There are 214 days until the Illini take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Dublin, Ireland. Granted, who knows if COVID-19 will allow the location to remain. Regardless, despite the season kickoff being months away, the foundations of Big Ten contenders are almost set. 

Fans expect 2021 to be an exciting Big Ten season with fresh faces, coaches on hot seats and programs ready to take the next step forward. Here are the Way-Too-Early power rankings for each Big Ten program next season. 

Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes rode Justin Fields’ golden arm and a punishing run game for another Big Ten title and playoff appearance. Despite Fields forgoing his senior season for the NFL, the Buckeyes are locked and loaded for another repeat.

The Buckeyes return key skill players, including running back Master Teague and wide receiver Chris Olave, which helps ease the concerns of losing Fields. Ohio State is such a well-oiled machine now, any quarterback will step in and put up great numbers. 

Ohio State does have tough tests, though, especially a road game against east rival Indiana, who expects to have their best team in school history.

Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes were arguably the Big Ten’s hottest team to end the season, finishing off the year with six straight victories. Back-to-back one-possession losses to start the season, however, kept the Hawkeyes from playoff contention. 

Iowa returns quarterback Spencer Petras, who torched Illinois for three passing touchdowns. But like all Hawkeye teams, success will run through the defense, which finished second in the conference last season.

Iowa’s schedule is difficult, however, with crossover games scheduled with Indiana and Penn State.  

Indiana Hoosiers

Despite a disappointing loss to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl, Indiana put together a program defining season, finishing 6-2 with an impressive win over Wisconsin and a close loss at Ohio State. 

Indiana returns quarterback Michael Penix, who suffered a season-ending injury before the Wisconsin game. Indiana, though — like Iowa — was anchored by its defense, which has improved dramatically since Tom Allen arrived in Bloomington.

Indiana returns virtually all of its starters and hosts Ohio State in Bloomington, which could turn out to be the biggest game in program history. 

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions started off 0-5 this season, but they turned it around to finish 4-5, including a convincing 56-21 victory over Isaiah Williams and the Illini. 

Penn State, who started off with Sean Clifford at signal-caller, gave life to backup quarterback Will Levis, which could open a quarterback battle in the fall. 

Penn State struggled mostly because of COVID-inflected problems — especially the loss of linebacker Micah Parsons. With a normal regular season, expect James Franklin to get his program and an absurd amount of talent to rebound.

Northwestern Wildcats 

Pat Fitzgerald proved his 3-9 season in 2019 was a complete fluke with a second division title in three seasons. Although his longtime defensive coordinator retired, the foundation of his defense is still intact. 

Offensively, the unit struggled with quarterback Peyton Ramsey, but they expect to get an upgrade with South Carolina transfer Ryan Hilinski along with the return of key skill players.

Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin looked like a national title contender after knocking off Illinois and Michigan, but Graham Mertz’s struggles — along with a lack of a running game — doomed the Badgers down the stretch.

Mertz was only a freshman last season, so another year under his belt will surely help. But defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard coming back for another season will be huge, as he has overseen one of the top defenses in the conference for the past half-decade.

Michigan Wolverines

Jim Harbaugh needs a stellar season to prove his program is heading in the right direction, as last season nearly derailed it. In his defense, however, the team was extremely young and expectations were inflated after a season-opening win over Minnesota.

Michigan is changing things up at quarterback, electing to go with Cade McNamara, who sparked life into the offense after Joe Milton’s struggles. But biggest of all — as the team only had two seniors starting — Michigan is expected to return its entire offensive line this year.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Gophers were disappointing last season mostly because of Tanner Morgan’s decline, whose passer rating dropped by 50 points. In his defense, he was playing with a new offensive coordinator, but Morgan just seemed less aggressive.

Minnesota is set to lose his top target Rashod Bateman to the NFL, so PJ Fleck will need to get creative in order to help Morgan get out of a slump that’s hurting the program’s trajectory.

Maryland Terrapins 

Maryland was incredibly inconsistent last season, with the offense scoring either 40 points or six points. Mike Locksley’s team only played five games due to COVID-related issues, but Taulia Tagovailoa showed flashes of brilliance in wins over Penn State and Minnesota. 

However, if Maryland wants to contend for a winning season, giving up 32 points a game won’t cut it. The Terps have to increase their presence in the trenches, as they gave up 232 rushing yards in a contest. 

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska finished the season strong  with a close game against Iowa and a win over Rutgers, but the Cornhuskers’ lack of top tier talent hurt them against the likes of Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Adrian Martinez is returning for another season as he earned the job back after struggling midseason. Frost desperately needs at least a bowl appearance to stay off of the hot seat. 

Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State showed potential last season with upsets over No. 13 Michigan and No. 9 Northwestern. 

The Spartans are cleaning house with Mel Tucker having a desire to get his own guys in East Lansing, so growing pains are inevitable. Luckily for the Spartans, they have three seasons to build around Naperville native quarterback Payton Throne as Rocky Lombardi — a turnover machine — has finally left the program for Northern Illinois.

Illinois Fighting Illini

Lovie Smith has been replaced with Bret Bielema, which sparked excitement into a sluggish program. Although Bielema had an impressive track record at Wisconsin, rebuilding the Illini will be a challenge.

Luckily for Illinois, Bielema was able to convince key players to return for another season, including virtually all of the offensive and defensive linemen. Even with the loss of Josh Imatorbhebhe, Illinois returns a lot of skill players, including Chase Brown and Daniel Barker. 

But the biggest X-factor will be Brandon Peters, who’s expected to earn his job back from Isaiah Williams. Which Peters will show up, though? The Nebraska Peters or Wisconsin Peters?

Purdue Boilermakers

Rondale Moore is gone, but wide receiver David Bell returns for another season. The Boilermakers expect to have another quarterback battle between Aidan O’Connell or Jake Plummer, which are both capable of putting up absurd numbers under Brohm. 

However, the defense will be key if Purdue wants to shoot up the rankings, which allowed 30 points a game last season. 

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers was a pleasant surprise last season, upsetting three Big Ten teams for its most successful season since 2014. However, Rutgers benefited greatly from turnovers, an incredibly unpredictable attribute. 

Rutgers will be able to scrape together a few wins as they aren’t a laughing stock anymore. Still, the Scarlet Knights’ lack of blue-chip talent and having to rely on Nebraska transfer Noah Vedral has a ceiling.  

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