2020 Big Ten Conference football season

2020 Big Ten Conference football season
LeagueNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
SportFootball
DurationOctober 24, 2020
through December 19, 2020
Number of teams14
TV partner(s)Fox Sports (Fox/FS1, Big Ten Network), ESPN (ESPN, ESPN2, ABC)
2021 NFL Draft
Top draft pickJustin Fields (Ohio State)
Picked byChicago Bears, 11th overall
Regular season
East Division championsOhio State
West Division championsNorthwestern
Championship Game
ChampionsOhio State
  Runners-upNorthwestern
Finals MVPTrey Sermon, Ohio State
Football seasons
← 2019
2021 →
2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 2 Ohio State xy$^   5 – 0     7 – 1  
No. 12 Indiana   6 – 1     6 – 2  
Penn State   4 – 5     4 – 5  
Maryland   2 – 3     2 – 3  
Rutgers   3 – 6     3 – 6  
Michigan   2 – 4     2 – 4  
Michigan State   2 – 5     2 – 5  
West Division
No. 10 Northwestern xy   6 – 1     7 – 2  
No. 16 Iowa   6 – 2     6 – 2  
Wisconsin   3 – 3     4 – 3  
Minnesota   3 – 4     3 – 4  
Nebraska   3 – 5     3 – 5  
Purdue   2 – 4     2 – 4  
Illinois   2 – 6     2 – 6  
Championship: Ohio State 22, Northwestern 10
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • Note: Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten suspended the season on August 11, but later decided to begin play on October 24. In addition to the title game that was played on December 19, the conference seeded all remaining teams for "championship week" games.[1]
Rankings from AP Poll.

The 2020 Big Ten conference football season is the 125th season of college football play for the Big Ten Conference and part of the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was the Big Ten's seventh season with 14 teams. The defending league champion was Ohio State.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the conference voted on August 11, 2020, to indefinitely postpone all fall athletics, including football, citing the worsening trends of the pandemic in the country. On September 16, the conference approved a shortened, eight-game football season beginning October 24, with the final week featuring the Big Ten championship game on December 19.

The Big Ten had 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.[2] 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.[3] On December 13, Illinois fired its head coach Lovie Smith, and on December 19 announced the hiring of Bret Bielema as its new head coach.[4]

  1. ^ Stevens, Matthew. "Big Ten To Play A "Championship Weekend" 9th Game Of 2020 Season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  2. ^ "Greg Schiano Returns as Rutgers Head Football Coach". Rutgers University Athletics.
  3. ^ Michigan State twitter account announcing the hiring of Mel Tucker
  4. ^ Hilbert, Evan. "'Illinois and the Big Ten is home for me': Bret Bielema to take over Illini football". USA Today. Retrieved December 22, 2020.