The 130th season of Big Ten football launches this weekend, and the opening matchup features the University of Southern California Trojans taking on San Jose State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, broadcast nationally on NBC.
Conference outlook and championship picture
Big Ten officials announced that the 2026 Discover Big Ten Championship Game will be played on Saturday, December 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The game will air on FOX, and the winner will earn the conference’s automatic berth in the College Football Playoff.
Entering the season, the conference boasts an impressive recent record: three straight College Football Playoff titles earned by three different schools—Indiana in 2026, Ohio State in 2025, and Michigan in 2024. Indiana’s 27‑21 victory over Miami (Fla.) in the 2026 playoff made the Hoosiers the first team ever to finish a season 16‑0.
New leadership on the sidelines
Four programs will be led by new head coaches in 2026. Michigan welcomes Kyle Whittingham, Michigan State hires Pat Fitzgerald, Penn State appoints Matt Campbell, and UCLA brings in Bob Chesney. Collectively, the conference’s 18 head coaches now total more than 202 seasons of experience and have amassed over 1,500 wins.
Community service: We Give Blood drive
The Big Ten and its sponsor Abbott kicked off Season 3 of the “We Give Blood” drive on August 26. Donations are tracked in real time through December 4, and the school that raises the most blood will be announced at the championship game on December 5. Organizers note that each donation can help save up to three lives, emphasizing the ongoing need for blood—someone in the United States requires a transfusion every two seconds.
Big Ten performance metrics
Last season the conference placed six teams in the AP Top 25, the second‑most of any league, including three schools in the top five. The 2026 preseason poll lists eight Big Ten teams: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon, No. 6 Indiana, No. 14 USC, No. 16 Michigan, No. 17 Washington, No. 18 Penn State and No. 22 Iowa, with Illinois and Minnesota also receiving votes.
Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State have posted the highest win percentages in the FBS over the past two seasons, posting records of 27‑2 (.931), 26‑3 (.897) and 26‑4 (.867) respectively.
2026 NFL Draft highlights
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, the first Hoosier taken first overall since 1938 and the first Big Ten quarterback in the top spot since 1990. The conference produced 68 draft picks, including three in the top five—Mendoza, Ohio State’s Carnell Tate (No. 4) and Arvell Reese (No. 5)—and a conference‑leading ten first‑round selections.
Recent viewership and attendance milestones
The 2025 Discover Big Ten Championship Game between Indiana and Ohio State set a new attendance record with 68,214 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium and attracted 18.33 million viewers, making it the most‑watched conference championship in college football history.
Overall, Big Ten teams appeared in eight of the ten most‑watched college football broadcasts during the 2025 season, underscoring the league’s national appeal.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
