The Big Ten’s preseason poll for 2026 dropped Monday morning as conference media days got underway in Chicago, and it already handed us a few talking points before a snap has been played.
The biggest eyebrow-raiser for me is Michigan landing fifth. The Wolverines were slotted behind Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana and USC, which feels a little generous given how much is unsettled in Ann Arbor.
A first-year head coach, two new coordinators and a wave of transfer portal additions is a lot to sort through right away. Add in a schedule that looks brutal by any standard, and Michigan’s path gets even narrower.
The Wolverines have four of the other five top-six teams in the league on the schedule, including road trips to Ohio State and Oregon in November. I’m not betting on a top-five finish there, even if the poll says otherwise.
At the top, the names make sense. Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana were always going to be the three teams driving the conversation entering the season, and all three have the kind of coaches and talent that can fuel a College Football Playoff run in 2026. The only real debate is the order.
If I had a vote, I’d have gone Indiana, Oregon and then Ohio State. The Hoosiers have been overlooked through the first couple years of Curt Cignetti’s time in Bloomington, and that’s still true even after an undefeated 2025 season. There are fair questions about Indiana heading into this year, but the roster was reloaded through the transfer portal, and the program has earned a little more credit than it’s getting.
Oregon and Ohio State are close enough that the separation is slim, but I’d give the edge to the Ducks. Dan Lanning gets the nod over Ryan Day for me, and I’d take Dante Moore over Julian Sayin. The schedule also matters here: Ohio State has a much tougher road than Oregon, so I’d expect the Ducks to finish with the better regular-season record.
The other team I think is being undersold is UCLA. The Bruins come in at No. 13, and that feels a touch too low.
Bob Chesney was brought in after successful seasons at James Madison, and he wasted no time reshaping the roster, bringing in 42 players through the transfer portal. UCLA also has an experienced quarterback in Nico Iamaleava and is one of the oldest teams in the conference on average, which mattered for Indiana last season.
No one is saying the Bruins are about to copy what the Hoosiers did, but I do think they’re a team that can climb into the middle of the Big Ten this fall.
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