Football

2026 Week 10 Football Release

BIG TEN FOOTBALL RELEASE - WEEK 10 | STANDINGS | SCHEDULE | WE GIVE BLOOD DRIVE

• Week 10 of the 2026 college football season features eight games. The conference slate begins with a Friday night matchup between Illinois and Nebraska in Champaign, Ill., at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. Indiana and USC each enjoy byes this week, with the complete schedule appearing to the right. 

• Ten of the Big Ten’s 18 teams are mentioned in this week’s AP or US LBM Coaches Polls, announced on Sunday. The AP poll featured No. 25 UCLA, No. 6 Indiana, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 18 USC, and No. 21 Iowa, while Minnesota and Northwestern received votes. At No. 3, Indiana leads nine Big Ten teams in the coaches’ poll (No. 5 UCLA, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 17 USC, No. 20 Iowa and No. 23 Northwestern), Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon and Wisconsin also earned votes.

• The Big Ten had six teams included in the College Football Playoff’s first rankings of the season on Nov. 3: No. 4 Indiana, No. 8 UCLA, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 19 Iowa, No. 20 USC, No. 23 Oregon. The CFP will release its next top 25 rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

• Following Week 9 contests, the Big Ten paces the nation with 13 of 18 teams with at least five wins this season, including 10 teams with at least three conference wins. 

• Eight Big Ten teams rank within the top 25 of the NCAA in scoring defense entering week 10. Indiana paces the conference and ranks third nationally holding opponents to an average of 12.44 points per game, followed by Iowa (4th, 12.50), UCLA (5th, 13.38), Ohio State (13th, 15.50), Nebraska (14th, 15.62), Michigan (18th, 16.38), Wisconsin (19th, 17.12) and Penn State (24th, 18.62).

• Ohio State is the only team nationally with multiple road wins against CFP top-25 teams (No. 4 Indiana, No. 19 Iowa). The Buckeyes are scoring an average of 36.6 points per game, while holding opponents to 15.5 points. Ohio State currently ranks No. 11 nationally in both total offense and total defense. The Buckeyes have allowed the third fewest 20+ yard plays among the top 12-ranked CFP teams and the sixth fewest nationally. 

• UCLA is one of three NCAA FBS teams to remain undefeated through nine weeks of the 2026 season. UCLA boasts one of the top defenses in the country, ranking in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense (13.4 points per game), total defense (260.8 yards allowed per game), rushing defense (87.3 yards allowed per game), takeaways (26), turnover margin (+15), interceptions (16) and fumble recoveries (10). Offensively, the Bruins lead the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (219.5), rushing touchdowns (25) and yards per carry (5.44).

• Since entering college football in 2024, Jeremiah Smith leads all players in receptions (225), receiving yds (3,625) and receiving TDs (40). In the first eight games, Smith had 62 catches for 1,067 yds and 13 TDs. On Saturday, Smith finished the game with 10 receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown gave him 40 for his career and broke a tie with Braylon Edwards for most in Big Ten history. Smith goes into Saturday needing 164 yards to break the Big Ten records.

• With a 30-0 victory against Wisconsin, Iowa recorded its third shutout this season on Saturday to capture the Heartland Trophy. The Hawkeyes have 12 shutouts since 2018, the most in the nation in that span. Fifth straight series win vs. Wisconsin, outscoring Badgers 148-26 in that stretch, the third longest win streak for the Hawkeyes against the Badgers in series history. It also marks the first time they’ve ever shutout Badgers in consecutive seasons. 

• 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 5. 

• 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.