2020 Big Ten Conference football season

The 2020 Big Ten conference football season was postponed indefinitely due to coronavirus concerns,[1] but it would have been the 125th season of college football play for the Big Ten Conference and part of the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

2020 Big Ten Conference football season
LeagueNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
SportFootball
DurationPostponed to spring 2021
Number of teams14
TV partner(s)Fox Family (Fox/FS1, Big Ten Network), ESPN Family (ESPN, ESPN2, ABC)
2021 NFL Draft
Regular season
Championship Game
2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
Indiana         
Maryland         
Michigan         
Michigan State         
Ohio State         
Penn State         
Rutgers         
West Division
Illinois         
Iowa         
Minnesota         
Nebraska         
Northwestern         
Purdue         
Wisconsin         
Championship: TBA
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
  • Note: Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten suspended the 2020 football season.
As of August 14, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll.

This would have been the Big Ten's seventh season with 14 teams. The defending league champion is Ohio State. On July 9, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Ten announced that all competition in fall sports, including football, will be played exclusively in-conference, in order to "have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time". An updated 10-game conference-only schedule was released on August 5,2020.[2] On August 11, 2020, the conference formally announced the postponement of 2020 fall sports season but stated that it would continue to evaluate options including competition in spring 2021.[3]

The Big Ten will have two new coaches for the 2020 season. Rutgers hired former coach Greg Schiano to serve as head coach, replacing Chris Ash who was fired during the 2019 season.[4] Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio announced on February 4, 2020, that he was retiring from his position. The Spartans announced the hiring of Mel Tucker as the new head coach on February 12, 2020.[5]

Previous season

On the field of play last season, Ohio State won the East Division title and made their fifth appearance in the Big Ten Football Championship Game and third consecutive appearance. In the West Division, Wisconsin and Minnesota tied for the division title, but the Badgers represented the division in the conference title game due to their head-to-head win over the Golden Gophers. Wisconsin made their sixth appearance in the conference title game overall. In that championship game, Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 34–21 to win their third consecutive Big Ten championship. With that win, the Buckeyes landed a spot in the 2019–20 College Football Playoff as the #2 seed.[6]

Nine teams participated in bowl games in the 2018 season, and the league went 5–4 in those games. Ohio State made the College Football Playoff but fell to Clemson 29–23 in the Fiesta Bowl.

Preseason

Recruiting classes

Big Ten Media Days

Preseason media polls

Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses. For the 2020 poll, Ohio State was voted as the favorite to win both the East Division and the Big Ten Championship Game. This is the 10th iteration of the preseason media poll conducted by Cleveland.com, which polls at least one credentialed media member for each Big Ten team. Only twice in the last ten years has the media accurately predicted the Big Ten champion.[7]

East
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1Ohio State237 (33)
2Penn State204 (1)
3Michigan169
4Indiana134
5Michigan State94
6Maryland76
7Rutgers38
West
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1Wisconsin221 (19)
2Minnesota209.5 (14)
3Iowa157
4Nebraska117
5Purdue105
6Northwestern87.5 (1)
7Illinois55
Media poll (Big Ten Championship)
Rank Team Votes
1Ohio State over Wisconsin19
2Ohio State over Minnesota13
3Ohio State over Northwestern1
4Penn State over Minnesota1

Preseason awards

Preseason All-Big Ten

Rankings

 PreWk
1
Wk
2
Wk
3
Wk
4
Wk
5
Wk
6
Wk
7
Wk
8
Wk
9
Wk
10
Wk
11
Wk
12
Wk
13
Wk
14
Wk
15
Final
Illinois AP
C
CFP Not released
Indiana AP
C RV
CFP Not released
Iowa AP
C 23
CFP Not released
Maryland AP
C
CFP Not released
Michigan AP
C 15
CFP Not released
Michigan State AP
C
CFP Not released
Minnesota AP
C 18
CFP Not released
Nebraska AP
C RV
CFP Not released
Northwestern AP
C
CFP Not released
Ohio State AP
C 2 (17)
CFP Not released
Penn State AP
C 7
CFP Not released
Purdue AP
C
CFP Not released
Rutgers AP
C
CFP Not released
Wisconsin AP
C 12
CFP Not released
Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
  No change in ranking from previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Schedule

Index to colors and formatting
Big Ten member won
Big Ten member lost
Big Ten teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

† denotes Homecoming game

Regular Season Schedule

The Regular season was scheduled to begin on September 3 and end on November 28. The Big Ten Championship Game was scheduled to be held on December 5, 2020.

On July 9, 2020, the Big Ten Conference announced that all non-conference contests in all fall sports, including football, would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league then moved to institute a 10-game, conference-only schedule in football, which would include multiple open weeks for teams in order to introduce flexibility into the schedule. On August 5, the Big Ten released the new reconfigured 10-game conference-only schedule.[8] On August 11, 2020, the conference decided to postpone all fall sports and evaluate option to restart competition in spring 2021.[3]

Week #1

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Ohio State Illinois Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)      
TBD Indiana Wisconsin Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI      
TBD Maryland Iowa Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA      
TBD Minnesota Michigan State Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI      
TBD Nebraska Rutgers SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ      
TBD Northwestern Penn State Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA      
TBD Purdue Michigan Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI      
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week #2

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Illinois Nebraska Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE      
TBD Iowa Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN      
TBD Michigan Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)      
TBD Wisconsin Northwestern Ryan FieldEvanston, IL      
TBD Penn State Indiana Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN      
TBD Michigan State Maryland Maryland StadiumCollege Park, MD      
TBD Rutgers Ohio State Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH      
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week #3

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Illinois Indiana Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN      
TBD Iowa Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN (Floyd of Rosedale)      
TBD Wisconsin Nebraska Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (Freedom Trophy)      
TBD Northwestern Michigan State Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI      
TBD Ohio State Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN      
TBD Rutgers Maryland Maryland StadiumCollege Park, MD      
TBD Penn State Michigan Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI      
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week #4

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Purdue Illinois Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL (Purdue Cannon)      
TBD Nebraska Iowa Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (Heroes Game)      
TBD Minnesota Wisconsin Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)      
TBD Maryland Northwestern Ryan FieldEvanston, IL      
TBD Indiana Ohio State Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH      
TBD Michigan Rutgers SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ      
TBD Michigan State Penn State Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (Land Grant Trophy)      
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week #5

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Northwestern Iowa Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA      
TBD Minnesota Nebraska Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE ($5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy)      
TBD Wisconsin Maryland Maryland StadiumCollege Park, MD      
TBD Michigan State Michigan Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)      
TBD Penn State Rutgers SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ      
Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.
DateBye Week
TBDIllinoisIndianaOhio StatePurdue

Week #6

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Iowa Illinois Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL      
TBD Indiana Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN      
TBD Nebraska Ohio State Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH      
TBD Purdue Wisconsin Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI      
Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.
DateBye Week
TBDMarylandMichiganMichigan StateNorthwesternPenn StateRutgers

Week #7

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Illinois Northwestern Ryan FieldEvanston, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy)      
TBD Rutgers Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN      
TBD Michigan Indiana Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN      
TBD Maryland Penn State Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (MD-PSU Rivalry)      
TBD Michigan State Ohio State Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH      
Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.
DateBye Week
TBDIowaMinnesotaNebraskaWisconsin

Week #8

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Illinois Wisconsin Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI      
TBD Iowa Penn State Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA      
TBD Purdue Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN      
TBD Nebraska Northwestern Ryan FieldEvanston, IL      
TBD Maryland Indiana Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN      
TBD Michigan Ohio State Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH (The Game)      
TBD Michigan State Rutgers SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ      
Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week #9

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Minnesota Illinois Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL      
TBD Michigan State Iowa Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA      
TBD Nebraska Penn State Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA      
TBD Northwestern Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN      
TBD Wisconsin Michigan Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI      
TBD Indiana Rutgers SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ      
October 31 Ohio State Maryland Maryland StadiumCollege Park, MD      
Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week #10

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Rutgers Illinois Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL      
TBD Indiana Michigan State Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI (Old Brass Spittoon)      
TBD Maryland Michigan Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI      
TBD Ohio State Penn State Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA (OSU-PSU Rivalry)      
Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.
DateBye Week
TBDIowaMinnesotaNebraskaNorthwesternPurdueWisconsin

Week #11

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Wisconsin Iowa Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (Heartland Trophy)      
TBD Northwestern Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN      
TBD Nebraska Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN      
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.
DateBye Week
TBDIllinoisIndianaMarylandMichiganMichigan StateOhio StatePenn StateRutgers

Week #12

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD Penn State Illinois Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL      
TBD Iowa Ohio State Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH      
TBD Minnesota Maryland Maryland StadiumCollege Park, MD      
TBD Michigan State Nebraska Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE      
TBD Michigan Northwestern Ryan FieldEvanston, IL      
TBD Purdue Indiana Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)      
TBD Rutgers Wisconsin Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI      
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week #13

Week #13 (November 28) is reserved as a bye week to make up any games that may get postponed during the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Week #14 (Big Ten Championship Game)

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
TBD TBD West Division Champion East Division Champion Lucas Oil Stadium • Indianapolis, IN FOX      
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Canceled Regular Season Games

The following non-conference games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic:[9]

Sept. 3

  • Florida Atlantic at Minnesota

Sept. 4

  • Illinois State at Illinois

Sept. 5

Sept. 12

Sept. 19

Sept. 26

Oct. 3

  • Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame (at Green Bay, WI)

Nov. 14

  • Morgan State at Northwestern

Postseason

Bowl games

Games below do not include bowl games that Big Ten teams may be selected for in the College Football Playoff semifinals (the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2021) or potential At-Large bids in New Year's Six Bowls (the Cotton Bowl on December 30, 2020, and Peach Bowl on January 1, 2021).

Bowl game Date Site Television Time (EST) Big Ten team Opponent Score Attendance
Quick Lane Bowl TBA Ford Field • Detroit, MI ESPN TBA TBA MAC
Redbox Bowl TBA Levi's StadiumSanta Clara, CA FOX TBA TBA Pac-12
Cactus Bowl TBA Chase FieldPhoenix, AZ ESPN TBA TBA Big 12
Duke's Mayo Bowl TBA Bank of America StadiumCharlotte, NC ESPN TBA TBA ACC
Pinstripe Bowl TBA Yankee StadiumThe Bronx, NY ESPN TBA TBA ACC
Music City Bowl TBA Nissan Stadium • Nashville, TN ESPN TBA TBA SEC
Outback Bowl January 1 Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL ESPN 1:00 PM TBA SEC
Citrus Bowl January 1 Camping World StadiumOrlando, FL ABC 1:00 PM TBA SEC
New Year's Six Bowls
Orange Bowl January 2 Hard Rock StadiumMiami Gardens, FL ESPN TBA Big Ten/SEC/Notre Dame ACC

The 2021 Orange Bowl will feature the ACC champion (unless qualified for the College Football Playoff), or the highest-ranked ACC team not qualified for the College Football Playoff, against the highest-ranked available team in the College Football Playoff rankings from the Big Ten, SEC, or Notre Dame unless creating a rematch for the ACC team.

Big Ten records vs other conferences

2020–2021 records against non-conference foes:

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Big Ten individual awards

All-Americans

National award winners

Home attendance

Team Stadium Capacity Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7 Total Average % of Capacity
Illinois Memorial Stadium 60,670
Indiana Memorial Stadium 52,656
Iowa Kinnick Stadium 69,250
Maryland Maryland Stadium 51,802
Michigan Michigan Stadium 107,601
Michigan State Spartan Stadium 75,005
Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium 50,805
Nebraska Memorial Stadium 85,458
Northwestern Ryan Field 47,130
Ohio State Ohio Stadium 102,780
Penn State Beaver Stadium 106,572
Purdue Ross–Ade Stadium 57,236
Rutgers SHI Stadium 52,454
Wisconsin Camp Randall Stadium 80,321

2021 NFL Draft

The following list includes all Big Ten players who were drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft

Player Position School Draft
Round
Round
Pick
Overall
Pick
Team

Head coaches

Current through the completion of the 2019–20 season

Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school B1G record
Illinois Lovie Smith 5 15–34 (.306) 15–34 (.306) 8–28 (.222)
Indiana Tom Allen* 4 18–20 (.474) 18–20 (.474) 9–18 (.333)
Iowa Kirk Ferentz 22 174–125 (.582) 162–104 (.609) 97–75 (.564)
Maryland Mike Locksley* 2 6–40 (.130) 4–14 (.222) 2–13 (.133)
Michigan Jim Harbaugh 6 105–44 (.705) 47–18 (.723) 32–12 (.727)
Michigan State Mel Tucker 1 5–7 (.417) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–)
Minnesota P.J. Fleck 4 53–37 (.589) 23–15 (.605) 12–15 (.444)
Nebraska Scott Frost 3 28–22 (.560) 9–15 (.375) 6–12 (.333)
Northwestern Pat Fitzgerald 15 99–79 (.556) 99–79 (.556) 57–59 (.491)
Ohio State Ryan Day* 2 16–1 (.941) 16–1 (.941) 10–0 (1.000)
Penn State James Franklin 7 80–38 (.678) 56–23 (.709) 34–18 (.654)
Purdue Jeff Brohm 4 47–31 (.603) 17–21 (.447) 12–15 (.444)
Rutgers Greg Schiano* 12 68–67 (.504) 68–67 (.504) 0–0 (–)
Wisconsin Paul Chryst 6 71–35 (.670) 52–16 (.765) 34–10 (.773)

* Tom Allen was hired to replace Kevin Wilson in December 2016 at Indiana and coached the Hoosiers in their 2016 bowl game, going 0–1.

* Mike Locksley served as interim head coach at Maryland in 2015 and coached for six games, going 1–5.[10]

* Ryan Day served as interim head coach at Ohio State for the first three games of the 2018 season while Urban Meyer served a three-game suspension and went 3–0.[11]

* Greg Schiano served as head coach at Rutgers from 2001 through 2011 then left for the NFL. Following the conclusion of the 2019 season, Schiano returned to Rutgers for his second stint as head coach. The Scarlet Knights competed in the Big East Conference in his previous stay at the school.

References

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