(BIG TEN) – The Big Ten will have 16 of its 18 teams facing conference opponents in Week 4, including a pair of top-20 showdowns on Saturday; No. 18 Michigan welcomes No. 17 Iowa to The Big House at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS and No. 20 Oregon heads to L.A. to face No. 12 USC on NBC at 7:30 p.m. ET.
- Purdue will be the third Big Ten team to take on No. 3 Notre Dame this season. The Boilermakers and Fighting Irish are scheduled to meet Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on Peacock.
- Dating back to the 2025 campaign, Indiana has won 19 straight games. With a victory on Friday night, the Hoosiers would become the 11th program in Big Ten history with at least 20 consecutive wins (including bowl and Big Ten Championship Game records).
- Junior wide receiver Jeremiah Smith set Ohio State’s career receiving-yards record with 2,958 yards. He is 182 yards away from breaking into the Big Ten’s all-time top 10 list (3,140, Jared Abbrederis – Wisconsin, 2010-13).
- In its 84-0 win over Portland State, Oregon set a program record for points in modern program history, the largest margin of victory ever at Autzen Stadium and recorded the 15th shutout in school history.
- The Big Ten had 10 teams including in this week’s AP and 11 in the US LBM Coaches Polls. The AP poll featured No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 12 USC, No. 13 Penn State, No. 17 Iowa, No. 18 Michigan and No. 20 Oregon, while Washington, UCLA and Nebraska received votes. Ohio State, USC, Iowa and Michigan’s rankings remained the same in the coaches’ poll with shifts for No. 4 Indiana, No. 14 Penn State, No. 16 Oregon and No. 23 Washington. UCLA, Nebraska and Northwestern also earned votes.
- The Big Ten Football Players of the Week were announced Monday with Northwestern’s Aidan Chiles being named Offensive Player of the Week. The quarterback completed 17-of-22 passes for 241 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for two scores on the ground in a 41-7 win over Colorado. Chiles was the first Northwestern quarterback since 2001 and 26th Big Ten quarterback since at least 1995 to record a minimum of three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in a single game.
- UCLA’s Sammy Omosigho was tabbed as the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Week after totaling a team-high 12 tackles (11 solo) while forcing two fumbles and recording 2.0 sacks for 21 yards against Purdue. The Crandall, Texas, native was the first Bruin since at least the turn of the century to force a fumble in three straight games.
- Caden Chittenden was perfect in USC’s 42-35 road victory over Rutgers, converting both field goal attempts and all four PATs to earn Special Teams Player of the Week recognition. Chittenden accounted for 10 points, the second-most by any USC player in the game and the most he’s scored as a Trojan.
- Riley Wormley was voted Freshman of the Week for his performance against the Scarlet Knights. The running back produced 54 yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns on just four touches, rushing three times for a career-high 52 yards and catching a two-yard touchdown pass. Wormley averaged 17.3 yards per carry with each of his three rushing attempts, gaining at least 12 yards and producing a first down or touchdown.
- The 2026 Discover Big Ten Championship Game will be held 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 6.
- The 2026 AP Preseason Poll features eight Big Ten teams in No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon, No. 6 Indiana, No. T14 USC, No. 16 Michigan, No. 17 Washington, No. 18 Penn State and No. 22 Iowa, while Illinois and Minnesota received votes.
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