Best and worst-case scenarios for every Big Ten team in 2025

There’s just over a month before toe meets leather on the 2025 college football season, and teams across the country are gearing up for their 12-game regular season slates. This fall, teams across the Big Ten will battle for a national championship, playoff appearance, or simply to make a bowl game. Here’s a look at the best- and worst-case scenario for every team in the conference entering the season.

Illinois

Best case scenario: 11-1

Worst case scenario: 6-6

The Fighting Illini have a wide range of possible outcomes in 2024, with several toss-ups throughout the year. Ohio State is seemingly the only guaranteed loss, while Western Illinois, Western Michigan and Purdue should be easy wins. Playing at Duke, at Indiana, vs. USC, at Washington and at Wisconsin will likely all be close games, and dropping a stinker against Rutgers, Maryland or Northwestern isn’t out of the picture. If all goes well, Illinois will be in College Football Playoff contention, but several tricky road games could derail things.

Indiana

Best-case scenario: 10-2

Worst-case scenario: 7-5

The Hoosiers open with one of the softest nonconference slates in the country, hosting Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State, which should result in easy victories. After that, things get trickier with matchups against Illinois, Iowa, Oregon, Penn State and Wisconsin on the docket. Two or more losses against that group seems extremely likely, especially considering Indiana will be on the road against the Hawkeyes, Ducks and Nittany Lions, three of the toughest environments around.

Iowa

Best-case scenario: 9-3

Worst-case scenario: 6-6

The Hawkeyes have won eight or more games every season since 2015, but that streak is at risk in 2025. The annual CyHawk rivalry game could prove tougher than usual with Iowa State coming off a Big 12 conference championship…

Source link : https://nittanylionswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/nittany-lions/football/2025/07/14/best-and-worst-case-scenarios-for-every-big-ten-team-in-2025/85082301007/

Author :

Publish date : 2025-07-14 22:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.