What we learned about each Big Ten team in Week 3 of the 2025 college football season

Most of the Big Ten is done with nonconference play, so we’re running out of lessons to learn about teams before they actually start playing only each other. Still we learned a lot this week, and we’ll continue to see new things about teams as we get into the meat of conference play. 17 Big Ten teams took to the field this weekend (Washington took a week off to prepare for the Apple Cup), but we’ll have a takeaway for all 18 teams anyway. So, in no particular order, let’s break down what we learned.

1. Indiana is finding its rhythm

After a somewhat lackluster Week 1 performance against Old Dominion, the Hoosiers are now doing what we’d expect from a top team. Do they look like a College Football Playoff entrant again? Perhaps not. But they’re definitely in the conversation at this point. Will they still be next week? I don’t know, but no one will be surprised if they can stick with Illinios.

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2. Ohio State played a good team

Yes, this isn’t quite a takeaway about the Buckeyes. But still, most see a four-score win over a MAC team and think it’s a disappointment for the No.1 team in the country. And maybe it is. But these Bobcats are no joke. They’re going to be one of the better teams in the MAC and could be on the fringe of the conversation for a College Football Playoff spot if the AAC beats up on itself. Could the Buckeyes have done better? Probably. But this was not an embarrassing performance.

3. Penn State is still brutally efficient

The Nittany Lions just dominate their games physically. Yes, they’ve done it to inferior teams. But the raw ability is undeniable. This team will be very tough for anyone to just line up and beat. They’ve shown it three times now. The next game, against Oregon (in two weeks) will tell us if they can still do it against elite talent.

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4. Oregon is inconsistent

A week after putting up a National Championship-level performance, the Ducks looked almost pedestrian on offense against a pretty poor Northwestern team. Oregon can’t afford a showing like that against Penn State. Maybe this was just getting caught looking ahead to next week’s rivalry game. Whatever the reason, this team needs to find its killer instinct on both sides of the ball, because this performance wasn’t good enough.

5. Northwestern almost has a pulse

The offense woke up in garbage time, but any success at moving the ball against this Oregon team is progress for the Wildcats. It’s going to be an ugly season in Evanston, but this game showed a hint of some bright spots. The defense also did better than expected, especially considering what Oregon did last week.

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6. Illinois keeps plugging away

The Illinois offense wasn’t as explosive as it could have been on Saturday, but it also didn’t need to be. The defense looked elite, and the offense is more than efficient enough to control games. We’ll find out next week if that continues when a very strong Indiana team comes to visit.

7. Wisconsin still needs work

Is there any shame in getting physically dominated by Alabama? For a decade, the answer to that was no. But based on how Alabama looked in Week 1, Wisconsin teams of the pas wouldn’t have been outclassed against this Tide team. Alabama might have fallen off from its peak over the last decade, but Wisconsin clearly has, too.

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8. Michigan finally has some rhythm

It only took three games, but the Wolverines finally played like a complete team in their decimation of Central Michigan. Yes, it was just Central Michigan, and New Mexico certainly doesn’t look as bad as in Week 1, but this was still finally a full team performance. We’ll see if that lasts when the competition level picks up.

9-13. Nebraska, Maryland, Rutgers, Iowa, Michigan State beat bad teams

I’m lumping all of these together (Penn State also beat an FCS team, but Villanova is one of the best FCS teams in the country). They all scheduled cupcakes, and they all beat cupcakes. Not much learned. And don’t be fooled by Michigan State’s relative struggles. Their cupcake was a better team than the rest of the cupcakes this group played. The less we read into random FCS wins, the better. And UMass isn’t an FCS team anymore, but the Minutemen may as well

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14-15. USC isn’t as good as we thought, or Purdue is better

This is now the third straight week that Purdue has exceeded expectations. Either that’s because the Boilermakers are a lot better than we thought, or it’s because USC finally had a coming-down-to-earth game after two electric offensive displays. Or it’s a mix of both. I was impressed that the Trojans buckled down on defense better than they showed in their opening two weeks. That bodes well for their chances to contend with the elites.

16. Minnesota still needs work

The Week 1 problems that plagued the Golden Gophers reared their heads again in Week 3, this time costing Minnesota the game against Cal. Cal looks like a middle-to-top ACC team, but this isn’t a game Minnesota should be losing––especially not in this fashion. The offense needs to be able to move the ball down the field, and the defense needs to make fewer mistakes.

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17. UCLA is just bad this year

New Mexico is, perhaps, a tad underrated this season. Regardless, this was an embarrassing loss for the Bruins––if only for the way the game went. UCLA has already fired its coach for the season, and 0-12 should now be the expectation the rest of this year. It will not be pretty.

18. Washington is laughing

What did the Huskies get to do during their bye week? Not much, other than watching their hated rival (and next opponent) get absolutely boatraced by North Texas. Sure, maybe now there’s some pressure to also blow out Washington State. But all in all, that’s a good problem to have.

This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: What we learned about each Big Ten team in Week 3