Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Oregon, Penn State, and USC all have games on the 2026 Big Ten schedule that could shape the College Football Playoff race, and I’m ranking the ten biggest of the year in this episode.
This isn’t just a list of rivalry games, though a few of the obvious ones make the cut. I’m weighing playoff implications, revenge factor, and how good both rosters actually project to be, not just brand names. This Ohio State football team has possibly its toughest slate ever, alone featuring Texas, Indiana, USC, Oregon, Nebraska, and Michigan, which means multiple Buckeyes games are in the conversation for this list.
The Michigan football program enters year one under Kyle Whittingham with a brutal stretch that includes Oklahoma, Penn State, Indiana, and Iowa at home and road trips to Oregon and Ohio State. USC will likely have to play 7 teams ranging from bowl-eligible to the best team in college football in a row, and Nebraska, Northwestern, Washington, and Indiana do not have easy schedules, either. Lincoln Riley and Curt Cignetti will face their toughest schedules ever in the Big Ten, minimizing USC football’s CFP chances and making life tougher for an Indiana football program fresh off a title.
Oregon hosting Michigan and Washington, while traveling to Ohio State and USC, gives Dan Lanning’s team as many league-defining matchups as anyone in the conference. I also factor in games that might not look massive in July but could end up deciding division-less Big Ten seeding by November, since that’s exactly the kind of game that gets overlooked in these rankings until it’s too late.
By the end of this video, you’ll have my full top ten, ranked with real reasoning, not just circled on a schedule because two blue bloods are playing.
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0:00 Process & Criteria
1:15 No.10 USC vs. Indiana
4:45 No.9 Ohio State vs. Iowa
8:45 No.8 Michigan vs. Oregon
12:35 No.7 Michigan vs. Ohio State
16:35 No.6 Indiana vs. Washington
22:35 No.5 Oregon vs. USC
27:15 No.4 Indiana vs. Michigan
31:05 No.3 Ohio State vs. USC
36:55 No.2 Ohio State vs. Indiana
43:55 No.1 Oregon vs. Ohio State
49:45 Honorable Mentions
#collegefootball #indianafootball #ohiostatefootball #michiganfootball #oregonfootball #uscfootball #pennstatefootball #nebraskafootball #bigtenfootball #collegefootballwithsam
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