With the No. 9 recruiting class in the conference, the Illinois Fighting Illini are looking to make their name known during this upcoming season. Despite losing a handful of players to the NFL Draft, the team has a lot of key players returning, including quarterback Luke Altmyer.
Last year, head coach Bret Bielema led the Fighting Illini to a fifth-place finish in the Big Ten, only losing to Minnesota, Penn State, and Oregon during the regular season.
Bielema earned big pick-ups when former WVU wideout Hudson Clement and former Wisconsin James Thompson Jr. committed to play for Illinois from the spring transfer portal.
After a shockingly impressive 2024 season, people have a newfound respect for the Indiana Hoosiers and head coach Curt Cignetti. Now, with the No. 5 transfer portal class in the conference, Indiana is set to improve upon its success from last year.
One of the most notable pickups that Cignetti secured was four-star quarterback Fernando Mendoza, filling the hole left behind by former starting QB Kurtis Rourke declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft, eventually being picked by the San Francisco 49ers.
The Michigan Wolverines wowed the nation as they brought in the second-best transfer portal class in the Big Ten this spring, only trailing behind Oregon.
Now, head coach Sherrone Moore (despite serving a two-game suspension) is set to improve upon his disappointing 2024 season. Even with the win over Ohio State, Michigan fell short of expectations as the defending national champions last year.
However, with four-star running back Justice Haynes and four-star safety T.J. Metcalf joining the roster, the Wolverines are in a much better position on both sides of the football.
Sure, the Ducks lost a few players to the portal, but the group included former Ducks like three-star punter Luke Dunne, three-star linebacker Jaxson Jones, and a few more. The biggest loss was four-star quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who committed to the Cal Golden Bears.
However, head coach Dan Lanning brought in some of the top players in the nation, including four-star running back Makhi Hughes, four-star safety Dillon Thieneman, and more.
Oregon is sitting in a pretty position as it heads into the summer, and Lanning looks to (somehow) improve upon his flawless conference performance from last season.
Somewhat surprisingly, the reigning national championships don't sit atop the conference power rankings. However, the Ohio State Buckeyes lost a lot of talent to the 2025 NFL Draft and are looking to rebuild their dominant force that was in place last year.
Head coach Ryan Day was able to bring in a relatively impressive transfer portal class, ranking fourth in the Big Ten, including four-star tight end Max Klare and four-star offensive tackle Ethan Onianwa, both of whom will help young quarterback Julian Sayin find his footing this year.
With such a large majority of Penn State's starting lineup returning to play another season for the Nittany Lions, it was hard to ever question if head coach James Franklin and his squad would be good again.
While Franklin only secured the 11th-best transfer portal class in the conference, the Nittany Lions didn't really need all that much from the portal and were able to retain a lot of talent while bringing in a few "cherries on top."
Adding to the already-impressive receiver room, Franklin gave quarterback Drew Allar some notable additions, including four-star wideout Devonte Ross and three-star wideout Trebor Peña.