With the season just a couple of months away, here’s a look at how Phil Steele has the Big Ten ending up.
1. Penn State Nittany Lions
The Penn State Nittany Lions made their first trip to the CFP last season, making it all the way to the semifinal. They’d fall there, but look to be in a position to be consistently competitive now. Steele thinks they’re particularly suited for next season, picking the Nittany Lions atop the Big Ten.
Part of what’s so exciting about Penn State is the talent that they’re returning from last season. That includes quarterback Drew Allar and a star backfield of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. So, the offense should be in good hands. With a consistently good defense under James Franklin, the Nittany Lions are ready to take another step forward.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes ended last regular season under a cloud of questions, having dropped another game to rival Michigan. Still, they made the CFP and that’s when they managed to go on a deep run, eventually winning the national championship. It’s safe to say that Ryan Day and the Buckeyes answered those questions with flying colors.
As is often the case with national championship teams, Ohio State is dealing with plenty of turnover. Still, few teams bring in as much talent annually as Ohio State. The Buckeyes should be ready to once again compete at the top of the Big Ten.
3. Oregon Ducks
The Oregon Ducks took the Big Ten by storm in their first season in the conference, putting together an unbeaten regular season and winning the conference. However, they ran into Ohio State in the CFP and found themselves knocked out early, and sending head coach Dan Lanning back to the drawing board.
For the third season in a row, Oregon needs to find a new starting quarterback. The expectation is that Dante Moore will take over under center for the Ducks. Much of their success will likely be on his shoulders. Regardless, Lanning has proven himself more than capable of succeeding with the Oregon program.
4. Michigan Wolverines
The 2024 season was, undeniably, a disappointment for Michigan. Coming off the 2023 national championship, they struggled to find a quarterback who could go and win games last year. In the end, Sherrone Moore had to battle to make a bowl in his first season.
Michigan has enough talent to compete in the Big Ten if they can find a quarterback for next season. Certainly, the Wolverines have gone looking. Mikey Keene comes in as an experienced transfer. Then, the Wolverines flexed in high school recruiting to bring in the highly-regarded Bryce Underwood. So, there are options. It just comes down to who gives Michigan the chance to compete.
5. Illinois Fighting Illini
In 2024, Illinois was a little bit overlooked going into the season. However, after a 10-3 campaign, Steele isn’t willing to overlook the Fighting Illini in 2025. This is a team that should be toward the top of the conference and potentially even win the Big Ten.
Illinois has a combination going into the 2025 season that everyone wants. The Fighting Illini are blending a proven head coach in Bret Bielema with a veteran quarterback in Luke Altmyer. Add in what looks like a manageable schedule, and Steele has plenty of reasons to be confident here.
6. Indiana Hoosiers
If Illinois was overlooked going into 2024, Indiana had no expectations last season. Then the Hoosiers went to the College Football Playoff in what was, arguably, the best season in program history. That’s going to be hard to repeat, but head coach Curt Cignetti doesn’t want to see the standard drop.
Nobody is going to be surprised by Indiana next season. It’s a different position for the program to be in. Add in some questions regarding roster turnover, and the Hoosiers aren’t a sure thing. At the same time, this is a well-coached team that’s going to be tough all season long.
7. USC Trojans
When USC hired Lincoln Riley, the expectation was that he’d have the Trojans competing for appearances in the College Football Playoff. That hasn’t happened to this point, even with some great offenses. Going into year four and off a 7-6 first season in the Big Ten, though, there is some need to show improvement.
Riley is going to need to figure out how to manage the Trojans through some turnover at key skill positions. He’s proven capable of filling those spots before. The problem is getting this USC team to consistently perform as a unit against a tough Big Ten conference slate.
8. Nebraska Cornhuskers
After not making a bowl game since 2016, Nebraska finally did in 2024. Now, going into head coach Matt Rhule‘s third season and the second season for star quarterback Dylan Raiola, they’re hoping to find a way to take another step forward. If the Cornhuskers can do that, they may be able to surprise some folks in the Big Ten.
As it stands now, Steele has Nebraska coming in eighth in the Big Ten. After where the Cornhuskers have been, that is a step forward for the program. Still, they’re hoping to get even further along than that.
9. Iowa Hawkeyes
Kirk Ferentz is entering his 27th season as the head coach at Iowa. He’s found plenty of success there, even if the Hawkeyes haven’t won the Big Ten since 2004. After double-digit wins in two of the last four seasons, Iowa does have a track record of being competitive even recently.
The question is still centered around whether or not the Hawkeyes can get more consistent play from their offense. After all, with some consistently excellent defense and special teams, if the offense comes along, then Iowa could be competitive in the Big Ten again. Much of that is going to fall on the shoulders of Mark Gronowski.
10. Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are coming off their fourth straight bowl season and their sixth bowl season in the eight previous seasons under PJ Fleck. For now, it seems like Steele expects that to be about where Minnesota is next season.
Part of the challenge for Minnesota in 2025 is going to be an incredibly challenging schedule in Big Ten play. They’ll see Ohio State and Oregon, both coming of CFP appearances. Then, Steele has Nebraska and Iowa ahead of them in his predictions. So, there will likely be very few rooms for slip-ups.
11. Washington Huskies
It’s been an eventful time for Washington since they played for and lost the national championship game to Michigan. They’ve seen a coaching change, roster turnover, and a move to the Big Ten. With that, in their first season under Jedd Fisch and in the Big Ten, the Huskies went 6-7 with a bowl loss.
Washington expects to be at the top of the conference standings. That wasn’t the case last season but in their second season under Fisch, the program intends on taking a step forward. Of course, that will be largely dependent on the development of young quarterback Demond Williams.
12. Wisconsin Badgers
When the Wisconsin Badgers hired Luke Fickell, it was seen as one of the best hires of that coaching cycle. To this point, though, it hasn’t taken off the way Wisconsin would have liked. Last year, that amounted to missing a bowl for the first time since 2001. That was with an injured starting quarterback, but those circumstances don’t make it hurt any less.
Fickell made some changes going into year three, namely at offensive coordinator and quarterback. He’s also always had solid defenses, throughout his career. So, if those offensive changes work out, then there’s a good chance that Wisconsin can make strides beyond what Fickell is expecting.
13. Rutgers Scarlett Knights
Since Rutgers first got to the Big Ten in 2014, they’ve had four bowl seasons. Three of those have come in the last four seasons under head coach Greg Schiano. Now, they’re looking to find a way to keep everything moving forward for the program.
The challenge is that arguably nobody faces a more difficult conference schedule than Rutgers. That includes games against Oregon, Ohio State, and Penn State, or the top three teams Steele has projected to finish in the Big Ten. Washington, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois are also all projected to finish ahead of the Scarlet Knights. So, Rutgers needs to pull off a few upsets.
14. Michigan State Spartans
The Michigan State Spartans are going into year two under Jonathan Smith with a new athletic director in town. After a slow start to the Smith era in 2024, going 5-7. After not going bowling since 2021, and that being the team’s only bowl game since 2019, there is hope that the Spartans get things turned around next season.
As is the case at many programs, much of that will fall on the shoulders of quarterback Aidan Chiles. He flashed his talent last season but wasn’t consistent enough overall. Find that consistency and Michigan State should go bowling again.
15. UCLA Bruins
It’s year two for UCLA in the Big Ten and year two under head coach DeShaun Foster. At 5-7, they fell just short of making it to a bowl game. Still, for a lot of experts, that did exceed expectations from before the year. Once again, it appears that Steele and others have low expectations for the program.
This offseason, UCLA became involved in arguably the most notable transfer of the offseason. After quarterback Nico Iamaleava left Tennessee amid an NIL dispute, he landed with the Bruins. That would, ironically, force UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar into the portal with the former Bruin becoming a Volunteer. Now, there is hope that UCLA upgraded enough to surprise folks in the Big Ten.
16. Northwestern Wildcats
2025 will be the third season for David Braun leading the Northwestern program. The hope, after he took over amid a scandal and brought the Wildcats to a bowl in 2023, is to return to that kind of form in 2025. After all, that season it seemed like Northwestern was in terrible shape but they were able to overcome it.
Of course, amid continued stadium renovation, Northwestern will face challenges and questions on the field. Their schedule is one of the toughest around and their talent doesn’t generally hold up well in the Big Ten. So, it’s easy to see why Steele has them at 16th overall.
17. Maryland Terrapins
Going into their seventh season under head coach Mike Locksley, the Maryland Terrapins are facing some uphill expectations. They missed a bowl game last season and that was a major disappointment after what had been a season with high expectations. It seems like the Terrapins need to earn those expectations back from Steele.
On the bright side, it’s a relatively easy schedule by Big Ten standards. They’ll dodge Penn State, Ohio State, and Oregon. Ultimately, Michigan is the top-ranked team in their current conference standings. Still, in their position, essentially everyone is looking up.
18. Purdue Boilermakers
