ESPN ranks Big Ten Football teams from first to last ahead of Week 6

Through five weeks of the 2025 college football season, teams in the Big Ten Conference are starting to show their true colors.

Teams like Oregon, Ohio State and Indiana are heavily impressing and look like they could be on their way to the College Football Playoff, while teams such as Penn State, USC and Washington suffered extremely disappointing results this weekend.

Heading into Week 6 of the college football season, ESPN updated its FPI Rankings. Oregon leads the way in the conference, followed by the Buckeyes and the Hoosiers. The entire list is below.

1. Oregon Ducks (24.2 FPI)

Following its 30-24 2OT win on the road at Penn State this weekend, Oregon has jumped Ohio State as ESPN FPI’s No. 1 team in the Big Ten. The Ducks have now won 23 consecutive regular season games, with six of these wins coming against ranked teams. Oregon nearly blew a 17-3 fourth quarter lead to the Nittany Lions, but forced a Drew Allar interception after a 25-yard passing touchdown from Dante Moore to Gary Bryant Jr. in 2OT to secure the win.

Dan Lanning‘s team is now 5-0 with three wins against Power-Four competition (Oklahoma State, Northwestern and Penn State). They will now enjoy a bye before returning to the gridiron on Oct. 11 at home against Indiana in a matchup that could help determine a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Ducks are looking to become the third consecutive program to win at least back-to-back Big Ten titles (Michigan won 2021-2023, Ohio State won 2017-2020).

2. Ohio State Buckeyes (23.5 FPI)

Ohio State opened Big Ten play with a 24-6 win over Washington on Saturday to remain atop the AP Top 25 Rankings. The Buckeyes are now 4-0 with two wins over power-four programs (No. 1 Texas and Washington) heading into their second Big Ten game of the season this weekend against Minnesota.

The Buckeye defense completely dominated Washington in the blowout win, holding Demond Williams and the Huskies offense to just 234 total yards. Following their game against Minnesota, the Buckeyes are set up for a sneaky good road clash at No. 22 Illinois.

3. Indiana Hoosiers (21.1 FPI)

Indiana, just like Oregon, has opened the season 5-0 with a 2-0 record against Big Ten competition. The Hoosiers boat raced No. 10 Illinois 63-10 in their conference opener and then held off Iowa 20-15 this weekend. Under head coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana is 16-1 in its last 17 regular season games.

The Hoosiers are on a bye this weekend and will travel to No. 2 Oregon on Oct. 11 for what is a massive opportunity for Cignetti’s program. This marks the second consecutive season that Indiana will have faced the No. 2 ranked team in the country on the road, as it fell to No. 2 Ohio State 38-15 last season.

4. USC Trojans (18.7 FPI)

Although USC fell on the road at No. 23 Illinois 34-32 this weekend, the Trojans’ high-powered offense has them at No. 4 in ESPN‘s FPI Big Ten Rankings. Through five games this season, the 4-1 Trojans boast the nation’s third best offense and fifth ranked scoring offense.

USC fell behind 31-17 in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against Illinois, but used back-to-back touchdowns from quarterback Jayden Maiava to wide receiver Makai Lemon to take a late 32-31 lead following a successful two-point conversion. Illinois however drilled a game-winning field goal and handed USC its first loss of the season.

5. Penn State Nittany Lions (18.3 FPI)

Following this weekend’s disappointing ‘White Out’ loss for Penn State to Oregon, the Nittany Lions are now 15-29 under head coach James Franklin against ranked opponents. They entered the fourth quarter of the matchup with the Ducks trailing 17-3, but fought all the way back to take the game to 2OT. Drew Allar‘s costly interception however cost the Nittany Lions yet another big time victory.

“I will also say this: I’m not going to allow one loss to define our season. I’m not going to allow a few losses to define my career or what we have built here at Penn State,” Franklin said on Monday. “Because even though I don’t think a lot of people spend much time on what we’ve accomplished in 12 years here — and I get it, nobody wants to hear this right now — there are a ton of positives.”

6. Michigan Wolverines (18.3 FPI)

Michigan opened its season 3-1 and weathered Sherrone Moore‘s two-game suspension due to his involvement in the 2023 sign-stealing scandal with wins over Central Michigan and Nebraska. It has an extremely favorable path ahead, as it is currently scheduled to play seven unranked teams before closing out the regular season against No. 1 Ohio State in ‘The Game.’

Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood has been promising through his first four career games, boasting 733 passing yards, two touchdowns (three more on the ground) and one interception. Running back Justice Haynes has been extremely good as well, as his 537 rushing yards and six touchdowns have him in the upper echelon of backs in the country. They will look to improve to 2-0 in Big Ten play against Wisconsin this weekend.

7. Nebraska Cornhuskers (14.1 FPI)

Nebraska dropped its 28th consecutive game against a ranked opponent two weeks ago against No. 21 Michigan after opening the season 3-0 with wins over Cincinnati, Akron and Houston Christian. Although it still can’t quite win the big games, the program is showing massive improvement under head coach Matt Rhule. They’re searching for their first Big Ten win of the season this weekend against Michigan State.

“We’re trying to make the CFP because once we make it in, if we play a home game here in Lincoln, Nebraska, imagine what that would be like. The weather. The fanbase. So I think for us to be successful, we have to make the College Football Playoff,” Rhule said prior to the Michigan game. At this point, it would likely have to run the gauntlet to earn a spot in the CFP.

8. Washington Huskies (11.0 FPI)

Hype was building immensely around the Washington football program after its first three games of the season, which it won by a combined score of 167-55. It however got completely shutdown by No. 1 Ohio State this weekend by a score of 24-6. The Huskies offense totaled just 234 yards and quarterback Demond Williams Jr. was held to -28 yards rushing on 13 carries.

While this loss was extremely deflating, there is still a long season ahead for the program with big-time games against No. 20 Michigan, No. 22 Illinois and No. 2 Oregon looming. Under head coach Jedd Fisch, the program is still searching for the success it enjoyed under head coach Kalen DeBoer before he bolted for Alabama.

9. Illinois Fighting Illini (9.7 FPI)

Illinois falling to No. 9 in the Big Ten FPI Rankings is extremely surprising, but the 63-10 loss to Indiana just weeks ago was extremely detrimental. While that loss was embarrassing for the Fighting Illini (who were playing as a top-10 ranked team for the first time since 2001), they bounced back strong with a 34-32 over USC this weekend.

The Illini nearly choked a fourth quarter 31-17 lead, but used a game-winning field goal to earn their first Big Ten victory of the season. The College Football Playoff could certainly still be on the table with games against No. 1 Ohio State and Washington looming, but it would have to run the gauntlet much like Nebraska would.

10. Iowa Hawkeyes (9.5 FPI)

Iowa fell to 3-2 on the season this weekend after suffering a disappointing 20-15 loss to Indiana following a detrimental injury to quarterback Mark Gronowski. The Hawkeyes have dropped two of their three games to Power-Four opponents this season and seem to be a in a bit of purgatory under Kirk Ferentz, college football’s longest tenured head coach.

With games against No. 7 Penn State, No. 2 Oregon, USC and Nebraska remaining on the schedule, Iowa’s first sub-eight win season (in a full 12-game season) since 2014 could be on the table. This would certainly amp up the heat on Ferentz and the program to move on for the first time in a very long time.

Teams 11-18

11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5.1 FPI)
12. Maryland Terrapins (5.0 FPI)
13. Wisconsin Badgers (3.4 FPI)
14. Minnesota Golden Gophers (2.7 FPI)
15. Michigan State Spartans (1.9 FPI)
16. Purdue Boilermakers (-2.0 FPI)
17. Northwestern Wildcats (-3.3 FPI)
18. UCLA Bruins (-6.8 FPI)