2026 Week 3 Football Release

BIG TEN FOOTBALL RELEASE - WEEK 3 | STANDINGS | SCHEDULE | WE GIVE BLOOD DRIVE

• Week 3 ushers in the start of conference play with a pair of games on Saturday. No. 12 USC heads to Rutgers for a 3:30 p.m. ET outing on CBS and RV UCLA is set to host Purdue on Big Ten Network at 11 p.m. ET. Saturday’s slate also includes a clash between Michigan State and No. 3 Notre Dame in South Bend at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

• The Big Ten had nine teams included in this week’s AP and 10 in the US LBM Coaches Polls. The AP poll featured No. 4 Indiana, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 12 USC, No. 14 Penn State, No. 18 Iowa, No. 19 Michigan and No. 21 Oregon, while Washington and UCLA received votes. Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan’s rankings remained the same in the coaches’ poll with shifts for No. 11 USC, No. 15 Penn State, No. 18 Oregon, No. 20 Iowa and No. 24 Washington. Nebraska and UCLA also earned votes.

• The Big Ten Football Players of the Week were announced Monday with Nebraska’s Anthony Colandrea being named Offensive Player of the Week. The quarterback threw a career-high four touchdown passes, all before halftime, with 222 passing and 33 rushing yards. Colandrea is the first Nebraska quarterback since 2016 to throw for at least three touchdowns in consecutive games.

• John Henry Daley was the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Week behind his efforts in Michigan’s win over Oklahoma. Daley recorded his first sack as a Wolverine along with 3.0 TFL and finished the game with eight tackles.

• Iowa’s Caden Buhr took home the Special Teams Player of the Week honor after he connected on the 42-yard game-winning field goal with 15 seconds on the clock, pushing the Hawkeyes past Iowa State, 16-13.

• In USC’s victory over Louisiana, Mark Bowman had a team-best six receptions for 83 yards to earn Freshman of the Week recognition. The rookie tallied the most receiving yards by a Trojan tight end in a single game since 2009. He also had a pair of touchdowns, the first tight end to score two touchdowns in a game for USC since 2022.

• Michigan defeated No. 11 Oklahoma, 17-10, for its first win at home against a ranked opponent since 2024 and first over the Sooners in program history.

• With a 55-0 victory over Howard, Indiana recorded its seventh win by at least 50 points since 2024, which leads FBS teams.

• 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.

• Indiana captured its first national title last season with a 27-21 victory over Miami (Fla.) in the 2026 College Football Playoff at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla. The Hoosiers capped off the season as the only team in college football history to go 16-0.

• 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.