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Live · current form August · frozen projection

August projections and tiers are frozen. Grades and Δ below describe the historical 2025 season.

2026 preseason · Power 4 · #2

Big Ten

Power league. Within three points of its 2025 projections on average.

67.3
Median projection
Teams
18
Elite tier
3
Contender
5
Elite + Cont.
8
2025 mean Δ
+0.5
2025 A grades
1

2026 August tier shape

3
5
8
2
3 Elite5 Contender8 Solid2 Building

Top: Ohio State 99.0 (Elite). Floor: Purdue 49.3 (Building).

2025 grade shape

1
3
7
5
2
1 A3 Bs7 Cs5 Ds2 Fs

Best: Indiana Δ +28.4 (A). Worst: UCLA Δ −19.4 (F).

Big Ten · ranked by 2026 projection · 2025 grades

The roster.

1
Ohio State
Tier #1 · SP+ +32.7 · 94% recruit · 60% returning
99.0
Elite
C
+5.7
2
Oregon
Tier #2 · SP+ +29.2 · 95% recruit · 66% returning
96.9
Elite
C
+5.6
3
Indiana
Tier #5 · SP+ +25.8 · 61% recruit · 56% returning
89.1
Elite
A
+28.4
4
USC
Tier #12 · SP+ +17.7 · 82% recruit · 65% returning
79.7
Contender
C
+5.3
5
Michigan ★ new HC
Tier #15 · SP+ +17.0 · 89% recruit · 63% returning
78.0
Contender
D
−12.1
6
Washington
Tier #16 · SP+ +15.8 · 70% recruit · 65% returning
76.1
Contender
B
+13.4
7
Penn State ★ new HC
Tier #19 · SP+ +16.2 · 84% recruit · 52% returning
74.7
Contender
D
−8.7
8
Iowa
Tier #23 · SP+ +14.6 · 68% recruit · 44% returning
72.6
Contender
B
+10.9
9
Nebraska
Tier #27 · SP+ +9.3 · 78% recruit · 64% returning
67.7
Solid
C
−5.9
10
Illinois
Tier #30 · SP+ +10.4 · 65% recruit · 58% returning
66.9
Solid
C
+1.6
11
Minnesota
Tier #40 · SP+ +6.2 · 66% recruit · 58% returning
61.6
Solid
D
−8.0
12
Maryland
Tier #41 · SP+ +5.2 · 71% recruit · 65% returning
61.4
Solid
C
+0.3
13
Northwestern
Tier #48 · SP+ +5.1 · 57% recruit · 58% returning
59.4
Solid
B
+17.4
14
Wisconsin
Tier #50 · SP+ +3.8 · 75% recruit · 58% returning
59.1
Solid
F
−19.0
15
UCLA ★ new HC
Tier #54 · SP+ +5.4 · 58% recruit · 58% returning
57.1
Solid
F
−19.4
16
Rutgers
Tier #59 · SP+ +2.7 · 69% recruit · 58% returning
56.5
Solid
D
−6.3
17
Michigan State ★ new HC
Tier #63 · SP+ +2.2 · 64% recruit · 58% returning
53.9
Building
D
−6.4
18
Purdue
Tier #70 · SP+ −2.2 · 59% recruit · 58% returning
49.3
Building
C
+6.0