3 things to know about the Big Ten, including whether it'll have a fourth straight national champ

Will the Big Ten retain its throne in January?

Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana have won the last three College Football Playoff titles. The Wolverines went 15-0 in the final season of the four-team playoff in 2023, the Buckeyes put together an incredible postseason run in 2024 to redeem what had been a disappointing regular season and Indiana went 16-0 in 2025 to win the school's first-ever football national championship.

Can any of those three teams win the national title again? Or can a team like Oregon make it four different Big Ten champions in four years?

Here's what you need to know about the Big Ten heading into the 2026 college football season.

Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana got 63 of the 69 available first-place votes in the preseason AP poll. And the betting odds listed above make them as close to playoff locks as you can get in college football.

Each of the three teams have implied odds of over 70% to make the 12-team playoff. Those three schools have the best playoff qualification odds among all teams at the top level of college football. Is that a statement of how good all three teams are? Or is it about the Big Ten's potential lack of depth relative to the SEC?

It's easy to make cases for all three teams to win the national title. Ohio State's offense should be even better than it was in 2025 and could top 40 points per game, especially if Bo Jackson and Isaiah West can form a strong running back combination. The Buckeyes' defense will have to figure out the loss of three top-11 picks from the 2026 NFL Draft, but Matt Patricia showed that he still can be an excellent coordinator last season as Ohio State allowed 9.3 points per game.

The Buckeyes' biggest weakness could be a schedule that includes road games against Texas, Iowa, Indiana and USC. That could be the toughest road slate in the country. But a three-loss team is likely to make the playoff again this year. We don't think Ohio State will have three losses, but if the Buckeyes do, they should be among the nation's top three-loss teams.

Indiana didn't need much of a boost after the talent it retained and added from the team that went 16-0 in 2025, but it may end up getting DE Stephen Daley and LB Kellan Wyatt back amid a complicated legal fight for a fifth year of eligibility. The Hoosiers can also claim to have the easiest schedule among the conference's top three teams.

Oregon is our preseason No. 1 team and our pick to be the Big Ten's fourth straight national champion. The Ducks return eight starters from a defense that gave up 4.4 yards per play and should have one of the best defensive fronts in the country. Throw in QB Dante Moore 's return — and a potential Heisman campaign — along with a much healthier group of receivers, and Oregon has all the ingredients to win its second Big Ten title in the past three seasons.

Can USC and Michigan overcome tough schedules?

If USC gets to 10 wins in 2026, it will have backed up Lincoln Riley's confidence about his team with authority.

Riley has been unafraid to say how good he thinks his team can be in 2026. After going 11-3 in 2022, USC has won 24 games over the past three seasons while looking like a team closer to the middle of the Big Ten than one that can challenge the teams at the top.

The Trojans are going to have plenty of opportunities to show they are at the top of the conference this season. USC has Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State on the schedule along with Washington and a trip to Penn State in October. All five of those teams could be ranked at the time.

And USC has struggled against ranked teams in the Big Ten. The Trojans are 1-4 against ranked Big Ten opponents since joining the conference and 4-11 against opponents in the AP Top 25 since Riley became the team's coach.

Michigan also has all three of the Big Ten's top teams on the schedule along with Penn State and Iowa. Oh, there's a Week 2 visit from Oklahoma on tap too.

Welcome to the Big Ten, Kyle Whittingham.

Wolverines fans hope the longtime Utah coach is the stabilizing force the program (and athletic department) needs after the tumultuous end to the Sherrone Moore era. With Whittingham's arrival, Michigan can now fully move on from the Jim Harbaugh era while fondly remembering the undefeated 2023 season.

How Michigan navigates its gauntlet will largely depend on the development of sophomore QB Bryce Underwood. The highly touted recruit showed immense promise in 2025, but also showed myriad times that he was an inexperienced freshman quarterback. Underwood could make massive strides in offensive coordinator Jason Beck's offense. Beck followed Whittingham to Michigan after directing one of the best rushing attacks in the country at Utah. With Underwood and running backs Jordan Marshall and five-star freshman Savion Hiter, the Wolverines should have a great rushing attack.

Are leaps in store for Nebraska and Wisconsin?

The odds above show a clear top three. And they also show a clear chasm between the eight teams believed to be at the top of the conference and the rest of the league.

Which teams from that group of 10 will push into the top half of the standings?

Nebraska has posted back-to-back 7-6 seasons under Matt Rhule. Thirty years ago, that was cause for a riot in Lincoln. But it's now a sign of progress. Nebraska hadn't had consecutive winning seasons since going 9-4 in both 2013 and 2014.

It's also fair to wonder if it's time for Rhule's teams to win more than seven games, especially after he received a new contract extension in the offseason amid interest from Penn State. Temple won 10 games in each of Rhule's third and fourth seasons at the school. Baylor won 11 games in his third season before Rhule was hired by the Carolina Panthers .

Like USC and Michigan, Nebraska is also in the unlucky contingent that plays all three of Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon. The Huskers could be underdogs against Washington, Illinois and Iowa, too. But picking off one or two of those latter three will go a long way to finishing multiple games above .500 this season.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, doesn't have to face any of the Big Ten's preseason national title contenders. That may heighten the stakes even more for Luke Fickell after he returned following a disastrous 4-8 season in 2025.

As Nebraska strung together winning seasons, Wisconsin had back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1991 and 1992. A Week 1 game against Notre Dame is a likely loss. But in any other season before Fickell's arrival, Badgers fans would look at the schedule and see nine or 10 wins.

If that's to happen, it's because Old Dominion transfer QB Colton Joseph became an immediate star. After brutal quarterback play in 2025, Wisconsin added Joseph in the transfer portal. Last season, he threw for over 2,600 yards while also rushing for over 1,000 yards.