Despite winning the national championship, the Ohio State football program did not win the Big Ten. They haven't been able to win the conference since 2020. That means this has been the longest drought of conference title championships since the John Cooper era.
Yet, the Buckeyes bring a ton of talent into this season. We will rank all 18 Big Ten teams in the order that we believe they will finish in the 2025 season in the Big Ten standings.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
Even though the Buckeyes lost a ton of talent from their national championship team, they still have Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs. Both are the best players on offense and defense in the country, respectively. Their schedule sets up nicely in the Big Ten, too.
2. Penn State Nittany Lions
The biggest threat the the Buckeyes in the conference is Penn State. They return a lot of players from their CFP team in 2024, including Drew Allar, Kaytron Allen, and Nick Singleton. The problem is that they have to play Ohio State on the road, which lessens their chances of finally beating them.
3. Oregon Ducks
Oregon was the best team all year until they got stomped on by the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. Still, they have a very talented recruiting class and a defense that can slow down a lot of teams. They also avoid the Buckeyes on their schedule this year.
4. Illinois Fighting Illini
A lot of people are high on the Illini because of Luke Altmeyer. The quarterback helped the team finish strong last year and returns with a lot of confidence. They also have a favorable schedule, except for taking on Ohio State.
5. Indiana Hoosiers
It's going to be really tough for Indiana to replicate what they did last year. They lose a bunch of players from last year's team, and they won't sneak up on anyone this season. For them to make the CFP again would be truly shocking.
6. Michigan Wolverines
TTUN was horrible on offense last year because they didn't have a good quarterback on the roster. They hope that they've remedied that with Bryce Underwood on the roster.
7. Iowa Hawkeyes
Kirk Ferentz hasn't contended for a Big Ten title in a while, which is very unusual for him. He usually has his teams near the top of the standings every four years or so. Their offense is much better than it has been in the last few years.
8. USC Trojans
Despite having some great recruiting classes, the Trojans have not been able to have success under Lincoln Riley. The first year in the Big Ten was a disaster for them. They'll be a little better, but not much.
9. Washington Huskies
The Huskies should be better in their second year in the Big Ten. They had a lot of first-year starters on the roster last year, and most of them come back. They should be more comfortable a couple of years after playing for a national championship.
10. Wisconsin Badgers
Luke Fickell is hoping he has finally found the right guy to lead the offense. He's gone through offensive coordinators like tissue paper since taking the Wisconsin job.
11. UCLA Bruins
Adding Nico Iamaleava makes them better, but he doesn't have a lot of talented guys around him on offense. This team needs to establish some kind of identity in the Big Ten.
12. Minnesota Golden Gophers
The boat might be stuck. PJ Fleck has had some trouble replicating the success he had early in his Golden Gophers tenure, but he did win eight games last year. The schedule doesn't do them any favors, though.
13. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Year two for Dylan Raiola, a former Ohio State football commit, should be better than year one was. The Cornhuskers should have some improvement from what was a horrid season in Big Ten play a year ago.
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Greg Schiano is trying to build his culture back at Rutgers, but it still needs more time to take hold. They just don't have the talent to compete with some of the big boys in the conference yet.
15. Maryland Terrapins
The Terps won just a single game in the Big Ten last season. They have better players on the roster than that, but it still won't be pretty in 2025.
16. Michigan State Spartans
Quite frankly, Jonathan Smith needs more time to build his roster. This team does avoid Ohio State and Oregon, but that's the only favor the schedule-makers did for them.
17. Northwestern Wildcats
Unless every home game has high winds, they aren't going to be good this year. The new stadium should be nice, though.
18. Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue didn't beat a single FBS team last season. They might equal that again this year.