a veteran defense<\/a> with leaders like LB Ernest Hausmann and DE Derrick Moore. If Underwood is truly a phenom, Indianapolis is within reach.<\/p>\nOregon: I see the Ducks taking a slight step back because Moore, the former UCLA QB, is not likely to be the next Bo Nix\/Dillion Gabriel. However, Tulane RB Makhi Hughes has a chance to be Oregon\u2019s next great back. The defense isn\u2019t lacking talent, but it got exposed by Penn State and Ohio State to end last season.<\/p>\n
Indiana: Curt Cignetti\u2019s Hoosiers aren\u2019t going away yet. Mendoza is a capable replacement for Kurtis Rourke and has weapons around him, like wide receiver Elijah Sarratt. The offensive line should be better as well. However, there\u2019s no escaping the fact that this is a much more brutal conference schedule, with trips to Iowa, Oregon and Penn State.<\/p>\n
Other notable teams<\/p>\n
Illinois: The closer we get, the more I think the Illini are a classic case of \u201cbig bowl win + returning starters = ranked too high the next year.\u201d They did win 10 games, but the best of those wins came against Michigan (8-5). And they were 5-1 in one-score games, which often turns back around the following year. So, I\u2019m going with 7-5.<\/p>\n
Nebraska: My co-host Bruce Feldman is all in on this finally being the Huskers\u2019 year. I\u2019m more cautious. Though I like Raiola, especially in Dana Holgorsen\u2019s offense, the schedule does set up nicely. I have them at 8-4, which might not seem impressive, but it would still be the program\u2019s best season in nine years.<\/p>\n
USC: What a weird situation. Lincoln Riley has finally built some momentum in recruiting. The Trojans currently have the No. 2 class in the country for 2026. As for 2025, though, it looks like another meh roster. If they go 6-6 again, fans will be calling for Riley\u2019s head, but he\u2019s too expensive to fire and can sell the guys coming in.<\/p>\n
Coaches in trouble<\/p>\n
Luke Fickell: It\u2019s been baffling to see the Cincinnati savior struggle so mightily in Madison. Even if his third team is better, it\u2019s facing arguably the most demanding schedule in the country, including a trip to Alabama and an October slate of: at Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State and at Oregon.<\/p>\n
Mike Locksley: Things were looking up for Maryland two years ago when the Terps posted consecutive 8-5 seasons, but it feels like the program has lost all its momentum. Locksley has not posted a winning record in Big Ten play through six seasons, and his team slunk to 1-8 last season. I fear this year could be as bad or worse.<\/p>\n
David Braun: The then-interim coach won the full-time job when he went 8-5 in 2023 with Pat Fitzgerald\u2019s staff. He slid to 4-8 last season. Former SMU QB Preston Stone could lead a resurgence this season, but Braun might feel the heat if not. Northwestern opens an $850 million stadium in 2026 and will want the right guy.<\/p>\n
(Photos of Drew Allar and Jeremiah Smith: Nathan Ray-Seeback\/ Imagn Images, Barbara Perenic \/ USA Today Network)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Big Ten is the toast of college football right now after back-to-back national championships from Michigan and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[331,7,4728,4725,1286,1868,2549,71,4727,49,48,4604,8243,69,575,2743,4729,4726,666,8242,671,2785],"class_list":{"0":"post-300433","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-illinois-fighting-illini","11":"tag-indiana-hoosiers","12":"tag-iowa-hawkeyes","13":"tag-maryland-terrapins","14":"tag-michigan-state-spartans","15":"tag-michigan-wolverines","16":"tag-minnesota-golden-gophers","17":"tag-ncaa","18":"tag-ncaa-football","19":"tag-nebraska-cornhuskers","20":"tag-northwestern-wildcats","21":"tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","22":"tag-oregon-ducks","23":"tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","24":"tag-purdue-boilermakers","25":"tag-rutgers-scarlet-knights","26":"tag-ucla-bruins","27":"tag-usc-trojans","28":"tag-washington-huskies","29":"tag-wisconsin-badgers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115055171043111600","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}