Rece Davis Backs College Football Powerhouse to Win the Big Ten in 2026

The road to the national title seems to run through the Big Ten. With three consecutive CFP champions, the conference seemingly has a lock on top of the college football world. Granted, in a world where the B1G is all but guaranteed to put multiple (several?) teams into the College Football Playoff, winning the Big Ten isn't a certain path... but it doesn't hurt.

Davis's Big Ten Pick

But on a recent College Gameday podcast, multiple ESPN personalities delivered multiple picks to land atop of college football's strongest conference. Davis picked Ohio State to win the league. "I'll take the team that's going to... show them that Ohio State is here and at the top of the Big Ten for the first time since the COVID season," said Davis. He noted that a season ago, "[Ohio State was] about to beat Indiana, and win the Big Ten. They were right there on the cusp, couldn't get it done. I say they do get it done this time."

Ohio State's Recent B1G Troubles...

Ohio State coach Ryan Day has had an easier time recently winning a CFP title than a Big Ten championship. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Davis's fellow hosts picked Indiana and Oregon, demonstrating the strength of the conference. Ohio State, of course, won the CFP title two seasons ago without the benefit of winning the conference. But the Buckeyes, as Davis noted, have hit some stumbling blocks in recent seasons. Four consecutive losses to Michigan to end the 2021-2024 regular seasons left Ohio State outside the conference championship picture. In 2025, the Buckeyes did outlast MIchigan only to lose 13-10 to Indiana in the Big Ten title game.

And OSU's Prior Dominance

But before that losing streak to Michigan, Ohio State owned the conference. The Buckeyes won the Big Ten title four years in a row from 2017 to 2020, losing only two total games in the conference over four seasons. For that matter, at that point, the only teams other than Ohio State that had won the Big Ten since the league introduced a championship game in 2011 were Wisconsin (twice), Michigan State (twice), and Penn State (in 2016, their only Big Ten title since the conference championship game was introduced).

But the sudden dominance of Michigan (winning 2021-2023 titles), the addition of Oregon, who won the 2024 crown, and the rise of Indiana, who won last year en route to the CFP title have crowded the picture for the Buckeyes. It's definitely not the Big Ten that stumbled through the SEC's glory days in the mid 2010s to early 2020s.

Looking Ahead to 2026

With the return of Heisman candidate QB Julian Sayin and the championship experience of head coach Ryan Day, Ohio State is an attracting pick for 2026. After all, the Buckeyes are the preseason No. 1 in the coaches' poll. And if Davis's predictions come to fruition, Ohio State might win more than one championship in 2026.

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