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The Big Ten has ripped January glory from the SEC’s grasp the past 2 seasons, with its bluest of blue-blood programs doing the honors.
In 2023, it was Michigan finally getting back to the mountaintop for the first time since 1997. Then last fall, it was the hated rival’s turn, with Ohio State capturing the first crown of the new 12-team College Football Playoff format.
Whether the Big Ten is simply borrowing the bragging rights as the conference with all the hardware remains to be seen. The SEC wants that biggest bully on the block label back desperately, but here comes the Big Ten in 2025 with a real shot to make it a 3-peat. The league is really, really top-heavy this fall, which means those top teams have an excellent chance to add to the conference’s trophy case this January.
As November hits us smack in the face, the Big Ten boasts the top 2 teams in the land, led by top-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana. A 1-loss Oregon team checks in at No. 6, and that top-6 trio of behemoths are the 3 known quantities in the league’s 3-peat pursuit. We can pretty much assume, barring an unforeseen collapse, that they’ll be fighting it out in December and just maybe January.
They are the Big Ten headliners. But what about the league’s underappreciated underbelly? Exactly how many of them are there in Week 10 and how many of these 2-loss squads can squeeze their way into the Playoff? With the season’s stretch run upon us, we’re going to break down the Playoff path for the Big Ten’s bevy of bubble teams.
There are 5 of them left, at this moment anyway. They all share the same desperation, each with those 2 losses and no margin for error, but each have their own unique outlook the rest of the way. Here they are, in no particular order of Playoff relevance because there’s still a month of football left to sort this mess out:
1. Iowa
It’s amazing to even fathom that Kirk Ferentz has been the head coach in Iowa City for over a quarter of a century now, because time flies amid those corn fields and the now 70-year-old Ferentz simply has incredible staying power. He’s won a lot of games since taking the Iowa job in 1999, 210 of them against just 126 losses, but those 2 Big Ten titles came way back in 2002 and 2004.
Both of Iowa’s losses in 2025 were narrow ones, against rival Iowa State early in the season when the Cyclones were ranked and against No. 2 Indiana, which needed a late Fernando Mendoza touchdown pass to get out of Iowa City unscathed back in Week 5. The Hawkeyes have ripped off 3 straight wins since that near-miss against the Hoosiers, but just imagine how different Iowa’s Playoff outlook would be had it knocked off Indiana?
It didn’t though, and so the Hawkeyes know that if they have any Playoff prayer, they’ll need a November to remember. Iowa got 27 votes in the latest AP Poll, so Ferentz’s team isn’t far off from being ranked right now. That golden ticket into the rankings and into true Playoff contention could come after a Week 10 bye when No. 6 Oregon blows into town on Nov. 8.
Beat the Ducks and now we’re talking, then win at USC the following week and now there will really be something brewing at Iowa. If the Hawkeyes can somehow make it to the Black Friday rivalry game at Nebraska with still only 2 losses, it will set up as 1 of the biggest games Iowa football has seen in some time. With 4 games to go, Ferentz at least has these Hawkeyes in a position to dream.
2. Nebraska
Speaking of those Cornhuskers, there was a time not too long ago when Nebraska football didn’t have to dream about playing for and winning championships. The Cornhuskers were synonymous with college football glory for decades. For those not old enough, look up Tom Osborne and that alone will tell the story of what Nebraska used to mean in the sport.
Fast-forward to today, with head coach Matt Rhule and quarterback Dylan Raiola trying to drag the Cornhuskers back to true relevance in college football. Nebraska had a cup of coffee in the AP rankings, but a Friday night loss at Minnesota on Oct. 17 quickly ruined that party. Still, the Cornhuskers sit at 6-2 with a potentially meaningful November of football awaiting them.
We’re going to find out very quickly how long that lasts, because a ranked USC team is coming to Lincoln on Saturday night in a nationally televised battle on NBC that basically amounts to an elimination game for any Playoff contention. Both teams have those 2 losses, and man would it be huge for Nebraska to get a home win in primetime over another traditional program that isn’t quite what it used to be.
If the Cornhuskers can win Saturday night, the rest of their schedule is very doable, capped with the Black Friday rivalry game against Iowa being at home this season. And if Nebraska can get to double-digit wins when the dust settles a month from now, who knows? We’ll all know a lot more about those chances after Saturday night when USC leaves Lincoln.
3. Washington
The Huskies were in the national championship game just 2 years ago under Kalen DeBoer, and Jedd Fisch has recovered nicely this fall after his forgettable first season replacing DeBoer. Washington has already matched its win total from last season, and it sits at 6-2 with at least a shot at making a Playoff run in November.
This isn’t the DeBoer Washington team of 2023 that almost won it all, but Fisch at least has these Huskies in position to think Playoff berth in 2025. Washington made a statement of sorts even in defeat in its Big Ten opener, keeping Ohio State off the scoreboard until the final minute of the first half. The Buckeyes eventually pulled away for a 24-6 win at Husky Stadium, but the Huskies still proved their worth that day and now have November to prove they’re worthy of Playoff talk.
Looking at Washington’s remaining schedule, that just might be possible. After a bye week, the Huskies have Wisconsin on the road and Purdue at home, 2 teams who’ve yet to win a Big Ten game. A very winnable road game against UCLA follows, and if Washington is 9-2 after that, then its home regular-season finale against old rival Oregon will mean everything.
And if the Huskies can do more than just scare the Ducks, like they did Ohio State early in the season, then Washington could be firmly in the Playoff mix on Championship Weekend. The stretch drive begins now for the Huskies, who are on the brink of breaking into the AP rankings. They’ll hope for a lot more than that in about a month’s time.
4. Michigan
The Wolverines were ranked 15th and really set up for a run at a Playoff spot before they went west and got worked by USC in Week 7. That loss might have brutal consequences down the road, too, should Michigan and USC both finish with 2 losses. If the 2 blue-blood programs are both 10-2 at the end of the regular season, then the nod would almost surely go to the Trojans because of Michigan’s forgettable night at the Coliseum in mid-October.
But all of that negative talk for Michigan can come at a later date, because the Wolverines have recovered nicely from the USC loss with victories over Washington and Michigan State. Michigan is also back in the rankings at No. 21, and a simple 4-0 stretch drive in November could very well sneak the Wolverines back into the Playoff after a 1-year hiatus.
If only that stretch drive was so simple. A home game this Saturday against Purdue should be a nice jumping-off point, but then tricky road games against Northwestern and Maryland follow. But if Michigan can get through all that unscathed, then the ultimate possible reward would be waiting when Ohio State comes to Ann Arbor on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Michigan running the table to 10 wins would include that closing victory over the defending national champions and likely No. 1 team in the country. If that becomes a reality, the only Big Ten 2-loss team standing in the Wolverines’ way would be USC, assuming the Trojans win out, too.
5. USC
Those Trojans really seem like the end game here for all of these 2-loss Big Ten Playoff hopefuls. Even though USC whiffed on a golden opportunity a few weeks ago by losing at Notre Dame and couldn’t quite close at Illinois, it’s still ranked, it has that leg up on Michigan and it has a 5-game November gauntlet that could reap high rewards if conquered.
It all starts this Saturday night at Nebraska on NBC and a home game against Iowa looms. Two wins there would knock out a pair of the above 2-loss hopefuls, and then if things get that far the real reckoning would come on Nov. 22 when USC visits Oregon. If the Trojans can win at Autzen Stadium, only a home rivalry game against UCLA would stand in USC’s way of getting to 10 wins.
It’s a long and arduous November road for the Trojans, but that road could ultimately lead to a Playoff berth in December. Or, if USC and these other 2-loss hopefuls stumble just once down the stretch, we’ll likely just end up with the Big Ten’s Big 3 when that Playoff bracket is revealed on the first Sunday in December.