2025 B1G Champion - B1G Contenders Strength of Schedule Rankings - Our Beloved Ducks

Posted August 3Aug 3

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There is no accurate way to value a team's Strength of Schedule (SOS) until the final regular season game is played to reveal an accurate SOS and Strength of Record rankings. However, examining conference opponents' in-conference records from the prior season is most often a good predictor of how opponents will perform next season.

But, you never know when a Hoosier will pop up and make the 'Experts' look like Hosers.

The B1G 2025 Top Contenders - FanDuel Odds to win the B1G

Ohio State +185

Penn State +230

Oregon +350

Michigan - +1000

USC +2000

Nebraska +3500

Iowa +3700

Illinois +4000

Indiana +4500

Note, FanDuel and other gaming sites do not have odds for Illinois and Indiana commensurate with the team's 2025 preseason rankings.

Strength of Schedule - Ranked from the most difficult to the 'easiest.' Wisconsin, with the most difficult schedule, is shown for benchmark purposes.

Wisconsin - 51-30. There's brutal, and then there's the Badgers' 2025 conference schedule, which is made more difficult by a trip to Tuscaloosa to play Bama. In-conference, Wisconsin draws Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, and Illinois. Mercy!

Iowa - 47-34. The good news for the about-to-be B1G coach with the most wins, Kirk Ferentz, is that 2024, 9-0 OBD, 8-1 Indiana, and 8-1 Penn State, all visit Kinnick Stadium in 2025. Coach Ferentz has won slightly more than 70% of the games played in Kinnick.

The bad news. In addition to this tough home game trifecta, the Hawkeyes play B12 Iowa State, USC, and Nebraska on the road. Wisconsin is also a road game, and Coach Ferentz is 3-6 in Camp Randall Stadium.

Penn State - 45-36. Before Oregon comes to town in Week 5 for a White Out experience, the Nittany Lions will consume three OOC cupcakes, followed by an unneeded Week 4 nap. Penn State also plays Indiana at home, but has tough road games at Ohio State and Iowa. Franklin is 4-1 versus Iowa, but only 3-16 against Ohio State, with the last win coming at home in 2016.

With many quality starters returning from a team that finished 13-3 in 2024, many college football 'experts' are lauding Penn State's chances to win it all in 2025.

(However, James Franklin and his team are clueless about our Forum Fanatics being there, looking to turn a White Out into a Black Out. Beaver Stadium? OBD has won many times, no matter how many Beavers are in the stadium.)

Oregon - 41-40. Only two preseason-ranked teams, Penn State and Indiana, are on the OBD's schedule in 2025. These two had a combined two losses in conference play in 2024, which takes the 2025 conference schedule barely over .500 in 2025.

Indiana - 39-42. One of the biggest B1G games of 2025 comes in Week 4 when Illinois visits Indiana. The Hoosiers will be coming off a hosing down of three OOC lightweights. In Week 2, the Illini will have a Power 4 OOC experience, playing a decent Duke team on the road.

The 2025 schedule is not as easy as the one the Fighting Cigs smoked through in 2024. Yet, Indiana still manages to have no one's conference favorites, Michigan State, UCLA, Maryland, and Purdue, on the schedule.

Ohio State - 38-43. Like That School Up North, the Buckeyes have a challenging out-of-conference (OOC) matchup against an SEC opponent, with Texas traveling to Columbus for the season opener. Both teams will be ranked in the top 5 of the AP top 25 preseason poll.

This premier OOC matchup is also Lee Corso's final hat dance, Lee's 431st pick. Lee's record is 286-144, 66.51%. Brutus and the Buckeyes were Lee's first pick on October 5, 1996. On August 30, 2025, will Lee wear

a Horns or Bucks lid?

FanDuel has the Buckeyes as a skinny -2.5 favorite.

Nebraska and USC - 37-44. Nebraska and USC have the 5th and 6th best odds of winning the title in 2025. In 2024, SC went 1-5 in one-score (8 points or less) conference games. Nebraska was 1-4. Both are hoping to turn these results around in 2025.

Illinois - 33-48. USC and Ohio State visit Illinois. The first conference game of the season, Week 4 at Indiana, could determine which of the two will contend for a spot in the 2025-26 playoff field. In 2025, Illinois misses Oregon, Michigan, and Penn State.

16 starters return in 2025, including 5th-year Senior QB Luke Altmyer, and this has Illinois fans fired up about the Fighting Bielema's playoff chances. Week 2 at Duke and Week 4 at Indiana will likely tell the Illini's 2025 playoff tale.

Michigan - 27-54. There is a challenging out-of-conference road game at Coach Sherrone Moore's alma mater, Oklahoma. In-conference, the Wolverines in the 2025 Charmin Soft scheduling award.

Michigan fans are over bringing in 2024's No. 1-ranked recruit, QB Bryce Underwood. But is the 17-year-old ready to come up B1G?

Here's to another B1G Blast in 2025, starting with a skinning of Bob's Cats.