Big Ten teams held 3 of the top 6 spots in Bill Connelly’s initial SP+ ratings for the 2025 college football season.

Ohio State is the No. 1 overall team in the country in Connelly’s initial ratings. Penn State (No. 3) and Oregon (6) both took top spots as well. Michigan (No. 13), Iowa (21), Indiana (24), and Illinois (25) all landed in the top 25 as well.

Connelly’s model in particular highlights the gap between the Big Ten and the SEC entering the 2025 season. Sure, the Big Ten has several elites, but the depth of quality stands out. The SEC has 7 teams in the top 12 while the Big Ten has only 3. And no SEC team ranked lower than 65th while the Big Ten had 5 teams below that spot.

While Ohio State was the top-rated team in the country, Purdue (No. 116) was the lowest from a power conference. The Boilermakers, who fired Ryan Walters and replaced him with Barry Odom this offseason, are more than 10 spots below FBS newcomer Delaware. Odom’s squad will face 4 of the Big Ten teams that landed in the initial SP+ top 25.

Each Big Ten team’s rating is below, followed by its national ranking. The SP+ can be read as how many adjusted points per game separates a specific team from the average college football team. And the gap between 2 teams is the projected points gap on a neutral field. For instance, SP+ views Ohio State as 42.6 points better than Purdue on a neutral field. And that’s about what separated the 2 sides when they met last season in Columbus.

  • Ohio State — 28.0, No. 1
  • Penn State — 25.3, No. 3
  • Oregon — 22.6, No. 6
  • Michigan — 17.7, No. 13
  • Iowa — 12.5, No. 21
  • Indiana — 12.0, No. 24
  • Illinois — 11.2, No. 25
  • USC — 9.7, No. 30
  • Nebraska — 8.2, No. 34
  • Minnesota — 7.9, No. 37
  • Washington — 7.3, No. 38
  • Wisconsin — 6.1, No. 41
  • Rutgers — 4.6, No. 43
  • Maryland — -0.2, No. 67
  • UCLA — -0.8, No. 69
  • Michigan State — -2.2, No. 76
  • Northwestern — -6.1, No. 87
  • Purdue — -14.6, No. 116

You can find Connelly’s full, 136-team ranking here.