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Most people would call the SEC the king of college football, but there's no question that the Big Ten has been right on their heels in recent years. Especially after the recent conference realignment, specifically the addition of Oregon, the Big Ten is loaded with powerhouses that should make for an action-packed 2025 season.
Ohio State comes into the season as the defending College Football Playoff National Champions, but has a lot of production to replace including starting quarterback Will Howard. The Buckeyes will be chased by the Ducks, whom they beat in the Rose Bowl, and Penn State following its painful semifinal loss in January.
The depth of the Big Ten was on full display last year too, as Curt Cignetti led a renaissance at Indiana and got the Hoosiers into the CFP for the first time. Storied programs such as Michigan and USC will also be hungry for improvement heading into 2025.
The start of the regular season is still more than a month away, but it's never too early to start stacking up the teams. Here is an early look at the preseason Big Ten power rankings as teams get ready to get on the practice field.
1. Penn State
Penn State has the chance to have one of the best offenses in the country with all of its returning pieces. Drew Allar has a chance to be the No. 1 overall pick and could take a big leap in his third season as the starter. Allar has all the physical tools to be an elite quarterback, and now the pass-catching group around him is catching up with the additions of Trebor Pena (Syracuse) and Kyron Hudson (USC).
James Franklin is also getting both of his top running backs back, and Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen should form one of the most lethal duos in the country. Defensively, Penn State should be excellent once again under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and with Dani Dennis-Sutton on the edge.
2. Ohio State
The defending champs have a quarterback question with Julian Sayin likely to assume the starting job under center for the first time, but he will have Jeremiah Smith to help ease the transition. Smith is the best receiver in college football, and getting to Sayin is likely the best chance anyone has of slowing him down. However, questions about the offensive line and the running game as a whole loom as the season approaches.
Defensively, Ohio State will lean on the experienced returning trio of Caleb Downs, Sonny Styles and Davison Igbinosun for a unit that should be excellent once again even after Knowles left for Happy Valley. Downs is one of the best players in college football and will hear his name called during the first round of next year's NFL Draft.
3. Oregon
The Ducks are likely still licking their wounds from the Rose Bowl disaster against Ohio State, but Dan Lanning and company should have plenty of firepower to make another run at the College Football Playoff in 2025. Former top recruit and UCLA flameout Dante Moore is the projected starter in Eugene after sitting behind Dillon Gabriel last season. Losing star receiver Evan Stewart to an offseason injury was a tough blow, but star freshman Dakorien Moore projects to have a big role on offense.
Oregon was one of the top transfer portal destinations this offseason, lining arguably the best available running back (Makhi Hughes from Tulane) and the top safety (Dillon Thieneman from Purdue). Thieneman joins Matayo Uiagalelei, one of the top returning pass rushers in the nation, on a defense that should be excellent once again.
4. Michigan
In large part thanks to its disastrous quarterback situation, Michigan struggled to score many points at all last season. Now, Bryce Underwood is in Ann Arbor to fix all of that, and should have the raw talent and physical traits to still be productive even as he matures and learns the college game. Alabama transfer Justice Haynes will join Underwood in the backfield to solidify what should be an excellent running game.
Defensively, Sherrone Moore hit the portal to replace a lot of the top-end talent from last year's team, specifically Mason Graham in the middle. However, the Wolverines always seem to figure it out on that side of the ball provided the talent is there to do so.
5. Indiana
Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers will have to navigate the transition from the hunters to the hunted this fall, but everything about the direction of the program under its new head coach suggests that it should be just fine doing so. Kurtis Rourke will be difficult to replace, but Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza is a sneaky candidate to rise into the first round of the NFL Draft next spring at quarterback.
Indiana's defense deserved much more recognition than it received last season, but it may get that praise this fall. D'Angelo Ponds is the best cornerback that you don't know about but will by the end of September, and pass rusher Mikail Kamara was another silent assassin that is back from the Hoosiers' elite defense.
6. Illinois
In classic Bret Bielema fashion, Illinois is going to get it done in the trenches this fall. The Illini return five starters from last season's team to protect Luke Altmyer, who should be one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten.
Bielema and company also return a ton of starting production from what was an excellent defense last season, so the Illini should be very tough to crack on both sides of the ball and are a live sleeper in the Big Ten this fall.
7. Nebraska
Can Matt Rhule take the Year 3 leap with Nebraska like he did at both Temple and Baylor? If he is going to do so, sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola is going to have to take the flashes that he showed as a freshman and turn them into consistent performances week after week. The Cornhuskers that Raiola can take off in his first full season with Dana Holgorsen calling the plays.
Nebraska should have a solid defense again in 2025 despite losing Ty Robinson in the middle. This group is littered with key portal additions and could help them rise out of the middle of the pack in the conference if they can all mesh quickly this fall.
8. USC
The pressure is on Lincoln Riley to start performing at USC and producing results, but it's easier said than done in a conference like the Big Ten. Jayden Maiava will get the starting job from the start of the season this year after replacing Miller Moss last season, and he has a potential superstar to throw to in hyper-athletic wideout Ja'Kobi Lane.
The defense has always been the problem for Riley-coached teams dating back to his great Oklahoma teams, but the hope is that having Rob Ryan on staff as the linebackers coach helps ease some of those concerns.
9. Iowa
Kirk Ferentz has been trying to figure out how to put more points on the board for years, and now it is former South Dakota State standout Mark Gronkowski's turn to come in and try to elevate this Iowa offense. That will be a tough task without Kaleb Johnson, but Gronkowski is arguably the most skilled quarterback that the program has had in a long time.
The Hawkeyes' defensive line should be one of the best in the conference one again, and controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball will be key to their success as usual this fall.
10. Washington
Jedd Fisch threw Demond Williams Jr. to the wolves in a night game against Oregon last season, but he hung in there and showed flashes of potential stardom when given a longer leash. He will get that this year, even if this Huskies offense will rely a ton on star running back Jonah Coleman to carry the load.
The Washington defense leaves a little to be desired talent-wise, but former Arizona star cornerback Tacario Davis did come over a year late and followed Fisch to Washington. Davis was a potential first-round pick coming into the 2024 season before injuries derailed his campaign, so he will be hungry for a bounce back season.
11. Wisconsin
The injury to Tyler Van Dyke derailed Wisconsin's 2024 season, and now it's former Maryland signal caller Billy Edwards Jr.'s turn to try to right the ship. He will get to work with new coordinator Jeff Grimes, who called a very creative offense at Kansas last season even if the numbers were underwhelming at times.
Wisconsin's defense was very un-Wisconsin-like last season, but Luke Fickell hit the transfer portal hard on the front seven in order to rot fix that and get the Badgers back to their identity on that side of the ball.
12. UCLA
The big story around UCLA is obviously going to be Nico Iamaleava coming in to be the new starting quarterback. The former Tennessee star and highly-touted recruit is a huge upgrade for DeShaun Foster and company, but the supporting cast around him raises many questions. However, Tino Sunseri comes over from Indiana as the new offensive coordinator and is hoping to bring the good vibes over from that Hoosiers program.
Foster will run a transfer-heavy defense after losing his pair of star linebackers from last season's team, so getting them all on the same page will be somewhat of an uphill battle early in the season.
13. Rutgers
Rutgers has a decent amount of production returning on the offensive side of the ball, but most of its improvement will come down to how well it can replace the production of running back Kyle Monangai. The offense may be more focused on the passing game with returning quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis as a result of Monangai's departure.
The defense is the side of the ball where Rutgers could take a step back after losing almost all of its production in the back seven. The defensive line will have to carry this group while everyone else gets on the same page.
14. Michigan State
It was a very disappointing first season in East Lansing for former Oregon State quarterback Aidan Chiles, but the former four-star recruit has the talent to turn that around in a hurry. If Chiles can start taking care of the football and play more like he did during his freshman year in Corvallis at times, this ranking could be far too low.
The defense should be better with a lot of the spine returning for year two under Jonathan Smith, and that should keep the Spartans in a lot of games. However, the ceiling will come down to the quarterback.
15. Northwestern
Northwestern had an absolutely dismal offense last season, but it won the sweepstakes for former SMU quarterback Preston Stone in the transfer portal. Stone got off to a poor start with the Mustangs in 2024 before he was benched for Kevin Jennings, who led SMU to the College Football Playoff. Now, he is hoping that a change of scenery will help re-ignite his career.
Northwestern's defense has a chance to keep it in a lot of games this season, with key pieces returning at all three levels including leading tackler Mac Uihlein and star defensive end Anto Saka.
16. Minnesota
Minnesota is getting a lot younger after losing Max Brosmer to graduation at quarterback, and now P.J. Fleck will likely turn to unproven redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey behind center. Lindsey will have to hit the ground running in order to keep Minnesota competitive, but the Gophers will likely put a lot of the burden on running back Darius Taylor while Lindsey gets his feet wet.
Minnesota does get one of the top defensive backs in the Big Ten, safety Koi Perich, back this season to give it some continuity even after a lot of turnover on staff underneath Fleck.
17. Maryland
Maryland lost starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. to Wisconsin, and a lot of the rest of the offensive production went with him. Four-star freshman Malik Washington will have thew chance to win the starting job and play in what appears to be a pretty barren offense outside of a solid group of transfer receivers.
The Terps also have a young defense that should get better as the season goes along, but they didn't get a ton of reinforcements to help fix a defensive line that was pretty toothless last season.
18. Purdue
The Boilermakers were historically bad last season, leading to the midseason firing of Ryan Walters. The hire of former UNLV head coach Barry Odom was a good step in the right direction, but he is staring at an uphill battle in year one of this rebuild.
Purdue was gutted by the transfer portal this offseason and is depending on players coming in from all over the place to carry the load. Ryan Browne will likely get the start at quarterback after returning to Purdue following a North Carolina stint.
