2026 College Football Predictions: Big Ten Conference

I do not see much change happening in the Big Ten this year. Ohio State will be dominant; Oregon and Indiana will be right there with them; Washington and Michigan are like that next tier down. Iowa will not score points, but have a great defense. Nebraska will underperform, Northwestern will overperform. You know, just a typical season in the Big Ten. 

Intriguing Team: Penn State. Listen, they have a weak schedule. If Matt Campbell has this team ready, then they should be able to win at least seven games easily. I could see them going 9-3, OR 6-6. Neither would surprise me.

Hot Seat: Not sure there are too many coaches on the hot seat. I mean, if Wisconsin did not fire Luke Fickell after last year, I cannot imagine they fire him this year…unless they would really fall apart. Okay, I will make a crazy prediction here: Kirk Ferentz will retire after this year. It will either be super sudden, OR the university will force him out. I think another season of scoring no points, might cause the Board of Regents (Trustees, whatever Iowa has) to freak out.