2026 Big Ten Conference football season

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

On December 10, 2025, the University of Michigan announced head coach Sherrone Moore had been fired for cause due to "credible evidence" that Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.^[1] On December 26, the school named Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham the team's 22nd head football coach, agreeing to a five-year contract.^[2][3]

On November 30, 2025, Michigan State announced that it had fired head coach Jonathan Smith after going 4–15 in his two years with the program.^[4] On December 1, 2025, the Spartans announced Pat Fitzgerald as its head football coach.^[5][6] He was previously the head coach for Northwestern from 2006 until 2023 before he was fired amidst the team's hazing scandal.^[7]

Midway through the 2025 season, on October 12, 2025, Penn State announced it had fired James Franklin after 12 seasons. He finishes with a 104–45 overall record.^[8][9] Assistant coach Terry Smith was named the interim to finish out the season.^[10] On December 5, 2025, the team announced that Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell as their next head football coach.^[11][12]

After a 0–3 start to 2025 season, on September 14, 2025, UCLA announced that head coach DeShaun Foster was fired. He finished his head coaching tenure with a 5–10 record.^[13] Assistant coach Tim Skipper served as the interim head coach to finish out the season.^[14] On December 6, 2025, the Bruins announced that they had hired James Madison head coach Bob Chesney as their next head football coach.^[15]

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	Big Ten record
Illinois	Bret Bielema	New York Giants (OLB)	6	134–84 (.615)	37–26 (.587)	23–22 (.511)
Indiana	Curt Cignetti	James Madison	3	146–37 (.798)	27–2 (.931)	17–1 (.944)
Iowa	Kirk Ferentz	Baltimore Ravens (AHC/OL)	28	225–149 (.602)	213–128 (.625)	134–91 (.596)
Maryland	Mike Locksley	Alabama (OC)	8	39–75 (.342)	37–49 (.430)	17–48 (.262)
Michigan	Kyle Whittingham	Utah	1	177–88 (.668)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)
Michigan State	Pat Fitzgerald	Northwestern	1	110–101 (.521)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)
Minnesota	P. J. Fleck	Western Michigan	10	96–66 (.593)	66–44 (.600)	39–40 (.494)
Nebraska	Matt Rhule	Carolina Panthers	4	66–62 (.516)	19–19 (.500)	10–17 (.370)
Northwestern	David Braun	Northwestern (DC)	4	19–19 (.500)	19–19 (.500)	11–16 (.407)
Ohio State	Ryan Day	Ohio State (OC/QB)	8	82–12 (.872)	82–12 (.872)	55–5 (.917)
Oregon	Dan Lanning	Georgia (DC/OLB)	5	48–8 (.857)	48–8 (.857)	17–1 (.944)
Penn State	Matt Campbell	Iowa State	1	107–70 (.605)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)
Purdue	Barry Odom	UNLV	2	46–43 (.517)	2–10 (.167)	0–9 (.000)
Rutgers	Greg Schiano	Ohio State (AHC/DC)	18	99–108 (.478)	99–108 (.478)	15–39 (.278)
UCLA	Bob Chesney	James Madison	1	132–52 (.717)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)
USC	Lincoln Riley	Oklahoma	5	90–28 (.763)	35–18 (.660)	11–7 (.611)
Washington	Jedd Fisch	Arizona	3	32–33 (.492)	15–11 (.577)	9–9 (.500)
Wisconsin	Luke Fickell	Cincinnati	4	80–46 (.635)	17–21 (.447)	10–17 (.370)

Notes:

• All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
• Year at school includes 2026 season.
• Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school only and are through the beginning of the season.

Rankings as of April 28, 2026

Team	On3/Rivals[16]	Scout & 24/7[17]	Signees
Illinois	6	6	33
Indiana	8	9	22
Iowa	7	7	19
Maryland	11	11	19
Michigan	4	4	26
Michigan State	14	12	21
Minnesota	9	8	31
Nebraska	18	18	11
Northwestern	13	13	22
Ohio State	2	3	29
Oregon	3	2	24
Penn State	15	16	15
Purdue	12	14	25
Rutgers	10	10	23
UCLA	17	15	20
USC	1	1	35
Washington	5	5	25
Wisconsin	16	17	15

• July 28–30, 2026 – Media Days, Chicago

		Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Final
Illinois	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Indiana	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Iowa	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Maryland	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Michigan	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Michigan State	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Minnesota	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Nebraska	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Northwestern	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Ohio State	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Oregon	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Penn State	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Purdue	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Rutgers	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
UCLA	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
USC	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Washington	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Wisconsin	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		No change in ranking from previous week
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Index to colors and formatting
Big Ten member won
Big Ten member lost
Big Ten teams in bold

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
August 29		San Jose State	USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 3		Eastern Illinois	Minnesota	Huntington Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN
September 3		UMass	Rutgers	SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ
September 5		UAB	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
September 5		North Texas	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN
September 5		Northern Illinois	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA
September 5		Hampton	Maryland	SECU Stadium • College Park, MD
September 5		Western Michigan	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
September 5		Toledo	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI
September 5		Ohio	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
September 5		Ball State	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH
September 5		Boise State	Oregon	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR
September 5		Marshall	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA
September 5		Indiana State	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN
September 5		UCLA	California	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA (Cal–UCLA rivalry)
September 5		Fresno State	USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA
September 5		Washington State	Washington	Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)
September 5		South Dakota State	Northwestern	Martin Stadium • Evanston, IL
September 6		Wisconsin	Notre Dame	Lambeau Field • Green Bay, WI (Shamrock Series)	NBC/Peacock
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 11		Rutgers	Boston College	Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA
September 12		Duke	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
September 12		Howard	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN
September 12		Iowa State	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA (Cy-Hawk Trophy)
September 12		Maryland	UConn	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT
September 12		Oklahoma	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
September 12		Eastern Michigan	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI
September 12		Mississippi State	Minnesota	Huntington Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN
September 12		Bowling Green	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
September 12		Ohio State	Texas	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX
September 12		Oregon	Oklahoma State	Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, OK
September 12		Penn State	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA
September 12		Wake Forest	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN
September 12		San Diego State	UCLA	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
September 12		Louisiana	USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA
September 12		Utah State	Washington	Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA
September 12		Western Illinois	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
September 12	Northwestern

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 19		Southern Illinois	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
September 19		Western Kentucky	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN
September 19		Northern Iowa	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA
September 19		Virginia Tech	Maryland	SECU Stadium • College Park, MD
September 19		UTEP	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
September 19		Michigan State	Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy)
September 19		Akron	Minnesota	Huntington Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN
September 19		North Dakota	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
September 19		Colorado	Northwestern	Martin Stadium • Evanston, IL
September 19		Kent State	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH
September 19		Portland State	Oregon	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR
September 19		Buffalo	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA
September 19		Eastern Washington	Washington	Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA
September 19		Eastern Michigan	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI
September 19		USC	Rutgers	SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ
September 19		Purdue	UCLA	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 26		Notre Dame	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)
September 26		Northwestern	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN
September 26		Oregon	USC	L.A. Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA (ORE-USC rivalry)
September 26		Illinois	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (Illibuck)
September 26		Iowa	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
September 26		Minnesota	Washington	Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA
September 26		Wisconsin	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA
September 26		UCLA	Maryland	SECU Stadium • College Park, MD
September 26		Nebraska	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI
September 26		Howard	Rutgers	SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 2		Penn State	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
October 3		Indiana	Rutgers	SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ
October 3		Ohio State	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA
October 3		Michigan	Minnesota	Huntington Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)
October 3		Washington	USC	L.A. Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA
October 3		Purdue	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Purdue Cannon)
October 3		Maryland	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
October 3		Michigan State	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 3	Oregon	UCLA

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 10		Ball State	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
October 10		Indiana	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
October 10		UCLA	Oregon	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR
October 10		Maryland	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH
October 10		USC	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA
October 10		Iowa	Washington	Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA
October 10		Illinois	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI
October 10		Minnesota	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 10	Michigan	Rutgers	Wisconsin

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 17		Ohio State	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN
October 17		Nebraska	Oregon	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR
October 17		Penn State	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
October 17		Washington	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN
October 17		Northwestern	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI
October 17		Wisconsin	UCLA	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
October 17		Rutgers	Maryland	SHI Stadium • College Park, MD
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 17	Illinois	Iowa	Minnesota	USC

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 24		Indiana	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
October 24		Oregon	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
October 24		USC	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI
October 24		Iowa	Minnesota	Huntington Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN (Floyd of Rosedale)
October 24		Rutgers	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
October 24		Michigan State	UCLA	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 24	Maryland	Nebraska	Ohio State	Penn State	Purdue	Washington

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 31		Minnesota	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN
October 31		Northwestern	Oregon	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR
October 31		Ohio State	USC	L.A. Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA
October 31		Michigan	Rutgers	SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ
October 31		Wisconsin	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA (Heartland Trophy)
October 31		Illinois	Maryland	SECU Stadium • College Park, MD
October 31		Washington	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
October 31		Purdue	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA
October 31		Nevada	UCLA	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 31	Michigan State

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 7		Oregon	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH
November 7		Michigan State	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)
November 7		Iowa	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
November 7		Nebraska	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
November 7		UCLA	Minnesota	Huntington Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN
November 7		Penn State	Washington	Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA
November 7		Rutgers	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI
November 7		Maryland	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 7	Indiana	USC

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 14		USC	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN
November 14		Michigan	Oregon	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR
November 14		Northwestern	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH
November 14		Purdue	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA
November 14		Illinois	UCLA	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
November 14		Minnesota	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA
November 14		Washington	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI
November 14		Nebraska	Rutgers	SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ
November 14		Wisconsin	Maryland	SECU Stadium • College Park, MD
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 21		Indiana	Washington	Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA
November 21		Oregon	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI
November 21		Ohio State	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
November 21		UCLA	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
November 21		Maryland	USC	L.A. Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA
November 21		Iowa	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL
November 21		Northwestern	Minnesota	Huntington Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN
November 21		Rutgers	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA
November 21		Wisconsin	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 27		Nebraska	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA (Heroes Game)
November 28		Purdue	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)
November 28		Washington	Oregon	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR (ORE–WAS rivalry)
November 28		Michigan	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (The Game)
November 28		USC	UCLA	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Victory Bell)
November 28		Illinois	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy)
November 28		Minnesota	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)
November 28		Penn State	Maryland	SECU Stadium • College Park, MD (MD–PSU rivalry)
November 28		Michigan State	Rutgers	SHI Stadium • Piscataway, NJ
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 5				Lucas Oil Stadium • Indianapolis, IN (Big Ten Championship Game)	FOX
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.