Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, and Rutgers are part of the “Will be playing Big Ten football” tier as they are technically members of the conference but football discussions end right about there

Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington logically make up “The newcomers” tier as the four former PAC-12 members head to their new home in the Big Ten. Can these teams handle the Big Ten’s physicality remains the biggest question mark.

Michigan State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin all have signs of life as they make up the “A year away from being a year away” group. Nebraska and Wisconsin each are entering year two with new high-profile coaches while Minnesota always proves to be pesky to a team or two each season.

Michigan and Penn State lead us into “The usual suspects” tier. Michigan has to replenish a lot and will enter a new era with the departure of Jim Harbaugh As for Penn State, it remains to be seen if James Franklin can win the big games.

Rounding out the Big Ten tiers as “The favorite” is Ohio State. They return a ton of talent to Columbus and are going to be the champion of NFL and finally get their.