College football is officially back, baby! Week 0 is here and that means fans and analysts alike are almost done evaluating, analyzing, and judging teams based on their performance from last season, or their ranking coming into the season.
I jumped off to a very late start but I wanted to make sure I took my time to evalute these programs and their quarterbacks for this list.
Indiana, quarterback Fernando Mendoza will be making an appearance below by the way Hoosiers fans!
Let’s dive into some Big Ten QB rankings for the 2025 season now that we’re kick-off.
2025 Big Ten Quarterback Rankings:
1. Drew Allar, Penn State (Senior)
Senior quarterback Drew Allar will enter the 2025 season with unfinished business as he tries to avenge his lost against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and bring championship back to Penn State for the first time since the 1980s.
The 6-foot-5, 238-pound senior from Medina, Ohio, has completed 63 percent of his passes for 6,302 yards and 53 touchdowns, while adding 560 rushing yards and 11rushing touchdowns while boasting a 25-3 win-loss record over his three seasons at Penn State.
He has been named to the watch lists for the Johnny Unitas Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Manning Award, Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. He was an All-Big Ten honorable mention in both 2023 and 2024 and a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist last season. He is also a favorite to go top ten in the 2026 NFL Draft and win the 2025 Heisman Trophy this season.
Allar and the Nittany Lions take the field for the first time in 2025 against Nevada at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 30, at Beaver Stadium.
2. Julian Sayin, Ohio State (Sophomore)
Sayin hasn't started a game yet in college football but the San Diego, California native has so much skill, upside and talent around him it was hard to leave him out of the top three at the quarterback position.
Sayin had a successful career out of Carlsbad, California winning MVP of the Elite 11 Finals, Gatorade State Player of The Year (California) and was rated a five-star by all major recruiting publications in 2023-24.
In three seasons at Carlsbad, he threw for 7,824 passing yards, 85 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on 69% passing.
This is a bold preseason prediction but I think that both Jeremiah Smith (wide receiver) and Julian Sayin will be Heisman Trophy finalists this season.
His first career start will be a tall task in the most hyped game of the year when the defending champs No. 2 Ohio State take on No.1 Texas led by Arch Manning.
3. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (Junior)
Fernando Mendoza threw for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions last season for the California Golden Bears. He also ran for 105 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground in 2024. Mendoza's season produced just the ninth 3,000-yard passing season in Cal history (3,004 yards) and a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Mendoza will take over as signal-caller for Kurtis Rourke who was an All-Big Ten selection in 2024. Mendoza was the No. 14 overall prospect in the Transfer Portal and No. 3 quarterback per 247Sports for the 2025 cycle.
He finished his career at Cal as the all-time leader in completion percentage (66.4%) and tied for No. 7 in 250-yard passing games.
4. Dante Moore, Oregon (rSoph)
Former Oregon Duck quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Bo Nix were both Heisman Finalist the past two seasons under offensive coordinator Will Stein and head coach Dan Lanning, will Dante Moore make it a third in a row?
Moore, completed his 2023 season with the UCLA Bruins and finished with a 53.5 completion percentage while tossing 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Moore, a former five-star quarterback recruit from Detroit, Michigan will lead the Ducks against Montana State week 1.
5. Dylan Raiola, Nebraska (Sophomore)
Dylan Raiola enters his sophomore year at Nebraska following a record-setting freshman season. The signal-caller completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 2,819 passing yards, he threw 410 passes, completing 275 for 13 touchdowns.
Raiola helped the Huskers to a 7-6 record, a Pinstripe Bowl victory and their first bowl game appearance since 2016 under Matt Rhule. Raiola also finished as a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year.
Nebraska's Week 1 opponent is the UTEP Miners for the 2025 season.
6. Luke Altmyer, Illinois (rSenior)
Illinois senior quarterback Luke Altmyer has turned his career around after losing his job at Ole Miss twice to Matt Corral and Jaxson Dart.
Last season, Altmyer threw for 2,717 yards and 22 touchdowns with only six interceptions, while igniting the Fighting Illini to a 10-3 record. The honorable mention all-Big Ten Conference selection also ran for 217 rushing yards and four touchdowns for the Citrus Bowl champions.
Alymyer has earned preseason honors for the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year, Altmyer has also earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from Phil Steele and third-team honors from Athlon.
7. Jayden Maiava, USC (Junior)
Redshirt junior Jayden Maiava returns to lead the Trojan offense after starting USC's last four games with a 3-1 record (including defeating crosstown rival UCLA and SEC opponent Texas A&M). Last season, Maiava went 101-of-169 (.598) for 1,201 yards and 11 TDs with 6 INTs. He also rushed for 45 yards on 20 carries with 4 TDs
Maiava won the Mountain West Freshman of the Year award in 2023 at UNLV before transferring to USC.
Maiava threw for 2,027 yards and 24 touchdowns, while adding three scores on the ground in Vegas. USC opens the season at home against Missouri State.
8. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA (Junior)
Controversy surrounds former Tennessee Vols transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava but he found a new home as a UCLA Bruin.
In his two seasons at Tennessee he was stellar under Josh Hepuel, where he led the Volunteers to a 11-3 record as the starting quarterback and a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. Iamaleava finished last season completing 213-of-334 passes (63.8%) for 2,616 yards and 9 touchdowns with 5 interceptions.
According to UCLA, Iamaleava has been named to five preseason award watchlists: the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp of the Year Award, Davey O'Brien QB Award, Polynesian Player of the Year and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
9. Bryce Underwood, Michigan (Freshman)
A true freshman has entered the chat, yes Bryce Underwood has made my top ten list coming in at No. 9. The 6-foot-4, 224-pound quarterback was named the 2024 and 2023 Gatorade Michigan Football Player of the Year.
Underwood threw for 2,321 yards and 30 touchdowns to just five interceptions, completing over 71 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 582 yards and 10 scores.
Bryce Underwood's (NIL) deal with the University of Michigan is reported to be the largest in college sports history, valued between $10.5 million and $12 million over four years, including performance-based incentives. He was originally committed to LSU before flipping back home to Michigan.
The Bryce Underwood era begins against New Mexico on August 30.
10. Demond Williams Jr, Washington (Sophomore)
During Desmond Williams Jr. freshman season, the Arizona native appeared in all 13 games, starting against Oregon in the regular season and Louisville in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. He completed 78.1 percent of his passes for 944 yards and 8 touchdowns, adding 282 yards and two of scores on the ground.
The rising star is set to thrive under Jedd Fisch in his first full season as the starter.
With Jonah Coleman who had 1,053 yards and 10 touchdowns
back in Seattle, along with wide receiver Denzel Boston, who had 63 catches for 834 receiving yards in 2024, Washington will have a triple threat of offensive weapons that can stack up with anyone in the Big Ten.
The Huskies host the Colorado State Rams on August 30 at Husky Stadium week 1.