July 3, 2026

College football power rankings: Big Ten chock full of talent, but will anyone beat Ohio State?

This story is part of USA TODAY Sports’ 25 days to college football countdown. It’s been almost three years since Ohio State’s last loss to a Big Ten opponent, a 49-20 shocker against Purdue on Oct. 20, 2018, and it’s been a decade since the Buckeyes’ last season with more than one loss in conference play. In a sport owned by the power four — OSU, Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma — the Buckeyes have a case for being the most dominant regular-season team of them all since 2012, especially when given the Big Ten’s overall depth compared to, say, the ACC. To get back into this year’s College Football Playoff and play for the program’s first national title since 2014, OSU will have to get past Oregon, Penn State and the winner of the Big Ten West division, which has two rivals more than capable of pulling off the upset…

Continue Reading: College football power rankings: Big Ten chock full of talent, but will anyone beat Ohio State?