We’re just over a month away from the start of the 2025 college football regular season and the Big Ten Conference is currently positioned as arguably the top conference in the whole sport.
For the first time, the Big Ten Conference has won national championships in back-to-back years. There’s a very good chance that they could make it three in a row with some of the teams that have been assembled.
Heading into the season, the Big Ten Preseason Media Poll has been released. Controversy quickly followed as Penn State, last year’s national semifinalist, got the top spot.
That’s right, the Nittany Lions edged out the Ohio State Buckeyes to claim the No. 1 ranking in the media poll. Last year’s conference champion Oregon came in at No. 3, followed by Illinois, Michigan and Indiana to round out the top six.
The minnows for this season appear to be No. 18 Purdue, No. 17 Northwester, No. 16 Maryland and No. 15 UCLA.
Here is the full ranking (first-place votes in parentheses):
Penn State (11)Ohio State (10)Oregon (2)IllinoisMichiganIndianaIowaNebraskaUSCWashingtonMinnesotaWisconsinMichigan State (*tied for 13th with Rutgers)Rutgers (*tied for 13th with Michigan State)UCLAMarylandNorthwesternPurdue
NEW: Big Ten Preseason Media Poll via @clevelanddotcom Do you agree? 🤔https://t.co/0d3tuB3PRV pic.twitter.com/sU4JJVzWnS
— On3 (@On3sports) July 21, 2025
As you might expect, fans on X had a wide range of opinions on the ranking. Many are acknowledging that the hype around Penn State is real:
“Hype Train in full effect. Biggest season in James Franklin’s career,” a Penn State fan wrote.
“Similar to South Carolina, I don’t understand the Illinois hype. I think USC and Maryland are too low,” another user remarked.
“Penn State finally getting some attention,” wrote a third.
“That’s fair. But PSUs time to put up or shut up. Lots of pressure on JF.”
“Penn St and Tennessee are the preseason champions every year. They both underperform.”
“Penn State finally getting the respect they deserve.”
“Why is Penn state jumping Oregon and OSU? What have I missed?”
Getty Images.
As you saw above, there was only one first-place vote of difference between Penn State and Ohio State, so it’s not like the voters overwhelmingly believe that the Nittany Lions are better – or will be better in the end.
Penn State just made their first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff but have not won the Big Ten since 2016.
They may need to do the latter before they can prove to people that they can win the former.
Related: Penn State Gets Big Return For 2025 After Orange Bowl Loss
/Winners%20&%20Losers%20header%20template%20(3).webp?ssl=1 "5 Winners and 3 Losers from the second pre-season test in Bahrain – who goes into 2026 on a high?")
