When Indiana coach Curt Cignetti hoisted the College Football Playoff trophy to cap the program’s improbable run to the national title, he also elevated the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers followed Michigan (2023) and Ohio State (2024), matching a three-year championship run the league had performed once before in its 130-year history.The question for the league now is: Can it win a fourth straight title? If so, which team is most capable of winning it?Ohio State opens the year at No. 1, where it was positioned last season from Week 2 through a Big Ten championship loss to Indiana. Oregon sits No. 2, and the Hoosiers open at No. 6. Five other teams also entered the rankings — No. 14 USC, No. 16 Michigan, No. 17 Washington, No. 18 Penn State and No. 22 Iowa. The Big Ten has one fewer ranked team than the SEC (nine) to open the season.Along with the championship trend, the Big Ten has remained competitive throughout its 18-team lineup. The league has posted a 22-9 postseason record the past two seasons, including an 8-2 record against the SEC. Once known as a conference with a plodding style of offense that cost it in big-game environments, the Big Ten now features explosive playmakers at every position. The league features six coaches who have been named national coach of the year, including USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson.“They’ve adapted to the changes in college football,” CBS analyst Charles Davis said. “They’ve adapted to the changes in landscape. They’ve adapted to the world, and now bringing in that West Coast influence and understanding winning football always matters. Winning football with style really helps.”Minnesota claimed consecutive AP titles in 1940 and 1941, and the Buckeyes earned their first championship in 1942. From 1969 until the Wolverines’ title in 2023, the Big Ten won only three. Now, with three straight in commissioner Tony Petitti’s first three seasons, can the run continue?“When we line up to play our regular seasons and then when we send our teams out to go play for national championships, we can actually say that we’re in a good spot, it’s fair, and we have a great shot to win,” Petitti said.Here are the storylines to watch as the Big Ten kicks off another season:Three storylines to watch: Indiana, Arch and KiffinStewart MandelCignetti encoreWhen Cignetti took over in 2024, Indiana was the losingest program in college football history. In two seasons, he has posted a 27-2 record and won a national title. It’s almost an unfathomable accomplishment.But this isn’t a fairy tale; Indiana could win another championship this year. The Hoosiers have key returnees ranging from Big Ten offensive lineman of the year Carter Smith to the league leader in tackles for loss (Stephen Daley) to big-game receiver Charlie Becker. They have a challenging but not overwhelming schedule that could propel them to their third straight CFP appearance and perhaps a return to the Big Ten championship game.As defending champions, Indiana will draw more attention, and it has never dealt with such high expectations. Cignetti shrugged off the suggestion of extra pressure.“I don’t look at it like that,” he said. “I mean, we wake up tomorrow. We’re going to do things that we have to do to improve as much as possible to put the best day together, and then do the same thing the following day, right? And then it all takes care of itself.”Coaches cornerWhen Michigan and Iowa kick off Sept. 26 in Ann Arbor, it will mark just the third time in conference history two coaches with a combined 400 or more wins will face off. Kirk Ferentz enters year 28 at Iowa and has 225 career victories (officially 221 after four vacated wins). Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham has 177 victories after 21 full seasons at Utah, where he was the nation’s longest-tenured coach after Ferentz.Their combined 402 wins (which will grow after each school’s first three games) still fall way short of two other encounters featuring coaches with more than 500 combined victories. Ohio State’s John Cooper and Penn State’s Joe Paterno had combined for 505 career wins before their 2000 battle. In 1996, Paterno and Iowa’s Hayden Fry combined for 501 wins before their final meeting.At the time of their last encounter in 1978, Ohio State’s Woody Hayes (205) and Michigan’s Bo Schembechler (135) combined for 340 victories.Three other coaches join Whittingham as Big Ten newcomers, although one is far from a novice. Pat Fitzgerald, who led Northwestern from 2006 through 2022, takes over at Michigan State after three years away. UCLA hired Bob Chesney from James Madison, where he replaced Cignetti in 2024. Perhaps the most intriguing hire was at Penn State, where Matt Campbell is replacing James Franklin.Campbell led Iowa State to unprecedented heights over his 10 seasons there, with seven bowl bids and two conference championship appearances. He takes over a program that was a last-second field goal from a possible CFP title game appearance after the 2024 season, and that had championship aspirations last year until three losses to open Big Ten play led to Franklin’s dismissal.Campbell brought 24 former Iowa State players with him, including Rocco Becht, who has more starts than any other FBS quarterback.“I’ve heard a lot about the expectations,” Becht said. “But being at a historic program, being at a program that’s been at the top a lot, you’re going to have those expectations, and you got to kind of just put those to the side and focus on yourself, focus on the team.”Chesney guided James Madison to the CFP last year before replacing Deshaun Foster in Westwood. He bristles at comparisons with his predecessor at James Madison.“Regardless of what Curt Cignetti did, we’re on very different journeys and in very different schools, but in the same league,” Chesney said. “For me, it was about, ‘Do I believe enough in the power of UCLA to be able to put it in a place where I think we can win,’ and I do.”Fitzgerald won 110 games at Northwestern, including the 2018 and 2020 Big Ten West Division titles. He was ousted before the 2023 season during a hazing investigation, sued Northwestern for wrongful termination, and in August 2025 settled out of court with the school. Northwestern said in a statement about the settlement that “the evidence uncovered during extensive discovery did not establish that any player reported hazing to Coach Fitzgerald or that Coach Fitzgerald condoned or directed any hazing.”Hot seat?A few coaches are in win-now mode, including USC’s Lincoln Riley and Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell. Riley’s Trojans have put up a ton of yards and points but have yet to experience significant success as he enters his fifth year. USC is 36-18 overall under Riley but 11-7 in the Big Ten in two seasons’ worth of conference play. His previous five seasons with Oklahoma resulted in a 55-10 overall record before he joined the Trojans in 2022.USC expects to compete for championships, and Riley acknowledged his program has fallen short of that standard during his tenure.“It’s what it’s supposed to feel like here,” Riley said. “The only two places that I’ve been a head coach at were blue-blood schools that have the highest of expectations. Honestly, I’ve really not known anything different. We’re a product of our own experiences. That’s been mine.“Every year I expect to win. I expect us to win. I expect us to compete for and win championships. That doesn’t change.”Fickell was named national coach of the year at Cincinnati in 2021 but has struggled to find his footing in Madison, with a 17-21 overall record and a 10-17 mark in Big Ten action.“The last two years for us have not been up to the standard,” Fickell said. “It hasn’t been there. That’s not just in the wins and losses; that’s in a lot of other things as well — the way we play the game, the physicality, the toughness — we have to do a hell of a lot better job at doing. I can promise you that we will.”Wisconsin recently hired Shawn Eichorst as athletic director after his predecessor, Chris McIntosh, left to become the Big Ten’s deputy commissioner of strategy.QBsThe Big Ten boasts a deep collection of quality quarterbacks, including several who are potential Heisman Trophy candidates. Ohio State junior Julian Sayin set the league record for completion percentage at 77.0, which ranks third in NCAA history. Sayin passed for 3,610 yards and 32 scores last year. Oregon’s Dante Moore was considered a likely top-five NFL Draft pick but elected to return after throwing for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns and completing 71.8 percent of his passes.“I think we go as our quarterback goes, right?” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “He is certainly in a special position to help create that and make us a special team this year.”USC’s Jayden Maiava led the Big Ten with 3,711 passing yards, which ranked sixth in program history. Three players with higher single-season totals won the Heisman (Caleb Williams, Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer) and a fourth (Sam Darnold) just won the Super Bowl.Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. attempted to enter the transfer portal but ultimately returned. He threw for 3,065 yards, ran for 611 more and combined for 31 touchdowns. Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover, who replaces Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, set a TCU record with 3,949 passing yards in 2024, then followed up with 3,472 yards last fall before transferring.After starting as true freshmen, Michigan’s Bryce Underwood and Maryland’s Malik Washington could take big steps forward. Minnesota’s Drake Lindsey, who enters his third season, had a solid first year as a starter with 2,382 yards and 18 touchdowns. Some draft analysts consider Lindsey a potential first-round pick. Despite working with his fourth different head coach (counting last fall’s interim at UCLA), Nico Iamaleava could also realize his potential for the Bruins as a former five-star recruit.“I think every week, coming with a consistent game plan and whether it’s being consistent with my eyes or my feet or where my reads are, I think that’s something I’ve dived into more this offseason,” Iamaleava said.Best player?Wide receivers rarely win the Heisman, but perhaps no wide receiver fits the description of “most outstanding player” like Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith. A unanimous first-team All-American last year, Smith has ripped through defenses for two seasons, compiling 27 touchdowns, 2,558 receiving yards and 163 catches.If Smith just posts an average statistical season, he will shatter every important Ohio State receiving record. Considering the Buckeyes have had six NFL first-round receivers in the past five drafts, it will be an astounding feat. If he simply matches his average of 13.5 touchdowns and 1,279 receiving yards, Smith will break the Big Ten record in both categories.“He has a chance to leave a legacy behind,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “He knows that. He has a generation of young players that look up to him, who he is. He’s a household name. Had a great offseason. He’s taken the step into a leadership role. It’s great to watch him find his voice.”NotableIowa-Wisconsin, Ohio State-Indiana and Northwestern-Minnesota all reach the century mark in games played this fall, bringing the Big Ten’s total of series with 100-plus meetings to 14. The Hoosiers-Buckeyes game on Oct. 17 in Bloomington could mark the third straight top-five showdown between the border foes. The Hawkeyes-Badgers rivalry (Oct. 31) is among the Big Ten’s 12 protected series, while the Wildcats and Gophers will face off in Minneapolis on Nov. 21.The Big Ten returns its leading sack specialist in Minnesota’s Anthony Smith, who totaled 12.5 last season. In addition, all four Oregon defensive linemen come back, forming what could be college football’s best unit.Northwestern opens its new $850 million Ryan Field this fall, with the debut coming Friday, Oct. 2 against Penn State.