Final Big Ten football power rankings: Penn State sneaks into title game

No matter what the story in the Big Ten is in a given year, “The Game” is always the biggest game on the conference schedule. Even with Michigan reeling after the loss of Jim Harbaugh and nearly his entire national championship team from a year ago, it played out that way in 2024 with the Wolverines knocking off the Buckeyes 13-10 in Columbus to keep Ryan Day’s team out of the Big Ten title game. 

All year long, Ohio State has been my No. 1 team in the Big Ten power rankings, even with a one-point loss to Oregon, but Day’s big-game incompetence mixed with devastating offensive line injuries to Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin have knocked the Buckeyes down a peg and out of the mix for a bye through the first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Oregon cemented that with a resounding 49-21 win over Washington, taking out its frustration on the team that kept it out of the CFP a season ago. 

Behind the top two, Penn State has continued to close the gap on Ohio State, the team that handed the Nittany Lions their only loss of the season. With a 44-7 win over Maryland on Saturday, after Ohio State’s loss, James Franklin’s team locked up a spot in the Big Ten title game opposite the Ducks in Indianapolis. Franklin hasn’t been able to beat Ohio State since 2016, but in 2024, he didn’t have to. 

Indiana is the clear No. 4 in the Big Ten and marks the drop-off from real contenders to the rest of the league. Curt Cignetti opened up his IU tenure by telling his home crowd at a basketball game that Purdue sucks, and on Saturday he backed that up by pounding the Boilermakers like their big drum, 66-0. Purdue responded by firing Ryan Walters after a 1-11 season. 

Illinois has a head-to-head loss to Minnesota, which for a while was keeping the Fighting Illini from climbing to No. 5, but after a 9-3 finish with a 38-28 win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field, Bret Bielema’s team has earned it. Illinois deserves to be ranked much higher than No. 23 in the CFP rankings with its losses coming to Minnesota, No. 1 Oregon, and a Penn State team that will likely climb into the top three following Ohio State’s loss. 

Possibly the biggest surprise of the season is USC, which finishes the year 6-6 after a 49-35 loss to Notre Dame. Lincoln Riley’s team was better than its record this year, but not by much. The Trojans need to figure it out fast or move from Riley to compete in the Big Ten.

Finally, a year-end round of applause to Nebraska. The Cornhuskers lost their regular season finale to Iowa, 13-10, their 35th loss in their last 44 one-score games. 

However, despite a 1-4 record in one-score games this season, Matt Rhule dragged the Huskers to bowl eligibility in Year 2. Nebraska will play in its first bowl game since 2016.