CHICAGO -- The Big Ten arrives at media days on top of the world as the undisputed king of college sports -- three straight football national titles, plus men's and women's basketball crowns -- and 18 programs with a dynasty to defend.
The conference doesn't appear to be slowing down, particularly on the football field. Schools are pouring record amounts of money into their rosters and making top leadership changes to keep up with the sport's new world order. Schools outside the Big Ten footprint are trying to keep up, too. The SEC is doing its best to change the narrative by bending the storyline.
"Whoever wins the national championship doesn't define who has the best conference," former Alabama coach Nick Saban said last week.
But that doesn't jibe with reality.
Inside the Big Ten, four new coaches will take the stage at media days at the Hilton Chicago. That's what happens when Indiana, once the losingest program in the sport, goes undefeated and wins the national championship. While the Cinderella story was fascinating for viewers, it was also a harsh wake-up call for the middle and bottom of the Big Ten. Now, everyone expects to win a title in this new age of NIL and the transfer portal. The old rules no longer apply. Five-star players and homegrown talent are no longer prerequisites to win it all in the sport.
Will the Big Ten eat itself as the talent deepens across its 18 programs, or is this just the beginning of a championship dynasty for the conference?
Let's take a look at each of the 18 programs and the burning questions facing them this week in Chicago.
Illinois
Can Katin Houser sustain the Illini's solid QB production?
Illinois took on the personality of Luke Altmyer, but now that the program's record-breaking quarterback is gone, how will the Illini perform after the school's first back-to-back, nine-win seasons?
East Carolina's Katin Houser steps in at quarterback, but he's not the type of runner that Altmyer was for the Illini. He'll get help with a loaded backfield, but he'll also have four new starters along the offensive line. Illinois will go as far as Houser can carry them, and until we see him in action in Barry Lunney Jr.'s system, coach Bret Bielema will face sharp questions about the outlook this fall.
Indiana
Did Indiana reload for another CFP push?
Indiana -- Indiana! -- won the national championship last season as the first 16-0 team in major college football history. That's still strange to say. Even so, the story is no longer how the Hoosiers flipped the script from the losingest program in college football to national champions. That's nice and will be remembered forever, but now we can start wondering whether Curt Cignetti will remain at the top of the mountain.
It's not quite a Moneyball approach in Bloomington, but the annual transfer additions just make sense. Replacing Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza with one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country, TCU's Josh Hoover,was yet another master stroke. Hoover has recorded nearly 10,000 yards in his career, but has a history of turnover problems. Adding receiver Nick Marsh was also huge.
We're not projecting a Big Ten title for Indiana, but we're curious to hear how Cignetti handled the offseason and whether his approach changes this fall.
Iowa
Is the defense due for a slide?
Iowa faces a rebuild on defense after losing seven of its eight All-Big Ten players. The good news is Phil Parker is still the defensive coordinator, and coach Kirk Ferentz seemingly always gets the best out of his roster, no matter the issues. He's won eight games or more in five straight seasons and enters the fall as the winningest program in the CFP era to never reach the playoff.
Quarterback will again be a big question after the departure of former South Dakota State star Mark Gronowski, the winningest QB in NCAA history. Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski will battle for the QB1 spot in fall camp.
Maryland
Can Malik Washington's leap and a retooled offense save Mike Locksley?
Mike Locksley is facing the end of the road. Back-to-back 4-8 seasons, including eight straight losses a year ago, have the eighth-year coach in win-or-die mode at Maryland.
The good news for Locksley is that he returns a lot of talent, including quarterback Malik Washington, thanks to a bump in NIL money for the roster. Clint Trickett steps in as offensive coordinator after a solid run at Jacksonville State. The defense wasn't great last season, particularly against the run, but Locksley and Co. did a good job of keeping the stars on campus rather than losing them to the portal.
Locksley can sell the youth movement to fans, but they need to see progress after last season's meltdown.
Michigan
Can Kyle Whittingham lift Michigan into contender status?
It's about time we talk football at Michigan. It's been a rocky offseason in Ann Arbor. The Sherrone Moore era is finished, and athletics director Warde Manuel is in his final days, but lost in the news is Kyle Whittingham and his Wolverines. The roster is talented, yes, but Whittingham's steady hand -- a signature at Utah -- is sure to lead to positive results in his first season.
What has us most excited is the addition of offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who will try to propel quarterback Bryce Underwood, the former No. 1 recruit, into superstardom. Beck's offense is a quarterback's dream. Whittingham was a proven winner at Utah, so does this team have the makings of another? What does he like best about his new team?
Michigan
Can Pat Fitzgerald rebuild the trenches and make the Spartans relevant?
After a 10-win season in 2021, Michigan State bet on Mel Tucker and lost big. The Spartans have been lost in the Big Ten wilderness ever since, but they're turning to a familiar name to lead them back to civilization. Former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald is now leading the program. Fitz interviewed for several jobs in the offseason, impressing athletic directors with his plans in the NIL era, and Michigan State landed him to lead one of the nation's biggest rebuilding jobs at a very proud program.
Many will wonder whether Fitzgerald, an elite coach in the pre-NIL era, can adjust to college football's new reality. That's fair. How long the Spartans are willing to wait after firing Jonathan Smith after only two seasons is also a fair question. Will Michigan State play with the toughness we're accustomed to seeing from a Fitzgerald-led program? That's a good start in Year 1.
Minnesota
Can P.J. Fleck keep it up against a more difficult schedule?
P.J. Fleck is consistent. He's won eight games in four of the last five seasons. He did it last season despite an offense that ranked in the triple digits in most major categories. Drake Lindsey returns at quarterback, but he'll need new receivers to step up.
The defense lost a huge star in Koi Perch, who shocked the country when he left his home state for title contender Oregon. Cal pass rusher TJ Bush transferred into the program to join Anthony Smith, who recorded 12.5 sacks last season, so all isn't lost for the defense.
The schedule is more difficult than recent seasons, with trips to Indiana, Penn State and Washington on the docket. Michigan also comes to town Oct. 3. That's a gauntlet for Fleck, who usually feeds off the Big Ten's bottom dwellers.
Nebraska
Can Matt Rhule finally turn the corner in Year 4 amid a QB reset?
We expected a breakthrough season for Matt Rhule at Nebraska in 2025. It didn't happen. Now, five-star QB Dylan Raiola is at Oregon, where he'd rather be a backup, and Rhule sits on top of a warm seat in Lincoln.
Does Rhule sense the pressure? He should. Fans seem to be cooling on the coach, and with star power lacking -- running back Emmett Johnson (1,451 yards) is now in the NFL -- you have to wonder whether the Cornhuskers can win more than seven games amid a reset season.
Rhule enters his fourth year with a 19-19 record, a noticeable improvement from the disastrous Scott Frost era, but we expected more from the miracle worker who previously won conference titles at Baylor and Temple.
Northwestern
Can Chip Kelly spark the offense?
Defense has never really been an issue for Northwestern, but the offense has held them back in recent years. David Braun brought in legendary play-caller Chip Kelly in the offseason to boost the offense, which ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten last season. The quarterback battle between Michigan State transfer Aidan Chiles and West Virginia's Nicco Marchiol is fascinating -- and certainly an upgrade for the Wildcats. They must play behind a mostly-new offensive line, however.
Kelly's playcalling helped Ohio State win a national title two years ago. He won't do that in Evanston, but we should see a noticeable uptick in production, right?
Ohio State
Can yet another new defense keep the Buckeyes on top?
Ohio State rebounded nicely despite replacing most of its defense -- including the coordinator -- a year ago, but elite is never good enough in Columbus. The Buckeyes expect championships, and falling short against Indiana in the Big Ten was as much a learning experience as a warning that the new age of college football doesn't have time to bend the knee to blue bloods.
The offense is gonna be just fine with QB Julian Sayin and superstar receiver Jeremiah Smith back on the field -- even with coordinator Brian Hartline now the head coach at USF. The big question is whether Matt Patricia can build a top-five defense again despite losing eight starters from the nation's No. 1 unit in total and scoring defense. He did it a year ago. Can he do it again? The depth certainly appears capable of a quick rebuild, but that Week 2 trip to Texas is coming quickly.
Oregon
How will two new coordinators affect title hopes?
Oregon is loaded heading into the season, and one can argue with confidence that the Ducks should be No. 1 in the preseason polls. Dante Moore turning down a potential first-round draft spot was the biggest NFL decision of the offseason in the Big Ten. So, why aren't more people jumping in the lake and swimming with the Ducks? They lost both coordinators, including wunderkind offensive play-caller Will Stein, who is now the head coach at Kentucky.
Continuity is everything in college football, so promoting Drew Mehringer to OC and Chris Hampton to DC should alleviate most of those concerns. The defense returns eight starters, and the aforementioned offense is stacked with Moore, a pair of young running backs and the return of Evan Stewart, who missed last season with injury. This is Dan Lanning's best team yet in Eugene, so digging deep into just how different it is this season with two new coordinators is important this week in Chicago.
Penn State
Can Matt Campbell win at a larger school with a familiar roster?
If you see Penn State's roster as sheep in a wolf's clothing -- or maybe a wolf in sheep's clothing -- you're not hallucinating. Nearly 60 players from James Franklin's roster a year ago are gone, and in their place are a flood of Iowa State stars, who followed Matt Campbell to State College for a new era of Nittany Lions football. More than a dozen starters from the Cyclones are now on the roster, including quarterback Rocco Becht.
Penn State fans want to elevate to the level of Big Ten champion and national championship participant, but that can't be the expectation in Campbell's first season, right? The story this season might not be about Campbell as much as it will be about how the fans treat him in Year 1.
Purdue
What's the three-year plan at Purdue?
We're still a bit shocked that Barry Odom left UNLV for Purdue. His first season resulted in only two wins with 80-plus new players. He brought in 52 new transfers, the most in the country, this offseason to improve the roster.
At some point, the constant churn will lead to success, right? Or will it just further weaken the bones of a Big Ten program? The defense was abysmal last season, too, and several starters left the team, leading to more new faces from the portal.
What does consistency and sustainability look like at Purdue? Is this all part of the plan?
Rutgers
How can Rutgers stop the bleeding?
The bottom of the Big Ten is getting picked over in the transfer portal every offseason. Rutgers was bad on defense last season, but its offense was above average. As you might expect, that led to about a half dozen starters leaving the program for other programs.
We're curious to hear what veteran coach Greg Schiano thinks of this latest trend, and whether he believes he can fortify the dam and stop the leaks. He turned to a handful of FCS transfers and hired sitting South Dakota head coach Travis Johansen as his new defensive coordinator in the offseason. Rutgers needs to get on track, both on the field and in NIL, to sustain success, even with a great coach like Schiano doing all he can to limit the bleeding.
UCLA
Can Bob Chesney mimic the Indiana blueprint?
Is UCLA the new Indiana? We're not going that far down the trail of hypotheticals, but shouldn't the man who replaced Curt Cignetti at James Madison be expected to improve upon the three-win mess he inherited at UCLA? Like Cignetti at Indiana, Chesney brought in 10 transfers from JMU in an attempt to turn around UCLA's fortunes.
The Bruins were not good at anything last season, ranking in the triple digits in both offense and defense. Chesney led James Madison to the CFP and ranked in the top 10 on offense and defense. He inherits quarterback Nico Iamaleava, the former five-star transfer from Tennessee, but the entire offense has hit reset with new players, including three former offensive linemen from James Madison.
The Bruins avoid Ohio State and Indiana this season.
USC
Is this the season Lincoln Riley reaches the CFP?
USC is not afraid to spend big bucks. The Trojans dominate the offseason headlines in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail, but Lincoln Riley badly needs to take the next step in Year 3 of the Big Ten.
USC returns the most starters in the country with 15, including nine on offense. Quarterback Jayden Maiava, who earned third-team All-Big Ten honors, is set to suit up behind an offensive line returning all five starters. Defensively, legendary coordinator Gary Patterson steps out of retirement to call plays. The defense has held USC back for most of Riley's tenure, and jumping out of the bottom half of the nation is a must to get the Trojans into the title race.
At this point, it's not about expectations or how USC handles projections. The more interesting question is whether Riley believes this team will break through to the CFP. Let's see how Riley handles it at Big Ten media days.
Washington
Can the Huskies convert Demond Williams' return into a CFP push?
Demond Williams is, umm, back. He made things awkward when he announced he was leaving the team to enter the portal, only to be persuaded to return to Washington. That's great news for the Huskies, who spent about $4 million to keep their star quarterback on campus. How his teammates respond to his return is important. Ten starters return across the roster, and the schedule is favorable -- no Ohio State or Michigan -- for a run to 10 wins this fall.
Washington was young last season, and with so many returning starters, a jump from nine wins is expected. The Huskies will be a dark-horse pick for the CFP, too.
Wisconsin
Can Luke Fickell save his job?
Luke Fickell is on the hottest seat in America. Wisconsin has regressed over the last three years, and the former Cincinnati coach enters his fourth season facing anxiety once again at quarterback. The Badgers were a dreadful 4-8 last season, dragged down by the injury to starting QB Billy Edwards, which led to four different quarterbacks starting games. They return 61% of their production, but is that actually good news after ranking at or near the bottom in the country in most offensive categories?
Old Dominion's Colton Joseph steps in at quarterback and is expected to add some flash in the backfield as a running threat.
On defense, only three starters return. Fickell needs to piece together a winning record to see a fifth season at Wisconsin. The schedule is one of the easiest in the Big Ten as the Badgers avoid Ohio State, Michigan and Indiana. A losing season would be a disaster for the program.
