Subscribe
Follow Us
The college football season is right around the corner, and it is going to be an exciting one in the Big Ten. The conference is loaded with good teams, and there are high expectations after back-to-back national championships. Michigan won it all in 2023, and Ohio State captured the crown last season. There should be a good amount of teams that are still alive and contending for a national championship at the end of the 2025 season, and it will be exciting to see if another team from this conference can pull it off.
In terms of contenders in the Big Ten, Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon are the teams that you can essentially write in to make the College Football Playoff. All three teams made it last year, and they are all expected to be among the best teams in the country this year as well. Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and USC are all teams to watch, too. The Hoosiers and Wolverines both have CFP experience, and they are hoping to make it again. USC and Illinois are looking for their first appearance.
One thing that we know about the Big Ten is that teams love to run the football. Good running backs are obviously crucial, and the Big Ten has a lot of them, but it all starts with the offensive line. This conference typically has some of the best O-line units in the country, so let's take a look at the top five ahead of the 2025 season.
5. Michigan
From 2021-2023, the Michigan football team had the best offensive line in all of college football, not just the Big Ten. The Wolverines won the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in college football in 2021 and 2022, but Washington edged them out in 2023. Let's be real, they just didn't want it to go to the same team three years in a row. Michigan was at its best in 2023, and the national championship game showed who really had the best offensive line. It was the Wolverines.
After winning it all in 2023, Michigan lost its entire starting offensive line. We knew the Wolverines were going to take a step back last season, and they did. However, this is the year that we should start seeing the unit as a big strength again. A lot of young guys stepped into new roles last year, but they are now back with a lot of valuable experience and another offseason under the belt. The potential is there for Michigan to have a very good offensive line.
4. Illinois
The Illinois football team isn't being talked about enough ahead of the 2025 season. The Fighting Illini are coming off of one of their best seasons in a long time in which they won 10 games, and they are going to be even better this year. Winning in the Big Ten starts in the trenches, and Illinois should have one of the best offensive lines in the conference. That should help the team win a lot of games.
It's not often a team returns their entire starting offensive line, but that is the case for the Fighting Illini. They have talent and experience from top to bottom, and that is going to go a long way for them this season. Watch out for Illinois. This squad could very well end up going to the College Football Playoff.
3. Iowa
The Iowa football team is always solid up front, and that is going to be the case again this season. There are definitely areas offensively that the Hawkeyes need to improve, but the offensive line appears to be in great shape as the 2025 season nears. That's a great place to start. Other things can be worked on, but if you aren't stout up front, you probably aren't going to win a lot of football games.
Iowa did lose one of its best offensive lineman to the NFL in the offseason in Mason Richman, but the Hawkeyes always reload. They still have a plethora of experience and talent returning to the line this season, and that will help the new guys ease into their roles.
2. Oregon
Some teams are poised for success along the offensive line because of returning talent, and others are in good shape because of transfer portal additions. The Ducks are one of those teams that took advtantage of transfers. Oregon will likely have three transfers starting along the O-line this season, and two of them were top-three players at their position. The talent is there, but the question is whether or not the chemistry will be.
A lot of this line has not played together before, so that's really the only concern for the Oregon football offensive line. If they gel well together, the sky is the limit. It's going to be a strong unit, and it has the potential to end up being the best O-line in the conference.
1. Penn State
The Penn State football team is going to be very good in 2025. When you look at different position rankings for the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions land near or at the top in just about all of them. That is what happens when guys who could leave for the NFL decide to come back to chase a national championship. The Nittany Lions came close last year after making a run to the College Football Playoff semifinals, but they fell against Notre Dame.
Penn State is going to be one of the best teams in the country next year, and it starts up front. There is a ton of talent and experience coming back from an O-line that was already one of the best in the Big Ten last year. The Nittany Lions are in outstanding shape ahead of the 2025 season at just about every position.
As you can see, the Big Ten is going to have some very good offensive lines this season. These players sometimes don't get the credit they deserve, but offensive success isn't possible without a strong O-line. The Big Ten always has some of the best in the country.
