The 2018 Big Ten conference football season was the 123rd season of college football play for the Big Ten Conference and was part of the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
This was the Big Ten's fifth season with 14 teams. The defending league champion was Ohio State. The 2018 season consisted of a nine–game conference schedule for the third year in a row.
The Big Ten had one new coach for the 2018 season, with Nebraska hiring alumnus Scott Frost. Frost came to Nebraska after having coached UCF to an undefeated 13–0 season in 2017.
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season by Ohio State for the mishandling of a situation involving domestic abuse charges against former assistant coach Zach Smith. Ohio State offensive coordinator Ryan Day served as acting head coach for the first three games of the 2018 season.
Maryland head coach D.J. Durkin was placed on administrative leave on August 11, 2018 due to the death of a player on his team, Jordan McNair, during summer workouts. On October 30, the school reinstated Durkin to his role as head coach, and was set to rejoin the team in Week #10. However, after a lot of negative reaction, a day later the University of Maryland decided to fire DJ Durkin.
Ohio State and Michigan shared the East Division title, but Ohio State advances to the championship game by virtue of its head-to-head win in the regular season finale. Northwestern clinched the West Division title on November 10. The Buckeyes went on to defeat the Wildcats in the conference championship game in Indianapolis by a score of 45-24 to win their second consecutive Big Ten championship and 37th conference crown in program history.
Nine Big Ten programs advanced to bowl games, with Ohio State and Michigan earning New Year's Six bowl bids in the Rose and Peach Bowls, respectively.
On December 4, 2018, Ohio State announced that head coach Urban Meyer would be stepping down following the Buckeyes' appearance in the Rose Bowl and that offensive coordinator Ryan Day, who served as interim head coach for the first three games of the season, would become the next head coach at Ohio State.
Preseason 2018 Big Ten Spring Football and number of signees on signing day:
Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals Scout & 24/7SigneesIllinois 54 50 54 26Indiana 48 45 50 27Iowa 43 40 39 23Maryland 31 29 28 24Michigan 20 24 22 21Michigan State 34 26 31 22Minnesota 30 43 38 25Nebraska 21 21 23 24Northwestern 49 60 58 18Ohio State 2 2 2 26Penn State 4 5 6 23Purdue 46 49 53 25Rutgers 59 58 56 22Wisconsin 39 40 46 20
Big Ten Media Days The Big Ten conducted its annual media days at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Chicago Magnificent Mile in Chicago, IL on July 23–24. The event commenced with a speech by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, and all 14 teams sent their head coaches and two selected players to speak with members of the media. The event along with all speakers and interviews were broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. The teams and representatives in respective order were as follows:
Preseason media polls The Big Ten Media Days concluded with its annual preseason media polls in early August. Since 1992, the credentialed media has gotten the preseason champion correct just five times. Only eight times has the preseason pick even made it to the Big Ten title game. Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses.
Big Ten Champion Voting Ohio State def. Wisconsin - 14 Wisconsin def. Ohio State - 9 Wisconsin def. Michigan - 2 Wisconsin def. Penn State - 1 Wisconsin def. Michigan State - 1 Michigan State def. Wisconsin - 1
East Division 1. Ohio State (23.5) - 191.5 pts 2. Michigan State (2) - 142 3. Penn State (1) - 141.5 4. Michigan (1.5) - 140.5 5. Maryland - 75.5 6. Indiana - 60 7. Rutgers - 33
West Division 1. Wisconsin (28) - 196 pts 2. Iowa - 155 3. Northwestern - 138 4. Nebraska - 104 5. Purdue - 98.5 6. Minnesota - 64.5 7. Illinois - 28
Rankings
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Final Illinois AP C CFP Not released Indiana AP C CFP Not released Iowa AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 19 18 19 RV RV RV RV RV 25C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 22 18 18 RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released 16 21 Maryland AP RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Michigan AP 14 21 19 19 14 15 12 6 5 5 4 4 4 8 8 14 C 14 22 22 21 15 16 13 7 5 5t 4 4 4 8 8 14 CFP Not released 5 4 4 4 7 7 Michigan State AP 11 15 25 24 21 20 24 RV RV 24 RV C 12 13 24 23 18 19 RV RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released 18 Minnesota AP C RV CFP Not released Nebraska AP C CFP Not released Northwestern AP RV RV RV RV 24 20 21 RV 21C RV RV RV RV RV 21 21 22 19 CFP Not released 22 19 21 22 Ohio State AP 5 4 4 4 4 3(1) 3 (1) 2 (1) 11 8 8 9 10 6 5 3C 3(1) 4(1) 4(1) 4 4 (1) 3 (1) 3 (1) 2 (1) 9 8 7 8 10 6 5 3 CFP Not released 10 10 10 10 6 6 Penn State AP 10 13 11 10t 9 11 8 18 17 14 21 16 15 14 13 17C 9 10 10 9 9 11 8 16 16 13 20 15 14 12 12 17 CFP Not released 14 20 14 12 12 12 Purdue AP RV RV C RV RV CFP Not released Rutgers AP C CFP Not released Wisconsin AP 4 (1) 5 (1) 6 (1) 18 15 16 15 23 20 RV RV RV RV C 7 6 6 16 13 12 10 19 19 RV RV RV RV RV RV 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 formattingBig Ten member wonBig Ten member lostBig Ten teams in bold All times Eastern time.
† denotes Homecoming game
Regular season
Week one
Date Bye WeekSeptember 1 Nebraska
Week two
Week three
Date Bye WeekSeptember 15 No. 25 Michigan State
Week four
Date Bye WeekSeptember 22 Northwestern
Week five
Date Bye WeekSeptember 29 Illinois Iowa Maryland Minnesota No. 15 Wisconsin
Week six
Date Bye WeekOctober 6 #11 Penn State Purdue
Week seven
Week eight
Week nine
Date Bye WeekOctober 27 #5 Michigan #11 Ohio State Rutgers
Nebraska adds Bethune-Cookman to 2018 schedule in place of previously scheduled bye week to make up for Akron game that was canceled in Week 1 due to weather.
Week ten
Date Bye WeekNovember 3 Indiana
Week eleven
Week twelve
Week thirteen
Championship game Week 14 (Big Ten Championship Game)
Bowl games Legend Big Ten win Big Ten loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)Big Ten teamOpponentScoreAttendanceQuick Lane BowlDecember 26Ford Field • Detroit, MIESPN5:15 p.m.MinnesotaGeorgia Tech34–1027,228Pinstripe BowlDecember 27Yankee Stadium • New York, NYESPN5:15 p.m.WisconsinMiami (FL)35–337,821Music City BowlDecember 28Nissan Stadium • Nashville, TNESPN1:30 p.m.PurdueAuburn14–6359,024Redbox BowlDecember 31Levi's Stadium • Santa Clara, CAFOX3:00 p.m.Michigan StateOregon6–730,212Holiday BowlDecember 31SDCCU Stadium • San Diego, CAFS17:00 p.m.NorthwesternNo. 20 Utah31–2047,007Outback BowlJanuary 1Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FLESPN212:00 p.m.IowaNo. 18 Mississippi State27–2240,518Citrus BowlJanuary 1Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FLABC1:00 p.m.No. 13 Penn StateNo. 16 Kentucky24–2759,167New Year's Six BowlsPeach BowlDecember 29Mercedes-Benz Stadium • Atlanta, GAESPN12:00 p.m.No. 8 MichiganNo. 10 Florida15–4174,006Rose BowlJanuary 1Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CAESPN5:00 p.m.No. 5 Ohio StateNo. 9 Washington28–2391,853
Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Eastern Time Zone.
Big Ten records vs other conferences 2018–2019 records against non-conference foes:
(Through games of January 1, 2019)
Regular season
Power 5 conferencesRecordACC3–1Big 123–1Pac-121–2BYU/Notre Dame0–2SEC0–1Power 5 total7–8Other FBS conferencesRecordAmerican2-2C-USA2–0Independents (Excluding BYU and Notre Dame)1–0MAC8–3Mountain West3–0Sun Belt2–1Other FBS total18–6FCS ppponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision3–0Total non-conference record28–14
Postseason
Power Conferences 5RecordACC2–0Big 120–0Pac-122–1BYU/Notre Dame0-0SEC1–3Power 5 total5–4Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican0–0C–USA0–0Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)0–0MAC0–0Mountain West0–0Sun Belt0-0Other FBS total0–0Total bowl record5–4
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors Week Offensive Defensive Special Teams Freshman Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Position TeamWeek 1Dwayne HaskinsQBOSUJake HansenLBILLAmbry ThomasKRMICHJeshaun JonesWRMDAntoine BrooksDBMDAntoine Winfield Jr.PRMINRondale MooreWRPURWeek 2Jonathan TaylorRBWISA. J. EpenesaDEIAEmmit CarpenterKMINStevie ScottRBINDAntoine Winfield Jr.DBMINTate MartellQBOSUWeek 3David BloughQBPURDre'Mont JonesDTOSUJ-Shun Harris IIWRINDStevie ScottRBINDWeek 4Dwayne HaskinsQBOSUTre WatsonLBMDDonovan Peoples-JonesWRMICHAnthony McFarlandRBMDMiles SandersRBPSUMatt CoghlinKMSURondale MooreWRPURWeek 5Dwayne HaskinsQBOSUChase WinovichDLMICHJoe SchopperPPURK. J. HamlerWRPSUChase YoungDEOSUWeek 6Dwayne HaskinsQBOSUAnthony NelsonDEIATy JohnsonKRMDRiley MossDBIAWeek 7Nate StanleyQBIAKhari WillisSMSUDrew LuckenbaughKNUMohamed IbrahimRBMINFlynn NagelWRNUWeek 8David BloughQBPURMarkus BaileyLBPURJoe SchopperPPURAdrian MartinezQBNEBRondale MooreWRPURWeek 9Javon LeakeRBMDYetur Gross-MatosDEPSUJavon LeakeRBMDRocky LombardiQBMSUTanner MorganQBMINWeek 10Reggie CorbinRBILLJoe BachieLBMSUSpencer EvansKPURRashod BatemanWRMINTerry WrightWRPURAdrian MartinezQBNEBWeek 11Devine OzigboRBNEBRobert WindsorDTPSULogan JustusKINDAdrian MartinezQBNEBWeek 12Dwayne HaskinsQBOSUA. J. EpenesaDEIAJake MoodyKMICHAnthony McFarlandRBMDJonathan TaylorRBWISAntonio ReedSNEBBarret PickeringKNEBWeek 13Dwayne HaskinsQBOSUAnthony NelsonDEIADemetrius DouglasPRMINRondale MooreWRPURJosiah ScottCBMSU
Big Ten individual awards
The following individuals won the conference's annual player and coach awards :
AwardPlayerSchoolGraham-George Offensive Player of the YearDwayne HaskinsOhio StateNagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year Devin Bush Jr. MichiganThompson-Randle El Freshman of the YearRondale MoorePurdueGriese-Brees Quarterback of the YearDwayne HaskinsOhio StateRichter-Howard Receiver of the YearRondale MoorePurdueAmeche-Dayne Running Back of the YearJonathan TaylorWisconsinKwalick-Clark Tight End of the YearT. J. HockensonIowaRimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the YearMichael DeiterWisconsinSmith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year Kenny Willekes Michigan StateButkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year Devin Bush MichiganTatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year Amani Hooker IowaBakken-Andersen Kicker of the YearChase McLaughlinIllinoisEddleman-Fields Punter of the YearWill HartMichiganRodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the YearIhmir Smith-MarsetteIowaHayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year (coaches vote)Pat FitzgeraldNorthwesternDave McClain Coach of the Year (media vote)Pat FitzgeraldNorthwesternDungy-Thompson Humanitarian AwardJake WoodWisconsinFord-Kinnick Leadership AwardAntwaan Randle ElIndiana
All-Conference Teams
2018 Big Ten All-Conference Teams and Awards
Position Player Team First Team Offense (Coaches)QBDwayne Haskins Ohio StateRB Jonathan Taylor WisconsinRBKaran Higdon MichiganWRRondale Moore PurdueWRParris Campbell Ohio StateTENoah Fant IowaCTyler Biadasz WisconsinOGMichael Deiter WisconsinOGBeau Benzschawel WisconsinOTJon Runyan MichiganOTIsaiah Prince Ohio State First Team Defense (Coaches)DLChase Winovich MichiganDLRashan Gary MichiganDLKenny Willekes Michigan StateDLDre'mont Jones Ohio StateLB Devin Bush Jr. MichiganLBJoe Bachie Michigan StateLBPaddy Fisher NorthwesternDBAmani Hooker IowaDB Lavert Hill MichiganDBDavid Long MichiganDBAmani Oruwariye Penn State First Team Special Teams (Coaches)KChase McLaughlin IllinoisPWill Hart MichiganRSRondale MoorePurdue