The 2026 college football season is officially here! Week 0 gave us an appetizer of 8 games over the weekend, and now a full serving of college football awaits this coming weekend. The Indiana Hoosiers are set to begin their title-defending season on Saturday afternoon against North Texas.
Having won each of the last three National Championships with three different programs, the Big Ten sits atop the college football thrown entering the 2026 campaign. Only one Big Ten team was active in Week 0. That came in the form of the USC Trojans, who defeated San Jose State 42-26.
With kick-off quickly approaching, here is a look at the Week 1 power rankings in the Big Ten conference.
Week 1 Big Ten Football Power Rankings
18. Purdue Boilermakers
17. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
16. Michigan State Spartans
15. Maryland Terrapins
The bottom-dwellers of the Big Ten include Purdue, Rutgers, Michigan State, and Maryland. The Boilermakers have posted back-to-back 0-9 seasons in conference play, cementing their place in the cellar of the league. Rutgers and Maryland are both coming off 4-8 seasons and went a combined 3-15 in Big Ten play last season. Michigan State is looking for any sort of positivity as the Pat Fitzgerald era begins in East Lansing.
14. Wisconsin Badgers
13. UCLA Bruins
12. Northwestern Wildcats
11. Nebraska Cornhuskers
The teams in this group can be considered wild cards heading into the 2026 season. Wisconsin hasn't done much under Luke Fickell, but he has had some bad injury luck in Madison, particularly when it comes to QB. This could be a make-or-break year. Bob Chesney brings plenty of potential to a UCLA program desperate for some excitement. Northwestern opens a new state-of-the-art stadium, and is looking to new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and QB coach Jerry Neuheisel to provide a major rebuild of the offense. Nebraska is still looking for a breakthrough season under Matt Rhule, but it would be rather surprising to see that come this season.
10. Minnesota Golden Gophers
9. Illinois Fighting Illini
8. Iowa Hawkeyes
7. Penn State Nittany Lions
6. Washington Huskies
The teams in this group should be expected to go bowling, and perhaps even fight for more. Among these teams, Indiana will face only Washington in a road tilt on November 21. Traveling across the country always presents its fair share of challenges, and walking out of Husky Stadium is never easy. Penn State is a team to watch as well, as Matt Campbell enters his first season in Happy Valley. Campbell could not have asked for a more favorable schedule in Year 1, as the Nittany Lions avoid Ohio State, Indiana, and Oregon on their regular season slate.
5. Michigan Wolverines
4. USC Trojans (1-0, 0-0)
3. Oregon Ducks
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
1. Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana is ranked No. 6 in the AP Top-25 preseason poll, which is the highest in program history. It puts them third among all Big Ten teams, following Ohio State at No. 1 and Oregon at No. 2. But that's not how it should be. Indiana is 27-2 under Cignetti's leadership, and while the Hoosiers lost plenty of production to the NFL, they have re-stocked their roster with plenty of talent from top to bottom. Plus, it's never smart to doubt Cignetti. Indiana has what it takes to compete for another national title in 2026, and until sometime takes them down, IU sits at the top of the Big Ten power rankings.
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