Spring football feels like a forgotten thought of the past. The summer is officially here, and all thoughts are on recruiting and just how close the 2025 football season is getting. With less than 100 days till kickoff at the first game, fans just can't contain their excitement for the Cornhuskers this next season as they are looking to have a big season.
The Big Ten is not going to be a cakewalk anytime soon, as the last two National Champions have come from the conference, and everyone is only getting stronger. However, so is Nebraska, and the rest of the conference is being put on notice.
So, as we inch closer to the 2025 season, here is an updated post-spring portal Big Ten conference power rankings.
Purdue is starting from scratch this season with new head coach Barry Odom. With this program having struggled for so long now, Odom is expected to come in and work a miracle. Odom has success at UNLV, but this is the Big Ten, where the talent is truly the best of the best. The Boilermakers made some good additions this offseason, but they still have a long ways to go.
Northwestern has shown glimpses of being a team that can compete in the past 10 years, but last season was another rough one. Head coach David Braun is hoping he has found something in SMU quarterback transfer Preston Stone, but they need more than just one player to step up this next season. The Wildcats lost quite a few players to the portal, and Braun struggled bringing in a lot of guys, so like Purdue, they have a rough road ahead this season.
Maryland may not have the top transfer portal coming in, but head coach Mike Locksley showed he can get young guys into the building from high school, as he is bringing in a solid recruiting class. Success may not happen right now for the Terrapins, but there could be a light at the end of the tunnel at Maryland.
Michigan State is going through a lot of change right now, as they just got a new athletic director, and Jonathan Smith is going into just his second season as the head football coach. Even though year one under Smith wasn't great, things could be looking up just slightly in year two as he brought in some solid players from the transfer portal, but better play from quarterback Aiden Chiles has to be there.
Rutgers certainly took a step forward last season with a. seven-win season and making it to a bowl game, but blowing a big lead against Kansas State in said bowl game was not a great way to end the season. The offense is going through the most change this next season, with leading rusher Kyle Monoagai leaving for the NFL. Quarterback Aidan Kaliakmanis surprised people last season, but he needs to go even more this season with the absence of the great running game Monoagai brought to the table.
The Luke Fickell experiment at Wisconsin has not seemed to work out very well in the Badgers' favor, but things could potentially change in year three, if Fickell can show he knows how to find a quarterback. Fickell is proving that just because you have success in the Group of Five doesn't guarantee success in the power conferences, and without an identity at Wisconsin, this team may not see much upside in keeping Fickell much longer.
Year one under DeShaun Foster wasn't great, but the Bruins ended on a high note with a few wins that weren't expected. Even though UCLA did not make it to a bowl game, there is hope going into the future as the Bruins landed former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava from Tennessee, but expectations should be tempered. Iamaleava isn't the quarterback most thought he would be, but he is certainly a step up from what UCLA has had in the past.
For a team that moved to a new conference and had to replace their head coach all in one year, Washington did better than most thought they would. Jedd Fisch still led this team to a bowl game in the year after almost a complete rebuild of the roster, after a National Championship appearance. Quarterback Desmond Williams Jr. got some quality time under center last season, and coming in with some experience this year is something Husky fans should be very excited about, but the defense has to play complementary football.
Minnesota always seems to be a team that will do enough to look like a contender, but won't do much else other than that. They are almost guaranteed a bowl game, but nothing too big; they are just always there. There are questions about the quarterback room this season, but this team is looking to be competitive yet again but The question is just how competitive can they be?
The biggest questions that always surround Iowa at the beginning of every single game is what their offense will do to supplement their amazing defense. The question also always centers around the quarterback position. In 2024, Kaleb Johnson was the heart and soul of the Iowa offense, but now he is in the NFL, so Iowa has to find who the next star of the offense will be in order to keep this team competitive in a very offensive-minded Big Ten.
Can Lincoln Riley find solid success at USC like he had at Oklahoma? That seems to be the biggest question surrounding the Trojans right now, and only Riley has the tools to answer that question. The success has yet to transfer from Oklahoma, but maybe after year one in the Big Ten, Riley can put it all together, and quarterback Jayden Maiava just might be the answer. The defense still needs work, but Riley has always been more of an offense-minded coach.
Illinois has been the surprising team to come out of the Big Ten in the last few seasons. Head coach Bret Bielema has certainly shown he has what it takes to take the Fighting Illini places. Quarterback Luke Atmyer is one of the top returning quarterbacks in the Big Ten this season, which immediately puts Illinois higher in these power rankings, and the weapons he how around him now should help him be even better than he was last season.
It might seem silly that Nebraska is this high in the power rankings after going 7-6 on the season last year, but Rhule has certainly had himself quite the offseason, and the Cornhuskers really look like a force in the 2025 season. Quarterback Dylan Raiola is coming back with a full season as a starter under his belt and is coming back older and wiser. The transfer portal was very kind to the Cornhuskers, and they are primed for a big season in year three under Rhule.
The Indiana Hoosiers were certainly the most surprising team to come out of college football last season, as they went from a consistent basketball school to now having been in the College Football Playoff more than some SEC teams. Head coach Curt Cignetti really put it all together in year one, and now year two is becoming a "prove it wasn't all a fluke" year for the Hoosiers. The transfer portal was very kind to the Hoosiers with the addition of quarterback Fernando Mendoza, so don't be surprised if Indiana is another force to be reckoned with in 2025.
The fact that an 8-5 season is a down season for the Michigan Wolverines shows just how used this program is to winning. A season after winning the National Championship and losing their head coach, the Wolverines certainly hit their rough spots, especially offensively, as they had one of the worst offenses in college football, but their savior is here. Five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood is ready to suit up for Michigan and take the reins for quite some time.
If you had told the college football world that Oregon was going to join the Big Ten, go undefeated in the regular season, win the Big Ten title, but then lose their first CFP matchup to Ohio State after getting a first-round bye, many probably wouldn't have believed you. However, all of that happened, and now all Oregon has to accomplish is have the same type of season, but then actually perform in the College Football Playoff.
It does seem like a bit of a shocker that the reigning National Champions on not at the top of the power rankings, but Ryan Day is having to completely build his starting lineup with a good portion of his championship-winning team heading to the NFL. Five-star quarterback Julian Sayin is taking over the passing duties, and when you have Jeremiah Smith to throw to, it makes your job a lot easier. Don't look past the Buckeyes, though, cause Day always finds a way to be elite no matter who is on the field.
This just might finally be the season for Penn State and James Franklin. The Nittany Lions are returning the majority of their roster from last season, a roster that finally got them to the College Football Playoff. The return of one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Drew Allar, and the best running back duo in the country is going to vault this team to new heights and might even get them past the Buckeyes this season.