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The Big Ten has been 1 big wild ride this fall, and we’ve still got 1 month left to sort everything out before that regular-season ride ends and the postseason roller coaster cranks up.
There are 18 teams in the Big Ten these days, and that’s a lot of teams playing a lot of games with a lot of numbers attached to them. This late in the season, with so many of those games behind us and the stretch run upon us, that means there’s a ton of numbers out there to gloss over and a slew of them that tell a whole lot about the Big Ten in 2025.
It’s an understatement to say it’s already been an eventful fall in the Big Ten, and we’re not even close to being done yet. There are the top 2 teams in the conference who also happen to be the top 2 teams in the country right now. And there are the 2 quarterbacks of those teams who also happen to be the 2 leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy right now.
That’s more than enough to chew on in itself, but that’s just the very top-heavy faction of a conference that hopes to get a few more teams into the College Football Playoff a month from now. But that whole Selection Sunday thing is a numbers game, and before that sorts itself out there are plenty of Big Ten numbers to sort through in early November.
We’re going to narrow all those numbers down to 10 big numbers in the Big Ten to be aware of as that stretch run hits:
0
Yes, we’re starting this list with the emptiest of numbers. For Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Purdue, you might say they are at ground 0. As in, 0 Big Ten victories going into Week 11, which is unimaginable for all 4 of these proud football programs. Even in an 18-team league, to have 4 teams, whoever they might be, still with 0 league wins this late in the season is alarming.
For the Nittany Lions, it’s the brutal reality for a team that was ranked 2nd in the country to start the season. For Wisconsin, it’s a sad sign of how far the Badgers have fallen. Same thing with Michigan State and Purdue, 2 Big Ten standard bearers who have sunk to the very bottom of a league that looks very different now than it used to. This shocking, struggling quartet is running out of weeks to avoid a winless Big Ten campaign.
90
We go from the outhouse to the penthouse, numbers-wise. The number 90 is significant right now in Big Ten circles because it’s the QBR for Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin and Indiana signal-caller Fernando Mendoza. They are the QBs of the current top 2 teams in the land, and while their teams are in the ultimate competition for the biggest trophy, the 2 star quarterbacks are in direct competition for the ultimate individual trophy as the current odds-on favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.
Mendoza’s QBR is 90.0 as he tries to do the seemingly impossible and lead a basketball blue-blood program to a national championship in football. Sayin is at 90.9 as he tries to do the impossible himself, which is leading a defending national champion to a repeat title in his first season as the starting quarterback. Both guys have been phenomenal so far in 2025, and we’ll see where the stretch run and beyond takes each player.
4
That’s the number of 2-loss Big Ten teams who are still firmly in the hunt for a College Football Playoff spot this late in the season. Beyond the league’s 3 known quantities in Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon, we get those 2-loss hopefuls who know they have no wiggle room down the stretch. USC leads the list, but right behind is Michigan, and then there’s Iowa and Washington.
USC (No. 19), Iowa (No. 20), Michigan (No. 21) and Washington (No. 23) were all ranked in the first CFP rankings on Tuesday night, which is a reassuring sign that all 4 are serious Playoff contenders. Now comes the hard part for each 1 of trying to win out and avoid that 3rd loss that would undoubtedly end those Playoff hopes. It’ll be a stressful final month for those fan bases.
2006
This is a sore spot for Big Ten lifers, because it’s the year that signifies the last time a Big Ten player won the Heisman. Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith did the honors 19 long years ago, and that’s a long Heisman drought for such a proud and tradition-rich conference. Almost 2 decades of watching other players from other leagues get the glory hasn’t been easy.
But there is potential good news on the way in this department. The current Ohio State quarterback, Julian Sayin, is the current odds-on favorite to win the Heisman, so a Buckeye might be doing the honors again to end the drought. And if Sayin doesn’t end up winning it, the Big Ten has an ace in the hole with Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza sitting in 2nd in the Heisman odds. Barring an extreme and unexpected downturn by both players down the stretch, that elusive Heisman should finally be in the hands of a Big Ten player come Dec. 13.
55
That’s the number of points Ohio State has allowed, and that’s the best referendum on first-year defensive coordinator Matt Patricia that you can find. Some teams allow 55 points in 1 forgettable game and many teams allow that many points in 2 games. But we’re in Week 11, and the top-ranked team and defending national champions have allowed all of 55 points in their first 8 games of the season.
Jim Knowles’ departure for Penn State in the offseason was supposed to be a concern, but that’s all been wiped away. Patricia’s defense shut down preseason No. 1 Texas in the season opener, and it hasn’t looked back. The Buckeyes have only allowed double-digit points in 2 games, giving up 16 against Illinois and 14 against Penn State. Patricia has worked wonders so far, and now we’ll see if they can finish in January.
2
We go from 1 Big Ten powerhouse to another. Yes, it’s 2025 and Indiana is a Big Ten powerhouse, because this isn’t the distant past when Bobby Knight and the hardwood Hoosiers meant everything in Bloomington. Those basketball glory days are long over and now we’re living in a time when Indiana football is ranked No. 2 in the country. IU is cherishing the number 2 right now.
Of course, Curt Cignetti and his team want to be No. 1 when it’s all said and done, but Indiana’s current place in the Big Ten and college football is nothing short of remarkable. Come January, Indiana football has a real shot to do the unthinkable.
7
After throwing only 5 interceptions during his entire breakout season of 2024, this is the number of picks that Nico Iamaleava has already tossed during his first year at UCLA. With 4 games still left, Iamaleava is in danger of reaching double-digit interceptions during a 2025 season that’s mostly been a disaster since he bolted from Tennessee for seemingly greener pastures.
Iamaleava’s touchdown passes (10) and passing yards (1,468) are way off last season’s pace, and his QBR sits at 61, just more ugly numbers besides those interceptions to feed into UCLA’s 3-5 record. It’s been a rocky first season away from Rocky Top.
20
This was Iowa’s ranking in the first CFP poll on Tuesday night. And it’s very significant because Iowa is the 1 2-loss Big Ten team that wasn’t in last Sunday’s AP rankings. Sure, the Hawkeyes were first in “others receiving votes” with 71, but they still weren’t quite ranked, so the Playoff committee showed a leap of faith in Iowa on Tuesday night by placing the Hawkeyes 20th in the first Playoff poll.
Iowa has a tough road ahead to win out, starting this Saturday at home against Oregon, but the committee gave Kirk Ferentz‘s club a nice running start with that initial No. 20 ranking.
41
Close your eyes, Wisconsin fans. This is the obscene number of points that the Badgers have managed to put up during their 6-game skid that followed a long-forgotten 2-0 start. Amid all of the “Fire Fickell” chants for embattled head coach Luke Fickell, Wisconsin has sunk to the bottom of the Big Ten for a lot of reasons, most notably for its inability to score points.
Included in this run of offensive futility were back-to-back home shutout losses to Iowa and Ohio State. Some teams score 41 points in 1 game, or even 3 quarters. Somehow, the once-relevant Badgers have scored that many over 6 entire games.
3
We end with the possible end game for the Big Ten in 2025. The number 3 could signify 3 straight national titles for the conference, following Michigan in 2023 and Ohio State last year. The Buckeyes are No. 1 right now across the board, in the AP rankings and the CFP rankings, and they have an excellent shot to go back-to-back for the Big Ten.
But Indiana is right behind them and firmly in the title mix. There’s Oregon hanging around, and then a quartet of 2-loss hopefuls who can squeak into the Playoff and make some noise. The SEC badly wants its crown back, but the Big Ten might just be hanging onto it for another season.