The Big Ten is loaded heading into 2025, and here is a great list of the top-10 games on the conference slate next year.
The Big Ten is so loaded heading into 2025.
As it stands right now, the Big Ten features seven teams that finished the 2025 season in the NCAA Coaches Poll top-25. The list includes the No. 1 team in the country, the Indiana Hoosiers, and a team that is trying to get back to prominence, the Michigan Wolverines, which check in at No. 25.
The good and bad part about this is that there will be several games throughout the regular season that will have the attention of the nation.
The Big Ten Huddle ranked the top-10 games in the conference next year, and while there is a very obvious trend, this list just shows how good the conference is.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are going to be, again, carrying a lot of the regular-season weight for the conference this year. It's no surprise that the Buckeyes move the needle, but this chart tells me something even more important.
In case you forgot, the Buckeyes' schedule is loaded. As it stands right now, they have seven teams on their schedule who were ranked at the end of this year.
This list has their game at USC as No. 4, home games against Michigan and Oregon, and No. 3 and 2, respectively, and then their trip to Bloomington on Oct 17 as the best game in the conference next year.
I would argue that their trip to Iowa should be on this list, but then we are starting to split hairs.
The Big Ten has so many good teams, and it would appear that the Buckeyes are playing nearly all of them. Ohio State could feel like they got screwed by their scheduling this year. While it certainly doesn't help their cause, it may be a touch of payback for having back-to-back seasons with very down schedules.
The other thing that stands out to me is that all of Ohio State's games, at least on this list, are mid-October and on. Ohio State takes an early-season trip down to Austin, Texas, before tapping into this behemoth of a schedule.
The Buckeyes will have their work cut out for them to get back to the playoffs. If they make it back, they will be the most battle-tested team in the country and will be poised to make a run at the trophy.
If they don't make it, well, not many people would be surprised.