You’d think adding four West Coast powerhouses would’ve broken the Big Ten. Honestly, it kind of did, just not the way people expected. We all sat through those off-season panels where "experts" claimed the travel would kill the USC Trojans or that the Oregon Ducks would steamroll the "slow" Midwestern defenses.
Fast forward to now. The big 10 conference football standings look like something out of a fever dream.
Indiana—yes, the Hoosiers—just finished a season that basically rewrote the history books. We are looking at a landscape where 18 teams are fighting for a handful of spots in a 12-team playoff, and the old "Big Three" of Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State have some very loud, very fast company.
The 2025 Reality Check: How We Got Here
If you looked at the standings at the start of January 2026, your head probably spun. Indiana finished the regular season 12-0. They didn't just win; they looked like a pro team. Coach Curt Cignetti pulled off what many thought was impossible, leading the Hoosiers to a 13-10 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
It was ugly. It was cold. It was perfect.
Ohio State, despite the loss, remains the behemoth. Ryan Day’s squad went 9-0 in conference play during the regular season, matching Indiana’s perfect run. When you look at the big 10 conference football standings, you see a massive gap between the top tier and the basement.
The standings for the top half of the 2025-26 season tell the real story:
- Indiana Hoosiers: 9-0 Conf / 15-0 Overall (Conference Champs)
- Ohio State Buckeyes: 9-0 Conf / 12-2 Overall
- Oregon Ducks: 8-1 Conf / 13-2 Overall
- USC Trojans: 7-2 Conf / 9-4 Overall
- Michigan Wolverines: 7-2 Conf / 9-4 Overall
- Iowa Hawkeyes: 6-3 Conf / 9-4 Overall
Indiana’s QB Fernando Mendoza, a transfer who basically became a folk hero in Bloomington, ended up winning the Heisman. Think about that for a second. A Hoosier won the Heisman.
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Why the "Middle Class" is Disappearing
There’s a weird thing happening in the middle of the pack. Teams like Wisconsin and Michigan State are struggling to find their identity in this 18-team mess.
Wisconsin finished 2-7 in the conference. That’s not just a "bad year." That’s a crisis for a program that used to define Big Ten stability. Meanwhile, Penn State had a bizarre 2025, finishing 3-6 in the conference despite having a roster loaded with four and five-star talent.
The "Flyover" effect is real. When Rutgers has to fly to LA and then UCLA has to fly to Piscataway, someone is going to lose their legs in the fourth quarter. We saw it with Washington, who finished 5-4 in the conference. They were great at home, but those cross-country trips were absolute killers.
Breaking Down the Tiebreakers (The Math Nobody Likes)
With 18 teams and no divisions, the big 10 conference football standings aren't as simple as they used to be. Remember the East and West divisions? Gone.
Now, it’s just one giant pile of teams.
If two teams are tied at the top—like Indiana and Ohio State were before the championship—the Big Ten uses a specific hierarchy to decide who gets the home locker room in Indy.
- Head-to-head: Did you beat the guy you’re tied with?
- Common Conference Opponents: How did you do against the same "friends"?
- Cumulative Conference Winning Percentage: This is where it gets nerdy. They look at the records of all the conference teams you played. If your opponents were better than the other guy's opponents, you win.
- SportSource Analytics: This is basically the "computer says so" rule.
In 2024, Oregon leveraged these rules perfectly to secure their spot. By 2025, the parity (or lack thereof) made it even more chaotic.
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The Expansion Teams: Success or Flop?
Let's be blunt: Oregon is the only "new" team that has consistently played like a Big Ten title contender.
Dan Lanning has built a monster in Eugene. They finished 8-1 in the conference this year, with their only blemish being a dogfight against Indiana in Week 7. They play a style that actually fits the Big Ten—physical, nasty on the line of scrimmage, but with that West Coast speed that kills you in the open field.
USC is... getting there. Lincoln Riley’s defense finally showed some teeth in 2025, helping them to a 7-2 conference record. But those losses to Michigan and Ohio State showed they still aren't quite ready to bully the big boys of the Midwest.
Washington and UCLA? Honestly, they're currently just "guys" in the conference. Washington’s 5-4 record is respectable, but UCLA’s 3-6 conference finish shows they have a long way to go to compete with the depth of a Big Ten schedule.
What Most Fans Miss About the Standings
People look at the W-L column and think they know the whole story. They don't.
You have to look at the "Strength of Schedule" (SOS). Because there are 18 teams and only 9 conference games, you don't play everyone. This creates a "schedule lottery."
In 2025, Indiana’s path was seen as "easier" until they went into Autzen and beat Oregon. Suddenly, the "easy schedule" narrative died. Conversely, Purdue had to play Ohio State, Oregon, and Michigan in a four-week span. They finished 0-9 in the conference. Is Purdue that bad? Maybe. But that schedule would kill almost anyone.
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The Bottom Feeders and the Transfer Portal
It’s getting lonely at the bottom of the big 10 conference football standings.
- Purdue: 0-9
- Maryland: 1-8
- Michigan State: 1-8
When you're at the bottom in this era, your best players leave. The transfer portal has turned the Big Ten basement into a feeder system for the top five. If you're a star receiver at Maryland and you’re 1-8, Ohio State is going to call. It's not fair, but it’s the current reality.
Practical Takeaways for Next Season
If you're trying to figure out where the value is for the 2026 season, keep these things in mind:
- Look for "Protected" Matchups: The Big Ten has 12 protected rivalries (like Michigan-Ohio State and Oregon-Washington). These are the only games you can count on every year.
- The Travel Factor: If a team has back-to-back road games involving a time zone change, bet against them. The data from 2024 and 2025 shows a significant dip in performance for West Coast teams playing at 12:00 PM EST.
- Quarterback Stability: In an 18-team league, you can't win with a "game manager." You need a playmaker. Look at how Fernando Mendoza changed Indiana’s entire trajectory.
- Ignore Preseason Polls: Penn State was picked to win the conference in some 2025 previews. They didn't even make a bowl game. Trust the trenches, not the hype.
The Big Ten isn't a regional conference anymore. It’s a national league that happens to play a lot of games in the cold. The standings will continue to be a chaotic mess of blue bloods and upstarts, and that's exactly why we can't stop watching.
Keep an eye on the mid-February transfer window. That is where the 2026 standings will actually be decided. Move fast on information regarding defensive line transfers; in this league, if you can't stop the run in November, your standing doesn't matter because you'll be out of the race by Thanksgiving.
Next Steps for Your Research
Check the official Big Ten availability reports that come out two hours before kickoff. With the expanded travel, "nagging injuries" are becoming much more common and can swing a point spread by 4 to 7 points in an instant. Monitor the "Power Index" rankings rather than just the AP Poll, as the computers are currently valuing the 18-team schedule strength more accurately than the human voters.
The Hoosiers proved that the glass ceiling is gone. Now, we wait to see who smashes it next.