We are about two weeks from Michigan taking the field for its first game of the year against New Mexico. There’s plenty of excitement for the Wolverines that’s been building over the offseason, but it should be an intriguing season for the Big Ten as a whole.
Ohio State will get a chance to defend its crown, while a hungry Penn State team will look to assert itself on the national stage. Teams like Indiana and Illinois will look to build on breakout seasons, while teams like Michigan State, Nebraska
and Wisconsin will try to crawl their way out of the conference basement.
With the clock ticking until toe meets leather, we’ll take a look at 10 sure-to-happen bold predictions for the Big Ten in the 2025 season.
Bryce Underwood wins Freshman of the Year
With each passing day, it’s seeming more likely Michigan is going to start true freshman Bryce Underwood at quarterback. There’ll be plenty of pressure on the young man’s shoulders, but he has the talent to accomplish some big things right away as the widely-acclaimed No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class.
He’ll be tested early on when Michigan travels to Oklahoma in Week 2, but the schedule softens up a bit after that and he should be hitting his stride by midseason. Don’t expect a Heisman Trophy or anything crazy like that in year one, but Underwood will start to show he’s worth the hype early on.
Indiana proves it’s here to stay
Indiana was the biggest surprise in the conference last year, going 11-2 and earning a trip to the College Football Playoff in year one of the Curt Cignetti era. Last season, the Hoosiers used a boatload of transfers to improve their roster, and they made a couple more key additions this year to ensure there’s no drop off. The biggest import was quarterback Fernando Mendoza from Cal, who could quickly become one of the best players at his position in the conference.
In addition to the new players, there are a few key returners that should play some big roles. On offense, receivers Elijah Sarratt, Omar Cooper Jr. and E.J. Williams are all back after impressing a year ago. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers return two of the best defensive players in the Big Ten in edge rusher Mikal Kamara and D’Angelo Ponds. Indiana is ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll to start the year, but the Hoosiers will once again rise fast.
Illinois takes a step back
Much like Indiana, Illinois caught some teams off guard last year by turning in a 10-3 record, including a thrilling win over South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl to end the year. Coming into the season, the Fighting Illini justifiably have some hype, but are ranked what some might consider too high at No. 12 in the initial AP Poll.
Luke Altmyer is back to lead the offense after a breakout year in 2024, but he’ll face an uphill battle to repeat his production of 2,717 passing yards and 22 touchdowns, as he’ll be without his two top targets in Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin. Furthermore, Illinois has a handful of tough games on its schedule, particularly trips to Indiana and Washington, and home matchups with Ohio State and USC. Its Week 2 road trip to Duke could also be sneakily difficult.
Dante Moore and Dylan Raiola break out
The circumstances for Dante Moore and Dylan Raiola are a bit different, but they’re both former highly-touted prospects that fans will be looking to see take a step forward this year. In Raiola’s case, he was asked to step in as Nebraska’s starter as a true freshman and did an acceptable job, throwing for more than 2,800 yards in a limited offense. Now with a revamped pass-catcher group that features big-time vertical threat Dane Key, Raiola could be even more impressive in 2025.
As for Moore, he’s had quite the journey. He started his career at UCLA, but underwhelmed as a freshman before sitting behind Dillon Gabriel at Oregon last year. In 2025, he’ll be the starter and will be playing in a much more complete offense. Hopefully his time behind a veteran quarterback will bode well for his command of the group.
Luke Fickell and Mike Locksley get fired
On a more sour note, Wisconsin and Maryland are a pair of programs that started circling the drain last season, finishing 5-7 and 4-8, respectively. Maryland took a step back after being a perennial pest for the Big Ten’s best teams over the last half decade or so, while Wisconsin has failed to take off after bringing in Fickell two years ago.
Neither team is expected to return to prominence this season, which might mean bad news for Fickell and Locksley, two coaches who could enter the season on the hot seat. Those seats should only get warmer if the season goes as its expected to for both schools.
Washington wins nine games
Washington looks the part of a team that could surprise in 2o25. The Huskies are entering their second year of the Jedd Fisch era and even after finishing in the middle of the pack last year in the Big Ten, they’re poised to take a leap with a strong secondary and offense led by Demond Williams (a sophomore quarterback many fans should have on their radar) and running back Jonah Coleman.
Four of Washington’s opponents are preseason Top-25 teams (Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Oregon), but I’d bet it can handle business with the rest of its schedule and pull off an upset against one of those tough teams to reach nine wins.
Ohio State wins nine games
While nine wins would be a step forward for Washington, it would be a step back for Ohio State coming off a National Championship victory. On paper, the Buckeyes find themselves in a similar spot as Michigan was a year ago, losing plenty of starters on both sides of the ball, but returning a pair of major stars in Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith.
Ohio State is going to be tested right out of the gate against No. 1 Texas. It’ll also face Penn State in what will be a highly-anticipated matchup in the conference this year, plus the annual matchup in The Game at the end of November. Ohio State should once again be a solid team, but I’m not so sure about its prospects of maintaining its normal level of success.
Michigan beats Ohio State…again
Sticking with the Ohio State theme, the biggest black mark on its record from last year was its loss to Michigan as a three-touchdown favorite. For right now, it would appear Ohio State is snake-bitten when it comes to Michigan, and it’s only going to be tougher for the Buckeyes to get back in the win column in 2025.
For starters, Ohio State’s roster is depleted on both sides of the ball as we mentioned, but Michigan should also be revamped, particularly on offense with Underwood. Additionally, the Buckeyes will be heading up north to what should be a hostile Big House environment, where its lost each of the last two trips. Neither team should be a heavy favorite at this point, but I’ll give the nod to Michigan as we enter the year.
Four teams make the College Football Playoff
The Big Ten found itself with four teams in the initial 12-team College Football Playoff last year, and I’d bet on it to happen again this season. Unfortunately, the math doesn’t exactly work in the conference’s favor with playoff spots guaranteed to five conference champions and probably a minimum of three spots for SEC teams — four teams seems like the maximum allotment of spots the Big Ten could get.
At the start of the year, Penn State and Oregon seem like good bets to make it back this year, but based on what we said about Ohio State previously, the Buckeyes could be on the outside looking in if they finish 9-3. Michigan, Indiana, Washington, USC and Illinois could be candidates to sneak in on the back end, but I’d give Michigan and Indiana the upper hand of that group.
Penn State wins Big Ten, National Championships
Michigan and Ohio State won national titles each of the last two seasons following a similar formula. Both schools relied on an abundance of returning players that postponed NFL futures and got the results they hoped for. Penn State is following a similar formula this year with players like Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen and Dani Dennis-Sutton all back.
Frankly, this feels like a make-or-break season for the Nittany Lions, as they’re the most talented team in the Big Ten on paper coming into the year. But games aren’t played on paper, and they have seemingly always come up short in the big moments over the last decade or so. But I’ll bet this is the year James Franklin and company get over the hump and make it three straight national titles for the Big Ten.
