Big Ten Power Rankings: Oregon Cements Standing In Top Three, Michigan Moves Into Top Four Entering Final Week of Regular Season

Ohio State and Indiana enter the regular season’s final weekend with 11-0 records, locking them into the College Football Playoff and giving both of them a chance to clinch Big Ten Championship Game berths with wins this weekend. Oregon firmly established itself as one of the Big Ten’s top three teams with its win over USC, putting the Ducks on the doorstep of clinching their own CFP berth with a win at Washington on Saturday.

Michigan kept its playoff hopes in Week 13 with a road win at Maryland, but the Big Ten’s hopes of getting a fourth team in the CFP depend on the Wolverines upsetting Ohio State this weekend. The Buckeyes, of course, would love nothing more than eliminating their rivals from CFP contention while ending their four-year losing streak to the team up north.

Elsewhere in the conference, Penn State and Wisconsin continued their late-season surges in Week 13 with wins over Nebraska and Illinois, whose already-underwhelming seasons became even more disappointing with lopsided losses to teams that were winless in Big Ten play earlier this month. Northwestern continued to exceed expectations by upsetting Minnesota to earn bowl eligibility, while Maryland lost its seventh game in a row and Michigan State and Purdue have just one more chance to avoid going 0-fer in Big Ten play.

Our penultimate Big Ten Power Rankings of the season rank every team in the conference from 1 to 18, taking into consideration their overall and conference records for the season, their head-to-head results against each other, how decisive their wins and/or losses have been and how they’re trending in the homestretch of the season.

Playoff Locks

1. Ohio State (11-0, 8-0)

Wins: Texas (14-7), Grambling State (70-0), Ohio (37-9), at Washington (24-6), Minnesota (42-3), at Illinois (34-16), at Wisconsin (34-0), Penn State (38-14), at Purdue (34-10), UCLA (48-10), Rutgers (42-9)
Losses: None
Last Week: 1
CFP Rank: 1

Ohio State earned its 10th straight win by at least three scores as it rolled to a blowout win over Rutgers despite the absences of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. The Buckeyes have been the most dominant team in college football all year long, and their 11-0 record makes them a firm lock for the College Football Playoff no matter what happens in this weekend’s rivalry game against Michigan.

2. Indiana (11-0, 8-0)

Wins: Old Dominion (27-14), Kennesaw State (56-9), Indiana State (73-0), Illinois (63-10), at Iowa (20-15), at Oregon (30-20), Michigan State (38-13), UCLA (56-6), Maryland (55-10), at Penn State (27-24), Wisconsin (31-7)
Losses: None
Last Week: 2
CFP Rank: 2

Indiana’s case for being ranked No. 1 – that it has a better win than Ohio State – got even stronger in Week 13 with Oregon’s win over USC. But the Hoosiers weren’t going to jump the Buckeyes after a week off while Ohio State won by 33. That said, Indiana will have the chance to prove it’s the Big Ten’s best team in the Big Ten Championshp Game, assuming it beats Purdue on Friday, which would clinch the Hoosiers’ first-ever Big Ten title game berth and first-ever 12-win season.

Win and In (And Maybe In Regardless)

3. Oregon (10-1, 7-1)

Wins: Montana State (59-13), Oklahoma State (69-3), at Northwestern (34-14), Oregon State (41-7), at Penn State (30-24), at Rutgers (56-10), Wisconsin (21-7), at Iowa (18-16), Minnesota (42-13), USC (42-27)
Losses: Indiana (30-20)
Last Week: 3
CFP Rank: 6

Oregon proved it’s one of the Big Ten’s three best teams with its 15-point win over USC, eliminating the Trojans from playoff contention while simultaneously earning its best win of the season. The Ducks can lock themselves into the CFP with a win at Washington this weekend. A 10-2 record might be good enough to get them into the playoff even if they lose to the Huskies, but that’s not a risk they want to take, as the bubble is currently crowded with two-loss teams.

Oregon put itself on the doorstep of a College Football Playoff berth with its win over USC. (Photo: Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Must Win to Get In

4. Michigan (9-2, 7-1)

Wins: New Mexico (34-17), Central Michigan (63-3), at Nebraska (30-27), Wisconsin (24-10), Washington (24-7), at Michigan State (31-20), Purdue (21-16), at Northwestern (24-22), at Maryland (45-20)
Losses: at Oklahoma (24-13), at USC (31-13)
Last Week: 5
CFP Rank: 15

The Wolverines earned their most decisive win of Big Ten play with their 45-20 rout of Maryland last weekend, giving them a chance to win their way into the CFP if they can earn their fifth straight victory over Ohio State this weekend.

Michigan still has to jump five more teams to earn an at-large berth in the playoff, and it’s lost to the other two ranked teams it’s played this season, so the Wolverines will have to sweat out the bubble even if they win The Game. But a win over the team that’s been No. 1 in the CFP rankings all year long would make it hard to deny the maize and blue a playoff bid at 10-2.

November 25 College Football Playoff Selection Committee Rankings#CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/0MkSkGFf9L

— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 26, 2025

Best of the Rest

5. USC (8-3, 6-2)

Wins: Missouri State (73-13), Georgia Southern (59-20), at Purdue (33-17), Michigan State (45-31), Michigan (31-13), at Nebraska (21-17), Northwestern (38-17), Iowa (26-21)
Losses: at Illinois (34-32), at Notre Dame (34-24), at Oregon (42-27)
Last Week: 4
CFP Rank: 17

The Trojans lost to the three best teams they played on the road this season, and they’ll miss the College Football Playoff as a result. It’s still their best season in three years, led by their 31-13 win over Michigan in October, but Lincoln Riley’s fourth year on the job will be remembered as yet another disappointing season due to the Trojans’ inability to win a big game away from home, with only a home game vs. UCLA remaining on the regular-season schedule.

6. Iowa (7-4, 5-3)

Wins: Albany (34-7), UMass (47-7), at Rutgers (38-28), at Wisconsin (37-0), Penn State (25-24), Minnesota (41-3), Michigan State (20-17)
Losses: at Iowa State (17-14), Indiana (20-15), Oregon (18-16), at USC (26-21)
Last Week: 7

The Hawkeyes came dangerously close to suffering their third straight loss, but scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 17-7 deficit and beat Michigan State in their penultimate game of the regular season. Iowa doesn’t have any great wins – a road win at Nebraska on Friday would be its best of the season – but the Hawkeyes have had a chance to win every game, suffering their four losses by a combined 15 points, and need just one more win for their 10th straight eight-win season (excluding the 2020 season, which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

7. Washington (8-3, 5-3)

Wins: Colorado State (38-21), UC Davis (70-10), at Washington State (59-24), at Maryland (24-20), Rutgers (38-19), Illinois (42-25), Purdue (49-13), at UCLA (48-14)
Losses: Ohio State (24-6), at Michigan (24-7), at Wisconsin (13-10)
Last Week: 8

Washington responded exactly the way you’d want a team to respond to its embarrassing, playoff-eliminating loss at Wisconsin, blowing out Purdue and UCLA by five scores in back-to-back games. After weak offensive showings vs. Ohio State and Michigan, the Huskies have one more chance to earn a signature win this week as they host Oregon in their final game of the regular season.

At Least They’re Going to A Bowl Game

8. Illinois (7-4, 4-4)

Wins: Western Illinois (52-3), at Duke (45-19), Western Michigan (38-0), USC (34-32), Purdue (43-27), Rutgers (35-13), Maryland (24-6)
Losses: at Indiana (63-10), Ohio State (34-16), at Washington (42-25), at Wisconsin (27-10)
Last Week: 6

Only Penn State has had a more disappointing season than Illinois among Big Ten teams. A popular pick to make the College Football Playoff (admittedly including my own picks) entering the season, the Fighting Illini have now suffered four losses by at least 17 points this season following their loss to Wisconsin, who topped 13 points in a Big Ten game for the first time all year by scoring 27 against Bret Bielema’s squad. A shootout win over USC is the Fighting Illini’s only impressive result against Big Ten competition, and they now must beat Northwestern in their regular-season finale just to finish above .500 in conference play.

9. Nebraska (7-4, 4-4)

Wins: Cincinnati (20-17), Akron (68-0), Houston Christian (59-7), Michigan State (38-27), at Maryland (34-31), Northwestern (28-21), at UCLA (28-21)
Losses: Michigan (30-27), at Minnesota (24-6), USC (21-17), at Penn State (37-10)
Last Week: 9

The only thing keeping Nebraska from dropping in this week’s rankings is the fact that everyone below them has fewer than seven wins. The Cornhuskers’ blowout loss to Penn State – the team whose coaching search prompted Nebraska to give Matt Rhule a contract extension – all but cemented the 2025 season as yet another underachieving year for the Huskers. A Black Friday win over Iowa would be a good finish to the season, as it would secure Nebraska’s first eight-win season since 2016, but there will be little for the Cornhuskers to hang their hat on if they lose to the Hawkeyes.

10. Northwestern (6-5, 4-4)

Wins: Western Illinois (42-7), UCLA (17-14), UL Monroe (42-3), at Penn State (22-21), Purdue (19-0), Minnesota (38-35)
Losses: at Tulane (23-3), Oregon (34-14), at Nebraska (28-21), at USC (38-17), Michigan (24-22)
Last Week: 11

Northwestern has arguably had the most successful season relative to expectations among non-playoff Big Ten teams. Widely projected to be one of the Big Ten’s two worst teams alongside Purdue entering the season, Northwestern is headed to a bowl for the second time in three years under David Braun. While the Wildcats haven’t beaten any of the Big Ten’s upper-half teams – though they’ll have one more chance when they play Illinois on Saturday – they’ve won the games they’ve been supposed to win outside of their season opener at Tulane, which doesn’t look nearly as bad now that Tulane is ranked 24th in the country and the favorite to earn this year’s Group of 5 berth in the CFP.

11. Minnesota (6-5, 4-4)

Wins: Buffalo (23-10), Northwestern State (66-0), Rutgers (31-28), Purdue (27-20), Nebraska (24-6), Michigan State (23-20)
Losses: at California (27-14), at Ohio State (42-3), at Iowa (41-3), at Oregon (42-13), at Northwestern (38-35)
Last Week: 10

Minnesota fell to 0-5 on the road this season with its loss to Northwestern. The Golden Gophers will play in a bowl game thanks to their 6-0 record at home, but they’ve fallen well short of P.J. Fleck’s preseason proclamation that making the College Football Playoff was “realistic,” with just one win all season over a team with a winning record (Nebraska).

Struggled Most of the Year, But Finishing Strong

12. Penn State (5-6, 2-6)

Wins: Nevada (46-11), Florida International (34-0), Villanova (52-6), at Michigan State (28-10), Nebraska (37-10)
Losses: Oregon (30-24), at UCLA (42-37), Northwestern (22-21), at Iowa (25-24), at Ohio State (38-14), Indiana (27-24)
Last Week: 14

It took eight Big Ten games, but Penn State finally looked like the team it was supposed to be this season last weekend against Nebraska, running for 231 yards and four touchdowns on its way to a dominant win. No one would have guessed entering the season that the Nittany Lions would need to end the year on a three-game winning streak just to make a bowl game, but they’ve performed well enough over the last few weeks – nearly upsetting Indiana before beating Michigan State and Nebraska – to make a case for interim coach Terry Smith as a candidate for the full-time job.

13. Wisconsin (4-7, 2-6)

Wins: Miami-Ohio (17-0), Middle Tennessee State (42-10), Washington (13-10), Illinois (27-10)
Losses: at Alabama (38-14), Maryland (27-10), at Michigan (24-10), Iowa (37-0), Ohio State (34-0), at Oregon (21-7), at Indiana (31-7)
Last Week: 16

The Badgers are 2-1 – with both wins coming against teams that were ranked at the time – since Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh announced that Luke Fickell would return for the 2026 season. Wisconsin’s only hope of making a bowl game is if it beats Minnesota on Saturday and 5-7 teams are needed to fill out this year’s bowl slate. But even if the Badgers’ season ends this weekend, their November wins over Washington and Illinois have shown the players are still fighting hard for Fickell and built some much-needed momentum entering 2026 after a dismal first two months of the season.

Wisconsin has beaten ranked opponents in two of its last three games after starting Big Ten play 0-5. (Photo: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Big Ten Bottom-Feeders

14. Rutgers (5-6, 2-6)

Wins: Ohio (34-31), Miami-Ohio (45-17), Norfolk State (60-10), at Purdue (27-24), Maryland (35-20)
Losses: Iowa (38-28), at Minnesota (31-28), at Washington (38-19), Oregon (56-10), at Illinois (35-13), at Ohio State (42-9)
Last Week: 12

Last weekend’s loss to Ohio State was Rutgers’ fourth loss by at least three scores in its last six games. The Scarlet Knights still have a shot to earn bowl eligibility this weekend as they host Penn State, but their two Big Ten wins have come against two of the conference’s three worst teams and they’ve been uncompetitive against the Big Ten’s best teams, in large part due to a defense that ranks as the nation’s worst in yards allowed per play.

15. UCLA (3-8, 3-5)

Wins: Penn State (42-37), at Michigan State (38-13), Maryland (20-17)
Losses: Utah (43-10), at UNLV (30-23), New Mexico (35-10), at Northwestern (17-14), at Indiana (56-6), Nebraska (28-21), at Ohio State (48-10), Washington (48-14)
Last Week: 13

After rising from the bottom of the rankings with its three-game winning streak in October, UCLA has crashed back down to earth hard, losing its last four games including three by 34-plus points. Their midseason surge came against a Penn State team that was reeling at the time and two of the Big Ten’s three worst teams, and their lack of competitiveness since then has extinguished any hope of interim coach Tim Skipper keeping the job beyond this season.

16. Maryland (4-7, 1-7)

Wins: FAU (39-7), Northern Illinois (20-9), Towson (44-17), at Wisconsin (27-10)
Losses: Washington (24-20), Nebraska (34-31), at UCLA (20-17), Indiana (55-10), at Rutgers (35-20), at Illinois (24-6), Michigan (45-20)
Last Week: 15

The Terps have now lost seven straight games, including four straight losses by at least 15 points, after starting the season 4-0. The September Terps moniker has never been truer than it’s been this year as Mike Locksley’s squad has played worse and worse as the season has progressed. Maryland athletic director Jim Smith has already committed to keep Locksley for 2026, but that might be only because of the commitment of top-five overall prospect Zion Elee. There’s little other reason to be optimistic about the Terrapins’ trajectory as they will finish under .500 for the second year in a row.

17. Michigan State (3-8, 0-8)

Wins: Western Michigan (23-6), Boston College (42-40), Youngstown State (41-24)
Losses: at USC (45-31), at Nebraska (38-27), UCLA (38-13), at Indiana (38-13), Michigan (31-20), at Minnesota (23-20), Penn State (28-10), at Iowa (20-17)
Last Week: 17

Michigan State squandered the opportunity to earn an impressive road win over Iowa by blowing a 17-7 fourth-quarter lead at Kinnick Stadium. The Spartans end their season with what should be their best chance of the year to earn a Big Ten win as they host Maryland at Ford Field; if they lose, it’s hard to see a path forward for Jonathan Smith, who still has zero Big Ten wins on his record after Michigan State vacated its victories from last year.

18. Purdue (2-9, 0-9)

Wins: Ball State (31-0), Southern Illinois (34-17)
Losses: at USC (33-17), at Notre Dame (56-30), Illinois (43-27), at Minnesota (27-20), at Northwestern (19-0), Rutgers (27-24), at Michigan (21-16), at Ohio State (34-10), at Washington (49-13)
Last Week: 18

The good news is Purdue didn’t lose this past weekend, but that’s only because it didn’t play. The Boilermakers have been the Big Ten’s worst team for the second year in a row, and they’ll finish the season winless in conference play for the second year in a row unless they pull off a miracle win in the Old Oaken Bucket game on Friday.