Cleveland Dot Com released its annual preseason Big Ten media poll and predicted order of finish for the 2025 college football season. There’s a bit of a change at the top!
The outlet’s preseason poll is the predicted order of finish and it was a razor thin vote for the top spot in the conference. Overall, four teams received first-place votes out of the 18-team league.
The full Cleveland Dot Com preseason Big Ten poll rankings can be seen below. The first place votes are in parentheses.
The Nittany Lions won the majority’s share to win the Big Ten this season. As far as if they’ll actually do it, Penn State hasn’t won the conference since 2016.
Ironically, they lost the conference title game last season and still made a run to the College Football Playoff. So in addition to winning the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions, led by James Franklin, are a popular pick to win the national championship.
The Buckeyes are the defending national champions and they didn’t even win the Big Ten last year. Still, despite a QB change, they will be a favorite to be one of the best teams in the country.
Ryan Day got the monkey off his back last year and can coach, perhaps, a little free-wheeling in 2025. However, the Michigan bugaboo still exists as the Buckeyes will look to avoid a fifth straight loss.
The defending Big Ten champions fell flat in the CFP to Ohio State, but the new Big Ten big boys are already one of the best programs in the country. Dan Lanning’s teams consistently get better so it’s fair to expect another conference crown and more.
Dante Moore steps in at QB for the Ducks and there are playmakers are both sides of the ball. But, they are well behind first-place votes compared to the top two.
The Fighting Illini might be a sleep, but Cleveland Dot Com doesn’t think so necessarily. Yes, they are picked to finish in the top four based on the voting points, but received no first place votes.
After 10 wins last season, QB Luke Altmyer returns to Bret Bielema’s squad that could sneak into the CFP by season’s end. It could be a fantastic follow up to last year’s breakout year.
The Wolverines could return to prominence this season as they go into Year 2 under Sherrone Moore. The highlights of last year were wins over Ohio State and Alabama.
Now, it appears Bryce Underwood, whether he’s the quarterback of the future or present, seems to solves some offensive issues. The expectations are double digit wins, if not a surprise Big Ten title.
The Hoosiers had a historic year in 2024, Curt Cignetti’s first season. As for the follow up, there’s talent back for Indiana this coming season.
Notably, they landed Cal QB Fernando Mendoza. The Big Ten schedule definitely aided Indiana’s success last season as they were nearly non-competitive with Ohio State and needed a late rally vs. Notre Dame to make it look competitive. But there’s no doubt Cignetti has himself a program going into Year 2.
Kirk Ferentz has been the model of consistency in the Big Ten throughout his time with Iowa. But right now, they’re projected to finish just above the middle of the pack.
Can it be better? Sure. Mark Gronowski comes in at QB this season after his transfer, so perhaps Iowa’s weakness, the passing game, can finally be improved.
Matt Rhule and Year 3. It just goes together right? The Nebraska head coach revitalized Temple and Baylor in previous stops before his less than stellar NFL stint.
But, college is his specialty and if QB Dylan Raiola develops as promised, the Huskers might be one of those other sleepers in the Big Ten. Maybe they won’t win it, but they’ll pull off a few upsets.
Lincoln Riley needs to fix his defense. Stop us if you’ve heard that before. Riley can push all of the right buttons on offense, including at QB, but the defense has never been up to snuff.
Granted, if this is finally the year where that unit is average or above average, the 9th place prediction might be far off. But there’s no question there’s a little heat on Riley going into 2019.
The Huskies are another team that go into Year 2 with a coach and Jedd Fisch has an interesting squad this year. It wasn’t anything stellar last year and probably won’t be anything stellar this year, per this Big Ten poll.
There are some key offensive line transfers, as well as a bunch of new names on defense. If they all gel, maybe the Huskies finish a little higher by the time the 2025 season ends.
PJ Fleck is ready to row the boats back to the postseason in 2025 and maybe a little further. But right now, Cleveland Dot Com has them in the bottom half of the Big Ten right now.
Still, this team likely projects to at least make a bowl game by the end of the season. Transfers on the offensive line should help reshape the unit to success.
The Badgers underwent a makeover with Luke Fickell at the helm. Going into 2025, Wisconsin could see some improvements, despite being No. 12 in the Big Ten poll.
Fickell needs to get something going due to expectations based on what he accomplished at Cincinnati. Don’t be surprised if this team rises up the ranks a bit.
Jonathan Smith is working to rebuild Michigan State and they’ll have to climb out from the bottom of the Big Ten, per Cleveland Dot Com. The Spartans might get a Year 2 bump.
Aidan Chiles is an intriguing QB talent and could turn into something worthwhile throughout the course of the season. The Spartans were 5-7 last season and making a bowl game should be the goal, despite a lower ranking.
Rutgers has made a bowl game two years in a row as Greg Schiano has something cooking during his second stint at the school. The defense was a problem last season as there were numerous missed opportunities at nine, maybe even 10 wins.
Competing in the Big Ten this year will be harder with a more difficult schedule. There’s a good offense to work with, so a third straight bowl game should be a possibility.
DeShaun Foster hopes for more success in Year 2, which would include getting to a bowl game. Right now, they’re in the bottom third of the Big Ten per Cleveland Dot Com.
Nico Iamaleava is at QB after transferring from Tennessee. How that translates is anyone’s guess, but the Bruins certainly have a talented player at the position.
The Terrapins might be in a bit of a rebuild now as Mike Locksley turns the calendar to the 2025 season. They’re near the bottom of the Big Ten in these rankings.
ESPN also has them far lower than a few teams just above them in the conference. It could be another down year for this crew.
Northwestern had a lot of magic in 2023 under David Braun. It all came crashing back down to earth last season and Cleveland Dot Com expects another year of four or five wins, based on the metrics.
The Wildcats are second to last in the Big Ten poll going into the season. Maybe Braun and crew have a few more surprises up their sleeves.
Purdue is undergoing a total rebuild with new head coach Barry Odom. He’s brought some of his guys over from UNLV for a fresh start as well.
The Boilermakers will have to do a lot of work to climb up the ranks of the Big Ten. Cleveland Dot Com’s rankings have them at the bottom to start things out this fall.
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