Nick Bromberg Senior writer- Yahoo
The Big Ten’s bragging rights over the SEC are well-earned. When you win the last three national championships, you have the right to chirp a little bit.
Though it’s getting harder and harder to see if the Big Ten will be able to keep chirping for a fourth consecutive offseason.
Sure, Ohio State is one of the best teams in the country. The No. 5 Buckeyes showed it in an easy 31-14 win over No. 14 Iowa. No. 6 Indiana doesn’t look as indefatigable as it did a season ago, but the Hoosiers are still really, really good.
But after Ohio State and Indiana … who else are you comfortable considering a national title contender?
The obvious answer is No. 15 Oregon, but the Ducks already have a loss to their name and, unfortunately, a question at quarterback after Dante Moore’s concussion. Head injuries are serious and can be finicky. Whatever is best for Moore’s health should be the priority, even if it means an extended absence.
Even with Moore at 100% sooner rather than later, Oregon is operating without much margin for error. A loss at Ohio State on Nov. 7 is about all Oregon can afford to still comfortably make the playoff.
Behind those three teams, there’s No. 18 USC, who escaped a late comeback attempt from Washington on Saturday night. But we’re at the point where you need to see a big win from USC to believe in the Trojans as anything more than a second-tier team in the Big Ten.
And after USC, there’s No. 23 UCLA, a feel-good story in the making under new head coach Bob Chesney. He led James Madison to the College Football Playoff a year ago. And just two ranked teams remain on UCLA’s schedule the rest of the season.
That preceding sentence, however, is a damning statement about the quality of the rest of the conference.
The Big Ten has been a top-heavy league in recent seasons and it’s at the risk of tipping over this year. Michigan and Penn State are both 0-2 in conference play after losses to Minnesota and Northwestern, respectively, in Week 5. Illinois, a team that won 19 games over the past two seasons, is also 0-2 and lost to Purdue on Saturday. Purdue! The Boilermakers last won a Big Ten game in 2023.
Teams like Minnesota, Nebraska or even Wisconsin could turn into surprise contenders this season. We’re not going to rule that out. But if we were making a combined top 15 between teams from the Big Ten and SEC, we’re not sure we’d have more than five Big Ten teams in that group.
Will that be a problem in the postseason? The Big Ten’s relative lack of depth hasn’t proven to be one in the last three years. But it also may be shallower than ever in 2026. We went on record with Oregon as our title pick before the season and aren’t ready to abandon that choice just yet. But it’s also impossible not to see how the SEC’s title odds are increasing simply because the conference has more teams who could earn the opportunity to make a deep playoff run.
Here are the rest of this week’s winners and losers.
Winners
Purdue: The Boilermakers finally have a win over a power conference team. Purdue went to Illinois and won 24-17. It was Purdue’s first win over an FBS team in over a year and, well, just look at how long it had been since Purdue had beaten a Big Ten team.
Boilermaker football has been in the abyss for a long time. Purdue is still one of the worst programs in the Big Ten, but there are at least signs of life now. Illinois, meanwhile, what the heck is going on?
Northwestern: The first game at the brand-new Ryan Field couldn’t have gone much better. The Wildcats had Penn State’s run defense in a blender in a 34-13 win over the Nittany Lions to christen the team’s new stadium. Caleb Komolafe rushed for 188 yards on 25 carries while Joseph Himon II had 162 yards and two scores on just 10 rushes. Northwestern rushed 55 times for 413 yards in total. Penn State, meanwhile, had just 291 total yards a week after losing at home to Wisconsin.
Florida State: This was a score that looked like one from the late 1990s or early 2000s for the Seminoles. Never mind that this iteration of FSU closed as a slight home underdog. Florida State beat Virginia 38-7 as QB Ashton Daniels rushed 17 times for 136 yards and five touchdowns.
The defense was also a terror, as Florida State sacked Virginia QB Beau Pribula 10 times. It was a nightmarish game for a Virginia offense that had scored at least 27 points in each of its first four games of the season.
Pitt: The Panthers will be ranked in the AP Top 25 on Sunday after a 35-33 victory over Virginia Tech. However, that win did come at a significant cost. QB Mason Heintschel suffered a torn right ACL when he was hit while sliding, and he’ll miss the rest of the season.
Holden Geriner takes over as the Panthers’ starter and there’s a decent chance that Pitt can get to 7-0 before playing Miami later this month. The Panthers’ next two games are against North Carolina and Boston College. And games against Georgia Tech, Florida State, Louisville and Cal after that don’t look as daunting as they could have. Pitt would be a formidable ACC contender with a healthy Heintschel. The potential for a very good season is still there though.
NDSU: Are the Bison really going to win the Mountain West in their first season at the top level of college football? The Bison are now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the MWC after a 28-0 home win over Wyoming. The Bison are allowing less than 10 points per game and QB Nathan Hayes added a rushing element Saturday that he hadn’t yet provided. Hayes rushed 10 times for 79 yards and two scores.
