Sure, the B1G didn’t finish 2016 the way some expected. A 3-7 bowl record fell short of expectations and put a damper on a historic regular season.

But the conference could start in even better shape in 2017 than it did in 2016.

ESPN released its way-too-early top 25 after the College Football Playoff National Championship. In it, four B1G teams (Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan) made the cut. In fact, all of them were ranked in the top half of the top 25.

The B1G was actually the only conference to have four teams ranked in the top 12 of ESPN’s early rankings.

Here’s what they came up with for 2017:

  1. Alabama
  2. Florida State
  3. USC
  4. Penn State
  5. Clemson
  6. Ohio State
  7. Oklahoma State
  8. Washington
  9. Wisconsin
  10. Oklahoma
  11. Auburn
  12. Michigan
  13. Georgia
  14. Stanford
  15. LSU
  16. Miami (FL)
  17. Kansas State
  18. Louisville
  19. TCU
  20. USF
  21. Florida
  22. Pitt
  23. Washington State
  24. Virginia Tech
  25. Texas