Knights have continued to be one of the league’s easiest marks. It’s consistently an uphill fight against teams with better resources.
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17. Maryland
Maryland did make three bowl games in a row under coach Mike Locksley but was unable to capitalize, following that run with back-to-back disappointing seasons. A very young team in 2025 might bounce back this season and take Locksley off the hot seat. But there’s a ceiling on how this program can go.
18. Purdue
In hindsight, former coach Jeff Brohm’s four postseason berths in five non-COVID seasons was a remarkable achievement. Since he left for Louisville after the 2022 season, Purdue has gone 7-29 overall and 3-24 in league play, including 0-9 marks in Big Ten play in each of the past two seasons. Barry Odom is a good fit to try and rebuilding things, but it is going to take time.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who are the best Big Ten college football programs? Ohio State tops the rankings
