BIG TEN FOOTBALL RELEASE - WEEK 11 | STANDINGS | SCHEDULE | WE GIVE BLOOD DRIVE | TIEBREAKERS
• All 18 Big Ten teams take the field for Week 11 action. The conference slate begins Friday night when Illinois heads to Los Angeles to take on UCLA at 9 p.m. ET on FOX. The complete schedule can be found to the right.
• Nine Big Ten teams are mentioned in this week’s AP or US LBM Coaches Polls, announced on Sunday. The AP poll featured No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Indiana, No. 15 USC, No. 16 Iowa, No. 18 Oregon and No. 21 Ohio State. At No. 4, UCLA leads nine Big Ten teams in the coaches’ poll (No. 5 Indiana, No. 14 USC, No. 15 Iowa, No. 19 Oregon, No. 20 Ohio State), Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern and Wisconsin also earned votes.
• The Big Ten had six teams included in the College Football Playoff’s second rankings of the season on Nov. 10: No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 Indiana, No. 15 Iowa, No. 16 Oregon, No. 18 USC and No. 20 Ohio State. The CFP will release its next top 25 rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
• Following Week 10 contests, the Big Ten shares the national lead with nine teams with at least six wins this season.
• Entering week 11 of the regular season, UCLA has the opportunity to clinch a berth in the 2026 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game with a win against Illinois AND losses from Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, USC and Wisconsin. All seeding will be determined on Nov. 28.
• Five Big Ten teams rank among the top 25 nationally in Relative Scoring Offense, the statistic most closely correlated with winning over the last ten years. Ohio State leads the conference and ranks fifth nationally (157.55%), followed by USC at No. 12 (148.69%), No. 18 Purdue (141.86%), No. 19 Northwestern (141.71%) and No. 20 Oregon (140.04%).
• Since the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship, 10 of the 12 national champions have ranked among the top 20 nationally in scoring defense and nine of the 12 have had a top 10 ranking. Entering week 11, the Big Ten boasts seven of the top 25. Iowa paces the conference and ranks third nationally holding opponents to an average of 12.22 points per game, followed by Indiana (4th, 12.44), UCLA (8th, 14.11), Michigan (14th, 16.22), Wisconsin (16th, 16.33), Nebraska (17th, 16.56) and Ohio State (21st, 18.33).
• UCLA is one of two NCAA FBS teams to remain undefeated through 10 weeks of the 2026 season. The Bruins lead the nation in total takeaways (27), interceptions (17) and fumble recoveries (10), rank third in turnover margin (+14) and pick-sixes (3) and 10th in average time of possession (32:57). UCLA ranks 10th in FBS in rushing defense, allowing 87.7 ground yards per game. The Bruins have allowed just three runs of 20 yards or more (longest: 26 yards vs. Wisconsin on Oct. 17). UCLA has held its opponents to under 100 yards rushing in six of nine games this season.
• Since entering college football in 2024, Jeremiah Smith leads all players in receptions (232), receiving yds (3,758) and receiving TDs (41). In the first nine games, Smith had 69 catches for 1,200 yds and 14 TDs. He has played 32 quarters this season, averaging 2.2 catches, 37.5 yds and 0.44 TDs per quarter. That pace puts him at 95 catches, 1,650 yds and 19 TDs at the end of the regular season. Smith goes into Saturday needing 31 yards to break the Big Ten records.
• Northwestern’s Robert Fitzgerald, Ohio State’s Carson Hinzman and Oregon’s Dante Moore were named finalists for the 2026 William V. Campbell Trophy on Oct. 21, with each of them receiving an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. Now in its 37th year, the Campbell Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete.
• The 2026 Discover Big Ten Championship Game will be played on Saturday, December 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and will be broadcast by FOX. The winner will represent the conference as the Automatic Qualifier (AQ) to the College Football Playoff.
• Abbott and the Big Ten Conference kicked off Season 3 of the We Give Blood drive on August 26. Donations are tracked in real-time until December 4. The school with the most donations at the end will be announced on December 5 at the 2026 Discover Big Ten Championship Game. Every donation can help save up to three lives — and someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds. The leaderboard can be found on page 6.
• The Big Ten has claimed three consecutive College Football Playoff championships by three different universities (Indiana 2026, Ohio State 2025, Michigan 2024).
• With national championships in football and men’s and women’s basketball, the Big Ten became the second conference to sweep football and basketball national titles since 1981-82. The Big Ten is the only conference to achieve the feat with three different schools.