COLUMBUS, Ohio — The road to the Big Ten Championship Game officially started last week with a few teams making early statements. Now it’s time for some real fireworks.
Indiana hosting Illinois was supposed to be the premier game last week, while many of the conference’s other top contenders were on byes. It was the first time in 75 years that both teams were ranked in a game against each other, providing a chance for both to prove they belonged.
Instead, Curt Cignetti used Bret Bielema to make it abundantly clear that the Hoosiers’ 2024 College Football Playoff run wasn’t just a fluke year but a new standard.
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That was the No. 1 Week 3 story in the Big Ten. Playing second fiddle was Michigan’s win over Nebraska, where both Bryce Underwood and Dylan Raiola showed off their upside as quarterbacks.
Those results, plus the other six games featuring teams from the conference, have led to some shake-ups in the updated power rankings heading into another quality week of games.
Here’s a look at the movement after Week 4:
Heavyweight bout incoming
James Franklin understands how important Penn State’s home game against Oregon is this weekend. He’s already calling for fans to create the best possible night environment for what is officially No. 3 vs. No. 6 in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game.
The Nittany Lions came in as a preseason favorite, but a combination of a weak non-conference schedule mixed with often looking like they were sleepwalking through it has made it difficult to figure out if that preseason hype was valid. The Ducks replaced a ton of experience with young talent and have immediately started blowing teams off the field.
Both sides need this win.
Dan Lanning has a young quarterback in Dante Moore already making a case to be the conference’s best quarterback. All he’s missing is a signature win.
Drew Allar is the conference’s best returning quarterback, but there are questions of whether he’s already peaked or if there’s another gear to get to.
Those two quarterbacks are the living embodiments of how you describe these two teams. For Penn State, the term ‘Now or Never’ has never been more applicable. For Oregon, something special might be brewing, and this is a chance to show just how special.
He’s QB1, I’m just Sayin’
Julian Sayin used Ohio State’s non-conference schedule to prove two things. He showed against Texas that he could handle the bright lights. He showed against Grambling and Ohio that he had the talent to build an offense around.
Now it’s time to put those two things together against Washington, starting the process of proving him the conference’s best quarterback.
The Buckeyes’ 2025 schedule features a ton of chances for Sayin to outplay quality quarterbacks. Up first is Demond Williams Jr., who also gets to be the first to see how the redshirt freshman does outside of Columbus.
Ohio State hasn’t lost a road Big Ten game since 2018, when it lost at Purdue, 49-20.
Bouncing back vs. stepping up
Illinois came into the season with a ton of expectations, only to be embarrassed in its first Big Ten game. How will it respond?
USC has built some early momentum thanks to Lincoln Riley again finding a quality quarterback in Jayden Maiava. Now that the world is watching, how will it perform?
This game doesn’t match the star power provided by the other two marquee games this week, but its importance is all the same. Things can quickly spiral downward for the Illini if they open up Big Ten play with back-to-back losses to teams with CFP aspirations. The Trojans have been trying to get back on the horse for three years now and finally look ready to say they’re back.
A win on Saturday gives one side new life and the other a win of substance. A loss for either means back to the drawing board with little to no margin of error left.