2026 College Football Preview: Big Ten

Photo by Rich Janzaruk from the Herald-Times

Three years. Three national championships.

That’s the Big 10 streak at the current moment.

And now, they’ll have plenty of options to keep that streak going.

Will they?

Well, let’s find out.

Better Luck Next Year

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Greg Schiano’s second stint at Rutgers has been solid, but this is still Rutgers, and they’re still in the Big 10.

By Bill Connely’s SP+, Rutgers had their best offense under Schiano since 2007.

Despite that, they went 5-7.

That’s just unfortunately the way it is for Rutgers.

They did a good job in the portal, bringing in some good G6 talent, and if they hit, that’s great!

But they’re still Rutgers.

And they’re still in the Big 10.

It’s not to say it’s impossible to go bowling.

In fact, they have in 2 of the last 3 seasons.

But I need to see some improvement going forward to think they’re a continuous bowl bound group.

UCLA Bruins

In my Big 12 preview, I pointed out that I like continuity.

Eric Morris bringing his North Texas boys with him to Oklahoma State is great.

Bob Chesney is doing the same thing in Los Angeles with UCLA, bringing over plenty of JMU players with him, like Wayne Knight and Landon Ellis.

And, they were able to keep Nico Iamaleava.

So things look good.

But UCLA has a much tougher task ahead of them than Oklahoma State does, and it’s going to take more than just one year and a bunch of transfers to get the Bruins to go bowling.

Still, I love the hire.

Just needs some patience.

Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue was in really tough shape after the Ryan Walters tenure ended in failure, so they brought in Barry Odom to turn the ship around.

And he did!

Technically…

Because after a 1-11 season, Odom turned it all the way around to 2-10.

Yeah.

This is going to be a struggle.

And while I like the transfers Odom brought in, like Jerrick Gibson from Texas and Boaz Stanley from South Carolina, it’s going to take a miracle for Purdue to get to 6 wins with this schedule and their current roster infrastructure.

But even a slight step forward would be nice.

Michigan State Spartans

Last year, Michigan State let go of Jonathan Smith after two seasons, and brought in Pat Fitzgerald.

The same Pat Fitzgerald who won less than 4 games in 3 of his last 4 seasons at Northwestern, and was fired in scandal.

And the same school that let him go and had horrible seasons turned to David Braun, who has gone bowling in 2 of the last 3 seasons.

So I don’t entirely understand this hire.

State has brought in a ton of new transfers for Fitzgerald’s first year, and they’re going to need to hit if they want to get to a bowl.

I just don’t think they will, I think the game has moved past Pat Fitzgerald, and I think the Spartans will be back here in two years with another new head coach.

But maybe I’ll be wrong.

Bowl Game Bound

Iowa Hawkeyes

I believed in Iowa last year.

I trusted Kirk Ferentz’s defense, and I felt that if transfer QB Mark Gronowski could get the Iowa offense playing at even a slightly decent level, they could be excellent.

And I was right!

Sort of.

Gronowski was solid, the defense was great, and the Hawkeyes went 9-4.

But I thought they could compete for the Big 10, which they never came close to doing.

And that’s just simply what life is now in one of the Big 2 conferences.

If you want to compete, you can’t just hit on transfer players or portal players.

You need to be perfect on every single one.

They’ll need to be, considering Gronowski is gone, and they’re replacing him with either Hank Brown or Jeremy Hecklinski, and they have lost a ton of talent on defense.

Still, I trust Iowa to have a good enough defense to go bowling.

And if these transfers hit the way Indiana’s have?

Well, then maybe we can have another conversation.

USC Trojans

I called my shot last year saying that I was just done with the Lincoln Riley era at USC.

Sorry. They aren’t title contenders anymore.

And even though quarterback Jayden Maiava had a great season, the Trojans went 9-4 and were never in the hunt for the conference.

Gary Patterson, the former TCU coach, is the new defensive coordinator in Los Angeles, and I’m sure there are some out there who think this will be a huge move that will shore up USC’s defense and make them contenders.

Yawn.

I told you. I’m over it.

Maiava is back. Great.

Patterson is a smart defensive mind. Awesome.

I just have no faith that Lincoln Riley will compete for a Big 10 title.

They’ll go bowling for sure, but that’s it.

Washington Huskies

A very strange offseason in Seattle.

Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. entered the portal, but then backed out of it again, but pissed off a ton of Husky fans in the process.

But hey, he’s still back, and he’s still really good.

As is most of the offensive line that returns as well.

And while Ryan Walters head coaching tenure at Purdue was an abject disaster, his coordinator tenure at Illinois and now at UW has been excellent.

So the signs are there for Washington to make a decent run at it, but they still feel just a step behind the elite of the Big 10.

Until they take that jump under Jedd Fisch, I can’t expect more from them.

Maryland Terrapins

I’ll keep it short and sweet.

September Maryland exists.

They’ll be 3-1 or 4-0 by the end of September, so it’s fully dependent on if they can scrape a few more wins out of the season.

Last year, I didn’t think they could.

This year, I think they might!

A large part is them retaining stud QB Malik Washington.

And they better go bowling, or else Mike Locksley is likely out of a job, and Malik Washington is likely playing football somewhere else.

A make or break season for the Terps.

Wisconsin Badgers

It’s also a make or break season for Luke Fickell in Wisconsin.

It’s been three straight years of Wisconsin going downhill for Fickell, starting at 7-6, then 5-7, and last year going 4-8.

But Fickell knows this is a last gasp effort to fix the offense and save his job, and he did was Tony Elliott did at Virginia.

Just throw everything to the portal.

Old Dominion QB Colton Joseph? Welcome to the team.

Running backs Abu Sama and Nate Palmer? Join us!

But most importantly, Wisconsin gets the benefit of an easier schedule.

Their hardest games are Notre Dame, Penn State, USC, and Iowa.

Even if they lose all of those and drop two more, there are still 6 wins on this schedule if those portal pieces hit on offense.

Northwestern Wildcats

Some teams in this tier, like Maryland and some others I will be discussing shortly, I’m a little bit hit or miss on.

I can see the path for 6 wins, but it’s not a certainty.

That’s how I usually feel about Northwestern under David Braun.

But this year, he brought Chip Kelly in to be his offensive coordinator, and Aiden Chiles from Michigan State to be the QB running his offense.

That’s fun.

That’s REALLY fun.

And with the defense returning a ton of starters, I feel confident in Northwestern easily going bowling in 2026.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

This is probably a last chance for Matt Rhule in Lincoln.

The Cornhuskers brought him in to bring Nebraska back to what they should be, a consistent 9 win team, and it just hasn’t materialized.

A large part of that is the underwhelming performance of now former QB Dylan Raiola and some poor defense, but now it has to come together.

Dana Holgorsen goes from interim offensive coordinator to full time coordinator, and QB Anthony Colandrea comes from UNLV to lead the Huskers into 2026.

And while that is fun, an air raid coordinator with a run heavy QB is an odd combination, and not one I’m entirely sure will work.

As for the defense, new coordinator Rob Aurich will have to rely on a heavy portal class to stay strong.

They should go bowling.

But will that matter come December when it’s time to make a decision on Matt Rhule?

I’m not so sure.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota under PJ Fleck has been the textbook definition of “good, not great”.

And it looks like that’s what they will be in 2026.

Drake Lindsey at QB is good, but not great.

The running game? Good, but not great.

Defense? You guessed it!

So it feels like another year of 6-8 wins for the Gophers and a bowl game.

But hell, there are definitely worse places to be.

Illinois Fighting Illini

Bret Bielema has been excellent at Illinois, and the Illini have continued to impress in his time there.

But they lost a little bit too much for my liking to consider them dark horses.

QB Luke Altmyer is gone, as is WR Hank Beatty.

That’s a lot of production they need to replace, and that’s going to be tough to do, even if they replaced them with solid transfers like Kaitin Houser from ECU and Alex Perry from FIU.

So this should be a step back for the Illini, but not a painful one.

Dark Horses

Indiana Hoosiers

Alright, let’s just get it out of the way!

Last year, I said Indiana would have to repeat their 2024 success in the portal if they wanted to compete for the Big 10 title.

They did, and then they won the Big 10 title, and then they won the National Title.

And now, they have to do that again.

And I’m prepared to look foolish again, but I don’t think they can repeat it again.

Josh Hoover, a good QB, will likely not be a Heisman winner like Fernando Mendoza.

Turbo Richard from Boston College replaces Roman Hemby.

Shazz Preston replaces Omar Cooper Jr.

All solid players, but they need to all hit just like the previous transfers did if they want to win the title again.

And maybe they can.

But I would bet against it.

Oregon Ducks

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

A playoff spot on the line in the 2023 PAC-12 title game with Bo Nix, and they fall short against Washington.

The number 1 team in the country in 2024, and Ohio State played them off the field in the Rose Bowl.

And last year, in the college football playoff quarterfinals again, and Indiana made a mincemeat of the Ducks.

The team is still outstanding, with Dante Moore, Jordan Davison, and Dakorien Moore all back on offense.

Defensively, Bear Alexander and Matayo Uiagalelei return as well, and stud Minnesota safety Koi Perich comes into the fray as well.

And despite the fact that they’ve lost both coordinators to head coaching jobs, I trust Dan Lanning to have the Ducks well prepared to compete this year.

So, the talent is there to win the Big 10 like they did two years ago, which they surely want to do.

But the goal of this team is the national title, and they haven’t gotten there yet.

And that will be the pressure going into 2026.

Michigan Wolverines

It’s been a weird few years for the Wolverines since their national title.

Jim Harbaugh left the keys to Sherrone Moore, the school had to deal with the Connor Stallions scandal, and then a scandal for Sherrone Moore came this offseason as well, leaving Michigan without a head coach late in the game.

Thankfully for the Wolverines, Kyle Whittingham was out of his job at Utah, but wasn’t exactly done coaching.

So he steps in at Ann Arbor with a very talented team that just, frankly, needs an adult in the room.

They have that and then some in Whittingham, which is massive for former 5 star recruit Bryce Underwood, who didn’t get the best development year one.

If he grows, and the team buys into Whittingham’s culture, Michigan can compete right away.

Penn State Nittany Lions

Maybe I am getting a bit too ahead of myself, but I do think Matt Campbell is a fantastic coach.

And he brought a boat load of his Iowa State players along with him to State College.

And look, I know. Iowa State didn’t compete in the Big 12. Rocco Becht wasn’t a top QB in the conference, so why will he be in the Big 10?

These are all fair points.

But what Campbell has at Penn State is something he didn’t have at Iowa State, and that’s extra depth.

Players like James Peoples from Ohio State and Keanu Williams from UCLA are just some of the additional pieces added from the portal that can make Penn State continuously dangerous even if some players miss time.

Again, I know I’m getting way ahead of myself here, and Penn State fans should strictly expect to be bowl eligible for year one.

But, there is a possibility that Campbell and the squad hits the ground running.

And if they do, I won’t be stunned.

The Favorites

Ohio State Buckeyes

It was a frustrating end of the year for Ohio State.

The defending national champs went unbeaten, but lost their final two games in close losses to Indiana for the Big 10 title, and Miami in the college football playoff.

But you can bet they’ll be back again.

Julian Sayin returns, as does star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith for one final season, and running back Bo Jackson.

The defense lost a ton of starters, but replaced them with transfers like James Smith from Alabama, or Earl Little from Florida State.

And even though new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is not exactly a hire that fills be with joy and excitement, I don’t really think it matters.

This team is mega talented, well coached, and should be favorites to win the Big 10 for the first time since 2020.