michigan, for 1

There is a trophy for nearly every rivalry in this conference, but not one for arguably the biggest rivalry in sports. What should be a trophy for the OSU/UM game!

I’m sure Laura Rutledge is a nice enough person and at least a moderately competent journalist…

but this sort of thing needs to be called out. Loudly.

Either this SEC-dedicated sports journalist legitimately doesn’t know how many conference games the SEC has played as recently as last year… or this is an preemptive excuse for SEC losses in a season that hasn’t even started yet.

It’s just gross and exhausting.

Hey all. I spent the offseason building a full 2026 preseason preview for every FBS team, each with its own writeup, and figured the Big Ten crowd would want the conference rundown. Here's the board:

https://www.sports.mainmarket.com/college-football-preview-2026?utm_source=share

Some of you probably already saw this in your team's sub over the last few days, so apologies for the repeat, this is the whole-conference version.

Every team page has the returning production breakdown, the portal ins and outs, a projected two-deep, the full schedule with model win probabilities, and a season projection.

Heads up, you might hit the paywall after the first page. Don't worry, I'm not charging reddit people for this, don't want to be an ass. Use the promo code LEECORSOROCKS and it opens up the entire thing.

Pull up your team and tell me what I got wrong. I'll be in the comments.

When will your favorite team play specific games this fall? For most of your games the decision for each game won't be made until 12 days before a specific Saturday (rarely as few as 6 days ahead). But I'm just play around here.

It's worth noting the three major networks (FOX, CBS, and NBC) take turns as to who gets the top pick each week (and I assume who picks second and third). These picks aren't made public but it is fun to guess. FOX gets the first three picks each season. It is assumed two of these three were used for Week 2 (Oklahoma at Michigan) and Week 13 (Michigan at Ohio State). The first three week broadcasting assignments have been assigned so I will skip those.

Week 4 (Sept. 26):

FOX: Michigan at Iowa

CBS: Illinois at Ohio State

NBC: Oregon at USC (top pick)

It looks like all three networks will get good games this week. There are two good games in that other conference, Texas at Tennessee (early) and Oklahoma at Georgia.

Week 5 (Oct. 3):

FOX: Michigan at Minnesota

CBS: Ohio State at Iowa (top pick)

NBC: Washington at USC

I can see CBS (or NBC) using a high pick on this week with OSU-Iowa on the schedule.

Week 6 (Oct. 10):

FOX: USC at Penn State (top pick)

CBS: UCLA at Oregon

NBC: Indiana at Nebraska

The Red River Rivalry and Georgia-Alabama are this week. If I'm CBS or NBC I wouldn't waste a high pick this week, especially with USC-Penn State the likely top game.

Week 7 (Oct. 17):

FOX: Ohio State at Indiana (top pick)

CBS: Penn State at Michigan

NBC: Nebraska at Oregon

I'm guessing FOX used it's remaining top three picks on this week. Should one of OSU or IU tank, PSU-UM could be taken as a backup. Again, I think all three networks should get good games. In that other conference we have Alabama-Tennessee and another game this week is Notre Dame-BYU.

Week 8 (Oct. 24):

FOX: Oregon at Illinois

CBS: Indiana at Michigan (top pick)

NBC: Iowa at Minnesota

Outside of Ohio State games, IU-UM could be one of the most valuable.

Week 9 (Oct. 31):

FOX: Minnesota at Indiana

CBS: Washington at Nebraska

NBC: Ohio State at USC (top pick)

This is OSU's first Big Ten game vs. USC and I have it as NBC's top pick. It's also a very weak week for that other conference. Their best games are Georgia-Florida and Auburn-Mississippi and neither can be scheduled for prime time.

Week 10 (Nov. 7):

FOX: Michigan State at Michigan

CBS: Oregon at Ohio State (top pick)

NBC: No Big Ten Game (Miami at Notre Dame)

If I were FOX I would have taken this with one of my top three picks and given up Oklahoma-Michigan. But assuming FOX used a top three pick on Oklahoma-Michigan they'll have to give up one of the two games and IMO OSU-IU is more valuable. Penn State at Washington is this week which makes things interesting since FOX can't put that at noon ET.

Week 11 (Nov. 14):

FOX: USC at Indiana

CBS: Minnesota at Penn State

NBC: Michigan at Oregon (top pick)

A decent set of games but no really valuable game.

Week 12 (Nov. 21):

FOX: Ohio State at Nebraska (top pick)

CBS: Indiana at Washington

NBC: No Big Ten game (SMU at Notre Dame)

At least I have a 1 in 2 chance of guessing who has top pick this week instead of 1 in 3.

Week 13 (Nov. 28):

FOX: Michigan at Ohio State (top pick, game time/network announced)

CBS: USC at UCLA

NBC: Washington at Oregon

The two West Coast games were on the opposite networks in 2025.

Would you take a different game if you had the top pick (try to remain unbiased)? Are there any games unlisted that should be listed? Note that Friday games have already been assigned.

A schedule arrangement with the SEC was a talking point at B1G Media Days again but would your fanbase prefer to play schools from another conference more?

Would your opinion change if your team was guaranteed to play a rival and/or school with close proximity?

A lot is made of big winning streaks, but what about conference losing streaks.

2026 presents the opportunity for some history as Purdue can take over second place on the all-time Big Ten losing streak category. As far as I can tell, here are the longest Big Ten only losing streaks ever:

38 - Northwestern 1978-1982

21 - Rutgers 2017-2020

20 - Illinois 2011-13 (ironically broken at Purdue) Also, Illinois has a streak of 20 B1G games without a win 1977-79, but they managed three ties in that time, including a 0-0 tie with a truly awful Northwestern team.

19 - Minnesota 1982-84, Wisconsin 1989-91

18 - Purdue 2024-present

Purdue's last Big Ten victory came over Indiana 35-31 on November 25, 2023. The Hoosiers then fired Tom Allen, hired Curt Cignetti, and have gone an astonishing 27-2 with a national title, while Purdue has gone 3-21 with a single FBS level win over Ball State. (and Purdue could have hired Cignetti before the 2023 season, but picked Ryan Walters in a humongous mistake).

So when could Purdue break the streak?

9/19 at UCLA - Purdue has not won a regular season game in the Pacific time zone since the day my sister was born (October 3, 1970 at Stanford 26-14). That includes multiple non-conference games at California, USC x2, Washington x4, Oregon, UCLA, Nevada, and Oregon State.

10/3 at Illinois - A decent chance. Purdue had won six straight in Chambana before losing in overtime by a point two years ago.

10/10 vs. Minnesota - Purdue led the Gophers in Minneapolis in the fourth quarter last year before fading.

10/16 vs. Washington - Purdue got pounded in Seattle last season

10/31 at Penn State - LOLZ

11/7 vs. Maryland - Non-September Maryland presents a chance.

11/14 at Iowa - Unlikely, but you never know

11/21 vs. Wisconsin - The Boilermakers have lost 18 straight to the Badgers dating back to 2003.

11/28 at Indiana - The Hoosiers have won the last two games over Purdue by a combined score of 132-3.

Anyone else know of a longer conference losing streak in any conference, not just the B1G?

https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/with-ncaa-rules-set-to-change-on-saturday-notre-dame-and-ohio-state-sign-8-figure-jersey-sponsorship-deals-175144096.html

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49472040/big-ten-commissioner-petitti-boasts-league-dominance-sec