The 2022 Big Ten conference football season was the 127th season of

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

play for the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

and part of the

2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 153rd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

. This was the Big Ten's ninth season with 14 teams. This was the Big Ten's final season broadcasting on ABC Sports properties.

Previous season

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

were co-East Division champions, with the Wolverines making their first appearance Big Ten Championship Game due to their head-to-head win over the Buckeyes in 2021. In the West Division,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

won the division title and made their second championship game appearance. In that championship game, Michigan defeated Iowa 42–3 to win the Big Ten championship. With that win, the Wolverines landed a spot in the 2021–22

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

as the No. 2 seed. The Wolverines lost in the semifinal game of the playoffs to third-seeded and eventual national champion

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

. Besides Michigan, nine other Big Ten football teams qualified for bowl games: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin. Additionally, Rutgers was chosen based upon APR rate to replace Texas A&M, who dropped out of the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

due to COVID-19 protocols. The Big Ten overall went 6–4 in postseason games in the 2021 season.

Coaching changes

There were no head coaching changes amongst Big Ten programs before the 2022 season. On September 11, Nebraska fired head coach

Scott Frost Scott Andrew Frost (born January 4, 1975) is an American football coach and player who currently serves as the head football coach for UCF Knights football, UCF. He was the head football coach at the Nebraska Cornhuskers football, University o ...

three games into the season and named

Mickey Joseph Robert L. "Mickey" Joseph (born March 5, 1968) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Grambling State University, a position he has held since 2024. He served as the interim head coach at the ...

the interim for the remainder of the season. On October 2, Wisconsin fired head coach

Paul Chryst Paul Joseph Chryst (born November 17, 1965) is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012 to 2014 and the University of Wisconsin—Madison from 2015 to 2022. Chryst had previously ...

, five games into the Badgers' season and named defensive coordinator

Jim Leonhard James Andrew Leonhard (born October 27, 1982) is an American professional American football, football coach and former player who is the defensive pass game coordinator and assistant head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football Le ...

as interim head coach. Nebraska named

Matt Rhule Matthew Kenneth Rhule (born January 31, 1975) is an American college football coach and former linebacker. He is the head football coach for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, a position he has held since 2023. He was also the head football c ...

the 31st head coach in program history on November 26, 2022, one day after finishing their 2022 season. On November 27, 2022, one day after finishing their respective season, Wisconsin announced the hiring of

Luke Fickell Luke Joseph Fickell (born August 18, 1973) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a position he has held since 2023. Previously he was the head coach at t ...

to become the Badgers' 31st coach in program history. On December 8, 2022,

Jeff Brohm Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American college football coach and former professional quarterback. He is the head football coach at his alma mater, the University of Louisville, a position he has held since the 2023 season. Bro ...

announced he was leaving Purdue to return to his alma mater,

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. On December 13, the Boilermakers announced the hiring of Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters as their next head coach.

Preseason

Recruiting classes

Big Ten Media Days

Preseason Media Poll

The annual Cleveland.com Preseason Big Ten Media Poll.

Preseason Player of the Year

Below are the results of the annual Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year awards conducted by Cleveland.com.

Preseason awards

All−American Teams

Individual awards

Rankings

Schedule

All times Eastern time. † denotes Homecoming game

Regular season schedule

Week 0

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Big Ten Championship Game

Postseason

Bowl games

For the 2020–2025 bowl cycle, The Big Ten will have annually eight appearances in the following bowls: Rose Bowl (unless they are selected for playoffs filled by a Pac-12 team if champion is in the playoffs),

Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Pop-Tarts Bowl and Florida Classic. The g ...

Guaranteed Rate Bowl The Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989, under several different names. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 ...

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada, before moving t ...

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998 in sports, 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by ...

Pinstripe Bowl The Pinstripe Bowl is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game held annually since 2010 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City. Through 2025 it is affiliated ...

Quick Lane Bowl The GameAbove Sports Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2014 season. The game was previously known as the Quick Lane Bowl with Ford Motor Company serving as title sponsor of the game fo ...

, and

Outback Bowl The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Tampa, Florida. The event was known as the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to 2022. It was held at Tampa Stadium from 1986 until 1999, when it ...

. The Big Ten teams will go to a New Year's Six bowl if a team finishes higher than the champions of

Power Five conferences The power conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, the highest level o ...

in the final College Football Playoff rankings. The Big Ten champion is also eligible for the

if it's among the top four teams in the final CFP ranking. Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Eastern Time Zone.

Big Ten records vs other conferences

2022–2023 records against non-conference foes Post Season

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Big Ten Individual Awards

The following individuals won th
conference's annual player and coach awards

All-Conference Teams

2022 Big Ten All-Conference Teams and Awards Coaches Honorable Mention: ILLINOIS: Isaiah Adams, Tarique Barnes, Zy Crisler,

Isaac Darkangelo Isaac Darkangelo (born April 26, 2000) is an American professional football linebacker for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Northern Michigan and Illinois. He has also been a member of the ...

, Caleb Griffin, Julian Pearl, Isaiah Williams; INDIANA: Charles Campbell, James Evans, Cam Jones, Tiawan Mullen; IOWA: Joe Evans, Kaleb Johnson, Logan Lee,

Kaevon Merriweather Kaevon Merriweather (born December 20, 1999) is an American professional football safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was signed by the Buccaneers as an ...

, Mason Richman, Noah Shannon; MARYLAND: Jakorian Bennett, Jaelyn Duncan, Ami Finau, Delmar Glaze,

Roman Hemby Roman Hemby (born August 16, 2002) is an American college football running back for the Indiana Hoosiers. Early life Hemby grew up in Edgewood, Maryland, and attended The John Carroll School. Hemby was rated a three-star recruit and committed ...

, Rakim Jarrett, Colton Spangler; MICHIGAN: Karsen Barnhart, Gemon Green,

Kris Jenkins Kristopher Rudy-Charles Jenkins (born August 3, 1979) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a defensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played ...

Mike Sainristil Mike Sainristil ( ; born October 3, 2000) is a Haitian American professional football cornerback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He was an All-American playing college football for the Michigan Wolverines, wi ...

; MICHIGAN STATE:

Simeon Barrow Simeon Barrow Jr. (born July 6, 2002) is an American professional football defensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and Miami Hurricanes. Early ...

, Keon Coleman, J.D. Duplain, Jayden Reed, Nick Samac, Jacob Slade; MINNESOTA: Trill Carter,

Aireontae Ersery Aireontae Lamont Ersery (; born February 19, 2002) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and was selected by ...

, Cody Lindenberg, Quentin Redding,

Brevyn Spann-Ford Brevyn Spann-Ford (born December 27, 1999) is an American professional football tight end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and was signed by the Cowboys as ...

, Danny Striggow, Matthew Trickett; NEBRASKA: Anthony Grant,

Quinton Newsome Quinton Newsome (born July 11, 2001) is an American professional American football, football cornerback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football, Nebraska Corn ...

, Luke Reimer; NORTHWESTERN: Adetomiwa Adebawore, Bryce Gallagher, Evan Hull, Cameron Mitchell; OHIO STATE:

Denzel Burke Denzel Burke (born November 10, 2002) is an American professional football cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was selected by the Cardinals in the ...

, Steele Chambers,

Michael Hall Jr. Michael Hall Jr. (born June 13, 2003) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Early life Hall grew up in Str ...

, Tanner McCalister, Jesse Mirco, Lathan Ransom, Noah Ruggles, Jack Sawyer,

Cade Stover Cade Stover (born June 12, 2000) is an American professional football tight end for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, and was selected by the Texans in the fourth rou ...

Luke Wypler Luke Wypler ( ; born May 3, 2001) is an American professional football center for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Early life Wypler was born on May 3, 2001, in ...

; PENN STATE: Barney Amor, Sean Clifford, Curtis Jacobs,

Hunter Nourzad Hunter Lee Nourzad (born November 26, 2000) is an American professional football center for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Cornell Big Red and Penn State Nittany Lions and was sel ...

, Chop Robinson,

Nicholas Singleton Nicholas Sean-Gaylor Singleton (born January 6, 2004) is an American college football running back for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2022. Early life Singleton attended Governor Mifflin High Sc ...

, Nick Tarburton, Parker Washington, Sal Wormley; PURDUE:

Branson Deen Branson Milan Deen (born February 12, 2000) is an American professional football defensive tackle. He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and Miami Hurricanes. Early life Deen was born on February 12, 2000, and grew up in Indiana ...

Jalen Graham Jalen A. Graham (born January 11, 2001) is an American professional football linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and was selected by the San Francisc ...

Kydran Jenkins Kydran Jenkins (born July 3, 2002) is an American college football defensive end and linebacker for the Purdue Boilermakers. Early life Jenkins attended Jefferson County High School in Louisville, Georgia. He was rated as a three-star recrui ...

, Charlie Jones, Devin Mockobee, Jack Sullivan, Cory Trice; RUTGERS: Christian Izien, Max Melton, Avery Young; WISCONSIN: Tanor Bortolini,

Isaac Guerendo Isaac Guerendo (born June 28, 2000) is an American professional football running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers and Louisville Cardinals. Early life G ...

, Jack Nelson, Maema Njongmeta, Joe Tippmann. Media Honorable Mention: ILLINOIS: Tarique Barnes, Seth Coleman,

, Tommy DeVito, Caleb Griffin, Gabe Jacas, Julian Pearl, Alex Pihlstrom, Kendall Smith, Isaiah Williams; INDIANA: Charles Campbell, Aaron Casey, James Evans, Cam Jones,

Dasan McCullough Dasan McCullough (born March 7, 2003) is an American college football outside linebacker for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He previously played for the Indiana Hoosiers and the Oklahoma Sooners. Early life McCullough initially attended Blue Valley ...

, Tiawan Mullen; IOWA: Kaleb Johnson, Luke Lachey, Logan Lee,

, Noah Shannon; MARYLAND: Deonte Banks, Jaishawn Barham, Jakorian Bennett,

Beau Brade Beau Brade (born January 29, 2002) is an American professional American football, football Safety (gridiron football position), safety for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Maryland Terrapin ...

, Corey Dyches, Jaelyn Duncan, Ami Finau,

, Rakim Jarrett, Chad Ryland, Colton Spangler, Taulia Tagovailoa; MICHIGAN: Karsen Barnhart, Gemon Green,

Jaylen Harrell Jaylen Davon Harrell (born May 1, 2002) is an American professional football linebacker for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, winning three consecutive Big Ten Co ...

, Makari Paige,

Luke Schoonmaker Luke Schoonmaker ( ; born September 28, 1998) is an American professional football tight end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and was selected by the Cowboys in t ...

; MICHIGAN STATE:

, J.D. Duplain, Xavier Henderson, Jayden Reed, Nick Samac, Jacob Slade; MINNESOTA: Kyler Baugh, Quinn Carroll,

, Chuck Filiaga,

Jordan Howden Jordan Howden (born May 14, 2000) is an American professional football safety for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Professional career Howden was select ...

, Cody Lindenberg, Thomas Rush,

Terell Smith Terell Smith (born July 27, 1999) is an American professional football cornerback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Early life Smith was born on July 27, 19 ...

Mariano Sori-Marin Mariano Sori-Marin (born December 15, 1999) is an American football coach who currently serves as the nickelbacks and assistant linebackers coach for the University of Minnesota. He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers as a ...

, Matthew Trickett; NEBRASKA: Anthony Grant, Luke Reimer; NORTHWESTERN: Evan Hull, Cameron Mitchell; OHIO STATE:

, Steele Chambers, TreVeyon Henderson, Tanner McCalister, Jesse Mirco, Lathan Ransom, Tyleik Williams; PENN STATE: Kaytron Allen, Sean Clifford, Johnny Dixon, Bryce Effner, Adisa Isaac, Curtis Jacobs,

, Jake Pinegar, Chop Robinson, Juice Scruggs, Brenton Strange, Parker Washington, Sal Wormley; PURDUE:

Cam Allen Cameron Allen (born November 22, 1999) is an American professional American football, football Safety (gridiron football position), safety. He played college football at Purdue Boilermakers football, Purdue. Early life Allen grew up in Bluefiel ...

Gus Hartwig Gus Hartwig (born January 21, 2002) is an American professional football center for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers. Early life Hartwig attended Zionsville Comm ...

, Spencer Holstege, Lawrence Johnson, Charlie Jones,

Marcus Mbow Marcus Mbow (born April 2, 2003) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and was selected by the Giants in the fi ...

, Devin Mockobee, Jack Sullivan, Cory Trice; RUTGERS: Christian Braswell, Aron Cruickshank, Christian Izien, Deion Jennings, Aaron Lewis, Max Melton, Avery Young; WISCONSIN: Keeanu Benton, Tanor Bortolini, Chimere Dike, C. J. Goetz,

, Jack Nelson, Joe Tippmann, Jordan Turner.

Home attendance

Bold – Exceed capacity
†Season High

2023 NFL Draft

The Big Ten had 55 players taken in the 2023 NFL Draft, the second-most by a conference trailing only the SEC who had 62 selections. The following list includes all Big Ten players who were drafted in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

Trades In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades that took place during the 2022 draft. Round one

Head coaches

''Through 2022 season''

References

{{2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season navbox