The latest Big Ten blowout loss in the national championship game does not factor into the rankings, but the conference has opened up 2021 with only four teams in the CBS Sports Way Too Early Top 25 poll, and only one in the top five.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are, of course, in the conference’s top spot at number five, expected to contend once more for the national championship in the aftermath of their 52-24 drubbing at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide in this year’s title game.

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The upstart Indiana Hoosiers are next at number thirteen. Indiana surprised everyone this season with the extent of their success, beating Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State in the same year for the first time in school history. Their lone regular season loss was a close game in Columbus against league champion Ohio State.

The Hoosiers ended the season on a sour note, losing to a mediocre Mississippi team in the Outback Bowl to finish the year 6-2, but they are expected to be back in the fray again next year behind their fiery and passionate head coach Tom Allen.

The University of Iowa and the Wisconsin Badgers round out the B1G’s entries at numbers 16 and 21, respectively. The Hawkeyes won six straight games to end the season and may be the favorites to win the league’s West Division with the Badgers not far behind.

Whether or not the league has a true championship contender will come down once again to the Ohio State Buckeyes as that program licks its wounds and prepares to go back on campaign in 2021.

The rest of the rankings can be viewed here.