Northwestern v Penn State
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The 2025 college football regular season has come to a close, and with the semester winding down, it's the perfect time to hand out early final grades. The Big Ten had an overall strong showing with three of the five highest-seeded teams in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket. No. 1 Indiana and No. 2 Ohio State are positioned for what could be a rematch in the national championship game, while No. 5 Oregon signified the conference's top-heavy strength once again.

While the upper tier of the league stole most of the attention, the middle of the pack showed meaningful improvement from last year. Eight Big Ten teams have already reached eight wins before bowl season. But it wasn't all smooth sailing, however, as several programs -- Michigan State, Penn State and UCLA -- underperformed enough that coaching changes were unavoidable.

Most teams finished within half a game -- either above or below -- of their projected win totals from the preseason, and those projections will serve as somewhat of a baseline for the grading curve, giving context to each team's performance relative to expectations.

So, who met those goals, who exceeded them and who needs to hit the books over the offseason? Let's get into the final grades for all 18 Big Ten teams.

Indiana 

The 2024 Hoosiers were no fluke and now the 2025 version proved Indiana is a legitimate national title contender. They beat Ohio State for the first time in 37 years to claim the program's first outright Big Ten Championship since 1945. Curt Cignetti has orchestrated one of the greatest coaching turnarounds in recent memory, transforming Indiana, whose fan base was just waiting for basketball season, into one that has fully embraced the new culture of winning. Grade: A+

Ohio State

It's hard to believe Ohio State hasn't won a Big Ten Championship in five seasons. Still, the Buckeyes' dominance over nearly every opponent, especially the thumping of Michigan, offsets that frustration a bit. They finally faced adversity in a loss to Indiana in the Big Ten title game, which may be a blessing in disguise as Ohio State resets and aims to repeat as national champions. Grade: A

Oregon

In just two seasons as Big Ten members, the Ducks have dropped only one non-postseason game to a conference opponent -- this year's lone setback coming against league champion Indiana. Oregon weathered a depleted receiving corps down the stretch and still reached double-digit wins for the fourth time under Dan Lanning -- and for the sixth straight full season overall. If the Ducks can get healthy, they will profile as one of the teams no one wants to see in the CFP. Grade: A

USC

Lincoln Riley and the Trojans began to carve out their identity in the Big Ten after last year's debut was mostly a disaster. USC stayed in the CFP picture deep into November and proved it could handle the conference's trademark physicality with statement wins against the likes of Iowa and Michigan. Off the field, the Trojans delivered a major recruiting milestone as well, securing the nation's No. 1 class for 2026  to reinforce the program's long-term trajectory. Grade: A-

Iowa

Iowa was gut-wrenchingly close to a truly monumental season, with all four losses coming by five points or fewer -- all against ranked opponents -- and the Hawkeyes were either tied or leading in the fourth quarter of each. They absolutely dominated their biggest rivals, steamrolling Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin by a combined 118-19 (!!). And for the first time in years, Iowa fielded a quarterback who posed a legitimate threat in Mark Gronowski. Grade: A-

Northwestern

Winning at Northwestern isn't easy, yet only Indiana surpassed its preseason win total by a larger margin this year. Picked to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten, the Wildcats instead landed in the middle of the pack and earned a return trip to a bowl game -- their second in three years under David Braun. He became the first Northwestern coach to reach two bowl appearances in his first three seasons. Grade: B+

Illinois

Illinois might feel a lot better about its season if not for the stumble at Wisconsin, a game that kept the Fighting Illini from an unbeaten November finish. Luke Altmyer showed meaningful improvement again, but the defense clearly slipped in several key spots. Still, a win in the Music City Bowl would give Illinois its most victories over a two-year stretch in program history -- it's already matched the record at 18. Grade: B

Minnesota

It was a quintessential P.J. Fleck season more or less. The Golden Gophers reached bowl eligibility yet again, giving them a chance to extend Fleck's perfect 6-0 postseason record with the program. They also held their own in rivalry play, winning two of three matchups, including convincing victories over both Nebraska and Wisconsin. Grade: B

Michigan

Michigan technically hit its preseason win total with nine victories, but the résumé rings hollow. The Wolverines benefited from one of the Big Ten's softer schedules and beat only one conference opponent that finished with a winning league record. The debut season of five-star freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood was underwhelming: just nine touchdowns against six interceptions. And most damning -- they lost to Ohio State for the first time since 2019, ending a four-game win streak in the rivalry. Grade: B-

Washington

Jedd Fisch led Washington to its first eight-win regular season outside the Kalen DeBoer or Chris Petersen years since Rick Neuheisel in 2001. The Huskies took a step forward in their rebuild with Demond Williams Jr. excelling in his first year as the starting quarterback. Unfortunately, their second-longest home winning streak in the FBS entering the season was snapped. Grade: B-

Nebraska

So much for the Matt Rhule Year 3 bump, right? The Huskers were hampered by the season-ending loss of quarterback Dylan Raiola, going 1-3 after he went down as their losing streak to AP Top 25 teams extended to 29 games. While there was hope for nine or 10 wins given the schedule, preseason projections hovered around 6.5-7.5 wins, so reaching a bowl game in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2015-16 was still a modest achievement for a program trying to climb back to relevancy. Grade: C+

Wisconsin

This was a difficult year for Luke Fickell and the Badgers. Injuries piled up with the losses, but Wisconsin's schedule was brutal: seven games came against nationally ranked opponents, tied with Florida for the most in the FBS and two more than any other Big Ten team. The Badgers did find some late-season success, winning their final two home games against then-No. 23 Washington and then-No. 21 Illinois, showing flashes of hope even in a challenging campaign. Grade: C

Rutgers

Rutgers faced a much tougher schedule in 2025 compared to 2024 in the expanded Big Ten, so expectations entering the season weren't high. The Scarlet Knights managed just two conference wins, both against Maryland and Purdue -- who went a combined 1-17 at the bottom of the league. Rutgers also posted their worst scoring defense in five years. Grade: C-

UCLA

Sure, UCLA finished below its modest preseason win total and fired DeShaun Foster before the Big Ten schedule even began. But there was a bright spot in that three-game stretch in October, when Tim Skipper and the interim staff guided the Bruins to impressive victories, including a massive upset over then-No. 7 Penn State. The wins against Penn State and Michigan State were two of the five largest cover margins in the Big Ten this season -- +29.5 vs. Penn State and +32.0 against Michigan State -- showing that, at its best, UCLA was far from the worst in the conference. Grade: D+

Purdue

Year 1 under Barry Odom was always going to be a rebuild for Purdue -- especially with a roster that took in more transfers than any team in the FBS -- but even relative to modest expectations, the Boilermakers never found their footing. They were competitive in only a handful of games and struggled badly on both sides of the ball, ranking 16th in both scoring offense and scoring defense. Ultimately, Purdue finished back-to-back seasons without a Big Ten victory. It's a long-term project in West Lafayette, but this debut offered little beyond growing pains. Grade: D

Maryland

With one of the lowest preseason win totals in the Big Ten, expectations weren't high for Maryland -- but the Terrapins still managed to fall short of them. Freshman quarterback Malik Washington flashed real signs of becoming a rising star, yet he had little support around him as the roster's lack of depth showed up week after week. Maryland's season unraveled in October, when it lost all three games in which it held a fourth-quarter lead. That collapse triggered an eight-game losing streak to close the year, turning a potentially encouraging youth movement into a frustrating step backward under Mike Locksley. Grade: D

Michigan State

The Jonathan Smith experiment just never took hold -- and ultimately cost him his job. It looked like an odd fit from the beginning, and this season only confirmed those fears. Aidan Chiles, the quarterback Smith handpicked to follow him from Oregon State two years ago, was eventually benched. The Spartans didn't win a Big Ten game until the final week, long after the season had gone off the rails. Smith was dismissed the next day, and Michigan State turned to former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald in hopes of stabilizing the program. Grade: F

Penn State

The Nittany Lions entered the season with national title expectations and a roster built to chase them. Instead, it all unraveled into one of the most stunning collapses in recent memory, ultimately ending James Franklin's tenure. And it wasn't the gut-punch losses to Oregon or unbeaten Indiana that defined the downfall -- those were at least understandable. What truly torpedoed the campaign were the inexcusable defeats to UCLA and Northwestern, the kind of losses a playoff hopeful simply cannot afford. Penn State limped to the finish, fighting just to make a bowl as the program plunged into a chaotic coaching search that became a national punchline before settling on Matt Campbell. It may work out long-term, but it does nothing to soften a disastrous season. Grade: F-