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2015 Big Ten Conference football season

2015 Big Ten Conference football season

NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision)
Football
September 3, 2015through January 2016
14
ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Inc., Big Ten Network, FOX (championship game)
Joey Bosa (Ohio State)
San Diego Chargers, 3rd overall
Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State
Michigan State, Ohio State (co-champions)
Iowa
Northwestern
Michigan State Spartans
Iowa Hawkeyes
Connor Cook, Michigan State (QB)

The 2015 Big Ten Conference football season was the 120th season of college football play for the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The conference began its season on Thursday, September 3, with Michigan and Minnesota opening their seasons. The remainder of the teams in the conference began their seasons on September 4 and 5.

This was the Big Ten's second season with 14 teams. The league was home to the defending national champion and inaugural winner of the College Football Playoff in Ohio State.

The Big Ten also welcomed four new head coaches for the 2015 season. Jim Harbaugh replaced Brady Hoke as head coach at Michigan, Mike Riley took over for Bo Pelini at Nebraska, Paul Chryst came in as the head man at Wisconsin, replacing Gary Andersen, and Bill Cubit served as the interim head coach at Illinois after Tim Beckman was fired just one week before the beginning of the season. There were also two coaching changes made during the middle of the 2015 season. On October 13, Maryland dismissed coach Randy Edsall and named his offensive coordinator Mike Locksley as interim coach for the rest of the season. On October 28, Jerry Kill retired as Minnesota's head coach due to health concerns. His defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys was named as interim coach before being named the permanent replacement on November 11.

In preseason polling, Ohio State was unanimously voted to repeat as the Big Ten champion by the media in the Big Ten Preseason poll, receiving all 40 first place votes. The Badgers were favorites to win the Big Ten West Division with 32 votes, followed by Nebraska with five and Minnesota with three.

At the conclusion of the regular season, Iowa won the West Division championship with a perfect 12-0 (8-0) record. Michigan State and Ohio State finished tied atop the East Division standings, both at 11-1 (7-1), but Michigan State's head-to-head victory placed the Spartans into the Big Ten Championship Game opposite Iowa. Following the season, Illinois removed the interim tag from Bill Cubit's title and gave him a two-year contract as head coach, while Rutgers has decided to part ways with Kyle Flood.

In the Big Ten Championship Game, Michigan State defeated Iowa 16-13 to win their second Big Ten championship in three years. With the win, the Spartans advance to the College Football Playoff. Iowa and Ohio State were both placed into New Year's Six Bowls, going to the Rose and Fiesta Bowls, respectively. A total of 10 Big Ten teams went to bowl games in 2015, including Nebraska and Minnesota, both with 5-7 records.

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
		Improvement in ranking
	Drop in ranking
	Not ranked previous week
	No change in ranking from previous week
RV	Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll

In 2015, Penn State will be the only Big Ten team that will not play a non-conference game against a Power Five conference team.

Index to colors and formatting
Big Ten member won
Big Ten member lost
Big Ten teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

† denotes Homecoming game

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 3	8:30 p.m.	Michigan	Utah	Rice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT	FS1	L 24–17	47,825	[1]
September 3	9:00 p.m.	No. 2 Texas Christian	Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN	ESPN	L 23–17	54,147	[2]
September 4	7:00 p.m.	No. 5 Michigan State	Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI	ESPNU	W 37–24	30,885	[3]
September 5	12:00 p.m.	No. 21 Stanford	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 16–6	36,024	[4]
September 5	12:00 p.m.	Richmond	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	ESPNU	W 50–21	38,117	[5]
September 5	12:00 p.m.	Norfolk State	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	ESPNNEWS	W 63–13	47,453	[6]
September 5	12:00 p.m.	Illinois State	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA	BTN	W 31–14	59,450	[7]
September 5	2:00 p.m.	Kent State	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL		W 52–3	36,693	[8]
September 5	3:30 p.m.	Brigham Young	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ABC	L 33–28	89,959	[9]
September 5	3:30 p.m.	Penn State	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN	L 27–10	69,176	[10]
September 5	4:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	ESPNNEWS	W 48–47	36,071	[11]
September 5	8:00 p.m.	No. 20 Wisconsin	No. 3 Alabama	AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX (Cowboys Classic)	ABC	L 35–17	64,279	[12]
September 6	3:00 p.m.	Purdue	Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV	FS1	L 41–31	38,791	[13]
September 7	8:00 p.m.	No. 1 Ohio State	Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, VA	ESPN	W 42-24	65,632
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Oregon State	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	ABC	W 35–7	109,651	[14]
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Miami (OH)	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	ESPNU	W 58–0	76,535	[15]
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Buffalo	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ESPN2	W 27–14	93,065	[16]
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Western Illinois	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	BTN	W 44–0	37,733	[17]
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Bowling Green	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	BTN	L 48–27	36,332	[18]
September 12	12:00 p.m.	Indiana State	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ESPNNEWS	W 38–14	41,158	[19]
September 12	3:30 p.m.	Hawaii	No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	BTN	W 38–0	107,145	[20]
September 12	3:30 p.m.	Washington State	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	ESPNU	L 37–34	46,536	[21]
September 12	3:30 p.m.	Minnesota	Colorado State	Hughes Stadium • Fort Collins, CO	CBS Sports Network	W 23–20 OT	32,500	[22]
September 12	4:00 p.m.	Eastern Illinois	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNNEWS	W 41–0	29,131	[23]
September 12	4:30 p.m.	Iowa	Iowa State	Jack Trice Stadium • Ames, IA (Cy-Hawk Series)	FOX	W 31–17	61,500	[24]
September 12	8:00 p.m.	Florida International	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	BTN	W 36–22	41,509	[25]
September 12	8:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	BTN	W 48–9	89,822	[26]
September 12	8:00 p.m.	No. 7 Oregon	No. 5 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	ABC	W 31–28	76,526	[27]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Air Force	No. 4 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	ABC	W 35–21	74,211	[28]
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Illinois	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC	ESPN2	L 48–14	41,000	[29]
September 19	12:00 p.m.	South Florida	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	ESPNNEWS	W 35–17	36,827	[30]
September 19	12:00 p.m.	UNLV	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	BTN	W 28–7	108,683	[31]
September 19	12:00 p.m.	Kent State	Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 10–7	52,823	[32]
September 19	12:30 p.m.	No. 23 Northwestern	Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC	ESPN3	W 19–10	24,127	[33]
September 19	3:30 p.m.	Nebraska	Miami (FL)	Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL	ABC / ESPN2	L 36–33 OT	53,580	[34]
September 19	3:30 p.m.	Northern Illinois	No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC / ESPN2	W 20–13	104,095	[35]
September 19	3:30 p.m.	Virginia Tech	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ESPNU	L 51–24	45,759	[36]
September 19	3:30 p.m.	Troy	No. 24 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	BTN	W 28–3	77,157	[37]
September 19	4:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	ESPNNEWS	W 38–35	44,823	[38]
September 19	8:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA	BTN	W 27–24	63,636	[39]
September 19	8:00 p.m.	Rutgers	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	BTN	PSU 28–3	103,323	[40]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 26†	12:00 p.m.	Kansas	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	BTN	W 27–14	46,136	[41]
September 26	12:00 p.m.	Bowling Green	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	BTN	L 35–28	33,160	[42]
September 26	12:00 p.m.	Central Michigan	No. 2 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	BTN	W 30–10	75,218	[43]
September 26	12:00 p.m.	No. 22 Brigham Young	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	ABC	W 31–0	108,940	[44]
September 26†	12:00 p.m.	Southern Mississippi	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ESPNEWS	W 36–28	89,899	[45]
September 26	12:30 p.m.	Indiana	Wake Forest	BB&T Field • Winston-Salem, NC	ACCN	W 31–24	22,508	[46]
September 26	2:00 p.m.	Maryland	West Virginia	Milan Puskar Stadium • Morgantown, WV (MD-WV rivalry)	FS1	L 45–6	61,174	[47]
September 26	3:30 p.m.	San Diego State	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	BTN	W 37–21	95,107	[48]
September 26	3:30 p.m.	Western Michigan	No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC/ESPN2	W 38–12	106,123	[49]
September 26	3:30 p.m.	North Texas	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA	ESPNU	W 62–16	56,401	[50]
September 26†	3:30 p.m.	Ohio	Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN	BTN	W 27–24	53,917	[51]
September 26	4:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee State	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	ESPNEWS	W 27–25	44,366	[52]
September 26	8:00 p.m.	Ball State	No. 17 Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 24–19	30,107	[53]
September 26	8:00 p.m.	Hawaii	No. 22 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	BTN	W 28–0	80,829	[54]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 3	12:00 a.m.	No. 22 Michigan	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	BTN	MICH 28–0	51,802	[55]
October 3	12:00 p.m.	Iowa	No. 19 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI (Heartland Trophy)	ESPN	IA 10–6	80,933	[56]
October 3†	12:00 p.m.	Purdue	No. 2 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	ESPN2	MSU 24–21	74,418	[57]
October 3	12:00 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 16 Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	NW 27–0	30,044	[58]
October 3	12:00 p.m.	Army	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ESPNU	W 20–14	107,387	[59]
October 3	3:30 p.m.	No. 1 Ohio State	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	ABC/ESPN2	OSU 34–27	52,929	[60]
October 3	4:00 p.m.	Nebraska	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	BTN	ILL 14–13	40,138	[61]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 3	Rutgers

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 10†	12:00 p.m.	Indiana	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ESPN	PSU 29–7	97,873	[62]
October 10†	12:00 p.m.	Illinois	No. 22 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA	ESPN2	IA 29–20	66,693	[63]
October 10†	12:00 p.m.	Maryland	No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	BTN	OSU 49–28	107,869	[64]
October 10	3:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE (Freedom Trophy)	ABC/ESPN2	WIS 23–21	89,886	[65]
October 10†	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Northwestern	No. 18 Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	BTN	MICH 38–0	110,452	[66]
October 10	3:30 p.m.	Minnesota	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ESPNU	MIN 41–13	33,780	[67]
October 10	8:00 p.m.	No. 4 Michigan State	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	BTN	MSU 31–24	50,373	[68]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 17†	12:00 p.m.	Purdue	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	BTN	WIS 24–7	80,794	[69]
October 17†	12:00 p.m.	No. 17 Iowa	No. 20 Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ABC/ESPN2	IA 40–10	44,135	[70]
October 17	3:30 p.m.	Nebraska	Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN ($5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy)	ESPN2	NEB 48–25	52,062	[71]
October 17	3:30 p.m.	No. 7 Michigan State	No. 12 Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)	ESPN	MSU 27–23	111,740	[72]
October 17†	3:30 p.m.	Rutgers	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	BTN	RUT 55–52	40,567	[73]
October 17	8:00 p.m.	Penn State	No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (OSU-PSU rivalry)	ABC	OSU 38–10	108,423	[74]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 17	Illinois	Maryland

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 24	12:00 p.m.	Northwestern	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ESPN2	NW 30–28	89,493	[75]
October 24	3:30 p.m.	Indiana	No. 7 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Old Brass Spittoon)	ABC/ESPN2	MSU 52–26	74,144	[76]
October 24	3:30 p.m.	Penn State	Maryland	M&T Bank Stadium • Baltimore, MD (Maryland-PSU rivalry)	ESPN	PSU 31–30	68,948	[77]
October 24†	3:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	BTN	WIS 24–13	45,438	[78]
October 24	8:00 p.m.	No. 1 Ohio State	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	ABC	OSU 49–7	53,111	[79]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 24	#12 Iowa	#15 Michigan	Minnesota	Purdue

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 31	12:00 p.m.	Rutgers	Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	BTN	WIS 48–10	74,575	[80]
October 31	12:00 p.m.	Nebraska	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ESPNU	PUR 55–45	31,351	[81]
October 31	12:00 p.m.	Illinois	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ESPN2	PSU 39–0	94,417	[82]
October 31	3:30 p.m.	Maryland	No. 10 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA	ABC / ESPN2	IA 31–15	62,667	[83]
October 31	7:00 p.m.	No. 15 Michigan	Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)	ESPN	MICH 29–26	50,709	[84]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
October 31	Indiana	#6 Michigan State	Northwestern	#1 Ohio State

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 7	12:00 p.m.	Penn State	Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNU	NW 23–21	34,116	[85]
November 7†	12:00 p.m.	Illinois	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Purdue Cannon)	BTN	ILL 48–14	40,197	[86]
November 7	3:30 p.m.	No. 10 Iowa	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	ESPN	IA 35–27	44,739	[87]
November 7	3:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	BTN	WIS 31–24	44,678	[88]
November 7	3:30 p.m.	Rutgers	No. 16 Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	BTN	MICH 49–16	109,879	[89]
November 7	7:00 p.m.	No. 6 Michigan State	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ESPN	NEB 39–38	90,094	[90]
November 7	8:00 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 1 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	OSU 28–14	108,075	[91]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 14	12:00 p.m.	Purdue	No. 24 Northwestern	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	NW 21–14	30,003	[92]
November 14	12:00 p.m.	No. 2 Ohio State	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Illibuck)	ABC	OSU 28–3	51,515	[93]
November 14	12:00 p.m.	Maryland	No. 14 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	ESPN2	MSU 24–7	73,406	[94]
November 14	3:30 p.m.	Nebraska	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	BTN	NEB 31–14	45,606	[95]
November 14	3:30 p.m.	No. 15 Michigan	Indiana	Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN	ABC/ESPN2	MICH 48–41 2OT	49,557	[96]
November 14	8:00 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 8 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA (Floyd of Rosedale)	BTN	IA 40–35	70,585	[97]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 14	Penn State	#23 Wisconsin

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 21	12:00 p.m.	No. 14 Michigan	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ABC	MI 28–16	107,418	[98]
November 21	12:00 p.m.	Purdue	No. 6 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA	ESPN2	IA 40–20	62,920	[99]
November 21	12:00 p.m.	Illinois	Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN	ESPNNEWS	MIN 32–23	47,976	[100]
November 21	12:00 p.m.	Indiana	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	BTN	IND 47–28	33,685	[101]
November 21	12:00 p.m.	Rutgers	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY	CBS Sports Network	W 31–21	30,113	[102]
November 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 9 Michigan State	No. 2 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	MSU 17–14	108,975	[103]
November 21	3:30 p.m.	No. 20 Northwestern	No. 21 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	BTN	NW 13–7	75,276	[104]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Bye Week
November 21	Nebraska

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 27	3:30 p.m.	No. 3 Iowa	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE (Heroes Trophy)	ABC	IA 28–20	90,830	[105]
November 28	12:00 p.m.	No. 8 Ohio State	No. 12 Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (The Game)	ABC	OSU 42–13	111,829	[106]
November 28	12:00 p.m.	Indiana	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	BTN	IND 54–36	37,152	[107]
November 28	12:00 p.m.	Maryland	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	BTN	MD 46–41	44,846	[108]
November 28	3:30 p.m.	Penn State	No. 6 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Land Grant Trophy)	ESPN	MSU 55–16	74,705	[109]
November 28	3:30 p.m.	Wisconsin	Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN (Paul Bunyan's Axe)	BTN	WIS 31–21	52,850	[110]
November 28	3:30 p.m.	No. 17 Northwestern	Illinois	Soldier Field • Chicago, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy)	ESPNU	NW 24–14	33,514	[111]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 5	8:00 p.m.	No. 5 Michigan State	No. 4 Iowa	Lucas Oil Stadium • Indianapolis, IN	FOX	MSU 16–13	66,985	[112]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Big Ten bowl games for the 2015 season are:

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time (EST)	Big Ten team	Opponent	Score	Attendance	Ref.
Pinstripe Bowl	December 26	Yankee Stadium • New York, NY	ABC	3:30 p.m.	Indiana	Duke	Duke 44–41 OT	37,218	[113]
Foster Farms Bowl	December 26	Levi's Stadium • Santa Clara, CA	ESPN	9:15 p.m.	Nebraska	UCLA	NEB 37–29	33,527	[114]
Quick Lane Bowl	December 28	Ford Field • Detroit, MI	ESPN2	5:00 p.m.	Minnesota	Central Michigan	MIN 21–14	34,217	[115]
Holiday Bowl	December 30	Qualcomm Stadium • San Diego, CA	ESPN	10:30 p.m.	#23 Wisconsin	USC	WIS 23–21	48,329	[116]
Outback Bowl	January 1	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN2	12:00 p.m.	#12 Northwestern	Tennessee	TENN 45–6	53,202	[117]
Citrus Bowl	January 1	Florida Citrus Bowl • Orlando, FL	ABC	1:00 p.m.	#17 Michigan	#19 Florida	MICH 41–7	63,113	[118]
TaxSlayer Bowl	January 2	EverBank Field • Jacksonville, FL	ESPN	12:00 p.m.	Penn State	Georgia	UGA 24–17	58,212	[119]
New Year's Six Bowls
Fiesta Bowl	January 1	University of Phoenix Stadium • Glendale, AZ	ESPN	1:00 p.m.	#7 Ohio State	#8 Notre Dame	OSU 44–28	71,123	[120]
Rose Bowl	January 1	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA	ESPN	5:00 p.m.	#6 Iowa	#5 Stanford	STAN 45–16	94,268	[121]
College Football Playoff
Cotton Bowl (Semifinal)	December 31	AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX	ESPN	8:00 p.m.	#3 Michigan State	#2 Alabama	ALA 38–0	82,812	[122]

Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Eastern Time Zone.

2015 records against FBS conferences (through January 2, 2016):

Conference	Record
ACC	3–4
American	2–1
Big 12	2–2
C-USA	5–1
Independents	4–1
MAC	11-2
Mountain West	6–0
Pac-12	5–3
SEC	1–4
Sun Belt	2–0

2015 Big Ten Player of the Year Awards

Award	Player	School
Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year	Ezekiel Elliott	Ohio State
Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year	Carl Nassib	Penn State
Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year	Jabrill Peppers	Michigan
Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year	Connor Cook	Michigan State
Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year	Aaron Burbridge	Michigan State
Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year	Ezekiel Elliott	Ohio State
Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year	Jake Butt	Michigan
Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year	Taylor Decker	Ohio State
Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year	Joey Bosa	Ohio State
Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year	Joe Schobert	Wisconsin
Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year	Desmond King	Iowa
Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year	Griffin Oakes	Indiana
Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year	Sam Foltz	Nebraska
Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year	William Likely	Maryland
Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year (coaches vote)	Kirk Ferentz	Iowa
Dave McClain Coach of the Year (media vote)	Kirk Ferentz	Iowa

2015 Big Ten All-Conference Honors

Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS

Coaches Honorable Mention: ILLINOIS: Geronimo Allison, Taylor Barton, V'Angelo Bentley (return specialist), Clayton Fejedelem, Ted Karras, Mason Monheim, T.J. Neal, Austin Schmidt, Dawuane Smoot, Jihad Ward; INDIANA: Simmie Cobbs, Michael Cooper, Darius Latham, Nick Mangieri, Zack Shaw; IOWA: Cole Fisher, Jaleel Johnson, Dillon Kidd, Desmond King (return specialist), Ben Niemann, Matt VandeBerg, Sean Welsh; MARYLAND: Jermaine Carter, Michael Dunn, Quinton Jefferson; MICHIGAN: Kenny Allen, Joe Bolden, Ben Braden, Mason Cole, Amara Darboh, Graham Glasgow, Ryan Glasgow, Willie Henry, Kyle Kalis, Desmond Morgan, Blake O'Neil, Jake Rudock, De'Veon Smith, Jarrod Wilson; MICHIGAN STATE: Jon Reschke, R.J. Shelton, Lawrence Thomas; MINNESOTA: Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Shannon Brooks, De'Vondre Campbell, Theiren Cockran, Brandon Lingen, KJ Maye, Jalen Myrick, Jonah Pirsig, Steven Richardson; NEBRASKA: Drew Brown, Nate Gerry, Andy Janovich, Joshua Kalu; NORTHWESTERN: Deonte Gibson, Solomon Vault (return specialist); OHIO STATE: Tyquan Lewis, Jalin Marshall (return specialist), Braxton Miller, Tyvis Powell, Nick Vannett; PENN STATE: Marcus Allen, Jason Cabinda, Trevor Williams; PURDUE: Anthony Brown, Markell Jones, Robert Kugler, Jake Replogle, Frankie Williams; RUTGERS: Leonte Caroo, Steve Longa, Keith Lumpkin; WISCONSIN: T.J. Edwards, Troy Fumagalli, Darius Hillary, Tanner McEvoy.

Media Honorable Mention: ILLINOIS: Geronimo Allison, Taylor Barton, V'Angelo Bentley (return specialist), Mason Monheim, T.J. Neal, Austin Schmidt, Dawuane Smoot, Jihad Ward; INDIANA: Simmie Cobbs, Michael Cooper, Nick Mangieri, Marcus Oliver, Mitchell Paige (return specialist); IOWA: Cole Fisher, Jaleel Johnson, Dillon Kidd, Jordan Lomax, Desmond King (return specialist), Marshall Koehn, Matt VandeBerg, Sean Welsh; MARYLAND: Jermaine Carter, Sean Davis, Brandon Ross; MICHIGAN: Joe Bolden, Ben Braden, Jehu Chesson, Mason Cole, Amara Darboh, Graham Glasgow, Ryan Glasgow, Willie Henry, Royce Jenkins-Stone, Jourdan Lewis (return specialist), Desmond Morgan, Blake O'Neil, Jabrill Peppers (return specialist), Jake Rudock, Chris Wormley; MICHIGAN STATE: Donavan Clark, Demetrious Cox, Darien Harris, Joel Heath, Jon Reschke; MINNESOTA: Shannon Brooks, De'Vondre Campbell, Theiren Cockran, Brandon Lingen, Jack Lynn, KJ Maye, Jonah Pirsig, Cody Poock, Steven Richardson, Ryan Santoso; NEBRASKA: Cethan Carter; OHIO STATE: Eli Apple, Gareon Conley, Tyquan Lewis, Jalin Marshall (wide receiver/return specialist), Braxton Miller, Billy Price, Tyvis Powell, Nick Vannett; PENN STATE: Marcus Allen, Jason Cabinda, Grant Haley, DaeSean Hamilton; PURDUE: Anthony Brown, Markell Jones, Robert Kugler, Jake Replogle, Frankie Williams; RUTGERS: Quentin Gause, Keith Lumpkin, Chris Muller; WISCONSIN: Michael Dieter, Tanner McEvoy, Troy Fumagalli, Chikwe Obasih, Sojourn Shelton.

The 2015 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), The Sporting News (TSN), Sports Illustrated (SI), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), College Football News (CFN), Scout.com, and Yahoo! Sports (Yahoo!).

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
First Team All-Americans
TE	Jake Butt	Michigan	CBS, SI
OL	Jack Allen	Michigan State	AP, CBS, SI, FOX
OL	Jack Conklin	Michigan State	TSN, USA Today, CBS, Athlon
OL	Taylor Decker	Ohio State	AFCA, AP, WCFF, CBS, SI, FOX		*
OL	Dan Feeney	Indiana	ESPN
OL	Jason Spriggs	Indiana	FWAA, Phil Steele
OL	Jordan Walsh	Iowa	FOX
DL	Joey Bosa	Ohio State	AFCA, WCFF, USA Today, CBS, SI, ESPN, Athlon, Phil Steele		*
DL	Malik McDowell	Michigan State	FOX
DL	Carl Nassib	Penn State	AFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, WCFF, CBS, SI, ESPN, FOX, Athlon, Phil Steele	*	*
DL	Adolphus Washington	Ohio State	TSN
LB	Joe Schobert	Wisconsin	FWAA, ESPN, Phil Steele
CB	Desmond King	Iowa	AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, WCFF, USA Today, CBS, SI, ESPN, FOX, Athlon, Phil Steele	*	*
CB	Jourdan Lewis	Michigan	USA Today, SI
S	Vonn Bell	Ohio State	AP, TSN, SI, Athlon
PR	William Likely	Maryland	FWAA, Phil Steele

Position	Player	School	Selector
Second Team All-Americans
RB	Ezekiel Elliott	Ohio State	USA Today, SI, AP, FWAA, Athlon, Phil Steele
TE	Jake Butt	Michigan	AP, FOX, TSN, Athlon
OL	Jack Allen	Michigan State	USA Today, WCFF, FWAA, Athlon, Phil Steele
OL	Jack Conklin	Michigan State	AP, WCFF, FWAA
OL	Taylor Decker	Ohio State	USA Today, FWAA, TSN, Athlon, Phil Steele
OL	Pat Elflein	Ohio State	SI, AP
OL	Dan Feeney	Indiana	CBS, Athlon
OL	Jason Spriggs	Indiana	WCFF, TSN
DL	Joey Bosa	Ohio State	AP, FOX, TSN
DL	Shilique Calhoun	Michigan State	CBS, WCFF, FWAA
DL	Carl Nassib	Penn State	USA Today
DL	Adolphus Washington	Ohio State	CBS
LB	Darron Lee	Ohio State	SI
LB	Raekwon McMillan	Ohio State	WCFF
LB	Joe Schobert	Wisconsin	USA Today, CBS, WCFF, AP, TSN, Athlon
LB	Anthony Walker	Northwestern	SI, FOX
CB	Jourdan Lewis	Michigan	WCFF, AP, FWAA, FOX, Athlon, Phil Steele
S	Vonn Bell	Ohio State	FOX
S	Jabrill Peppers	Michigan	CBS, SI, TSN
RET	William Likely	Maryland	USA Today, SI, Athlon
AP	Jabrill Peppers	Michigan	FOX

Position	Player	School	Selector
Third Team All-Americans
OL	Austin Blythe	Iowa	AP, Athlon
OL	Jack Conklin	Michigan State	Phil Steele
OL	Pat Elflein	Ohio State	Athlon
OL	Dan Feeney	Indiana	AP
OL	Jason Spriggs	Indiana	AP
OL	Jordan Walsh	Iowa	Athlon
DL	Joey Bosa	Ohio State	Phil Steele
DL	Shilique Calhoun	Michigan State	AP, Phil Steele
LB	Anthony Walker	Northwestern	AP, Athlon
LB	Raekwon McMillan	Ohio State	Phil Steele

Position	Player	School	Selector
Fourth Team All-Americans
OL	Austin Blythe	Iowa	Phil Steele
DL	Yannick Ngakoue	Maryland	Phil Steele
K	Griffin Oakes	Indiana	Phil Steele
AP	Jabrill Peppers	Michigan	Phil Steele

Position	Player	School	Selector
Honorable Mention All-Americans
QB	Connor Cook	Michigan State	SI
WR	Aaron Burbridge	Michigan State	SI
TE	George Kittle	Iowa	SI
WR	Aaron Burbridge	Michigan State	SI
OL	Austin Blythe	Iowa	SI
OL	Jack Conklin	Michigan State	SI
OL	Dan Feeney	Indiana	SI
OL	Jason Spriggs	Indiana	SI
OL	Jordan Walsh	Iowa	SI
DT	Shilique Calhoun	Michigan State	SI
DT	Adolphus Washington	Ohio State	SI
DT	Anthony Zettel	Penn State	SI
LB	Raekwon McMillan	Ohio State	SI
LB	Joshua Perry	Ohio State	SI
LB	Joe Schobert	Wisconsin	SI
CB	Nick VanHoose	Northwestern	SI
P	Cameron Johnston	Ohio State	SI
AP	Jabrill Peppers	Michigan	SI

*AFCA All-America Team

*USA Today All-America Team

*CBS Sports All-America Team

*Sports Illustrated All-America Team

*Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America Team

*Associated Press All-America Team Deprecated link archived 2017-05-27 at archive.today

*ESPN.com All-America Team

*Football Writers Association of America All-America Team

*Fox Sports All-America Team

*Sporting News All-America Team Archived 2015-12-19 at the Wayback Machine

*Athlon Sports All-America Team

*Phil Steele All-America Team Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine

2015 CoSIDA Academic-All Americans

Player	School	Team
CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
Jacoby Boren	Ohio State	First Team
Jack Willoughby	Ohio State	First Team
Jordan Lomax	Iowa	Second Team
Brandon Lingen	Minnesota	Second Team
Tyler Yazujian	Penn State	Second Team
Robert Kugler	Purdue	Second Team

Jim Thorpe Award

Desmond King, Iowa

Lombardi Award

Carl Nassib, Penn State

Lott IMPACT Trophy

Carl Nassib, Penn State

Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

NCAA List of National Award Winners

Column 1	Column 2
	This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (June 2016)

47 Big Ten athletes were selected in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
	1				1	1	3
	1			1	1		3
						1	1
	1	1		1			3
		1	1		1		3
1		1	1		1	1	5
			2				2
		2	1		1		4
			1		1		2
5	2	3	2				12
	2	1			2		5
					1		1
		1					1
			1		1		2

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
*	= Compensatory Selections

Rnd.	Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	College
San Diego Chargers	Joey Bosa	DE	Ohio State
Dallas Cowboys	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	Ohio State
Tennessee Titans	Jack Conklin	T	Michigan State	from Miami via Philadelphia and Cleveland
New York Giants	Eli Apple	CB	Ohio State
Detroit Lions	Taylor Decker	T	Ohio State
New York Jets	Darron Lee	LB	Ohio State
Tennessee Titans	Austin Johnson	DT	Penn State	from Philadelphia via Los Angeles
Oakland Raiders	Jihad Ward	DT	Illinois
New Orleans Saints	Michael Thomas	WR	Ohio State
Green Bay Packers	Jason Spriggs	T	Indiana	from Indianapolis
New York Jets	Christian Hackenberg	QB	Penn State
Pittsburgh Steelers	Sean Davis	CB	Maryland
New Orleans Saints	Vonn Bell	S	Ohio State	from Arizona via New England
Cleveland Browns	Carl Nassib	DE	Penn State
Dallas Cowboys	Maliek Collins	DT	Nebraska
Jacksonville Jaguars	Yannick Ngakoue	LB	Maryland
Oakland Raiders	Shilique Calhoun	DE	Michigan State
Buffalo Bills	Adolphus Washington	DT	Ohio State
Houston Texans	Braxton Miller	WR	Ohio State
Miami Dolphins	Leonte Carroo	WR	Rutgers	from Minnesota
Seattle Seahawks	Nick Vannett	TE	Ohio State	from Denver
3*	Detroit Lions	Graham Glasgow	G	Michigan
3*	New England Patriots	Vincent Valentine	DT	Nebraska
Cleveland Browns	Joe Schobert	LB	Wisconsin
Oakland Raiders	Connor Cook	QB	Michigan State	from Tennessee via Philadelphia
San Diego Chargers	Joshua Perry	LB	Ohio State
Kansas City Chiefs	Eric Murray	CB	Minnesota	from Chicago via Tampa Bay
Atlanta Falcons	De'Vondre Campbell	LB	Minnesota
Baltimore Ravens	Alex Lewis	T	Nebraska	from Denver
4*	Baltimore Ravens	Willie Henry	DT	Michigan
4*	Green Bay Packers	Dean Lowry	DE	Northwestern
4*	Buffalo Bills	Cardale Jones	QB	Ohio State	Extra compensatory pick authorized by NFLMC and NFLPA
Seattle Seahawks	Quinton Jefferson	DT	Maryland
Chicago Bears	Jordan Howard	RB	Indiana
	Andy Janovich	FB	Nebraska	from Cleveland
Washington Redskins	Nate Sudfeld	QB	Indiana	from New Orleans
Dallas Cowboys	Anthony Brown	CB	Purdue	from Oakland
Detroit Lions	Jake Rudock	QB	Michigan
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Dan Vitale	FB	Northwestern	from Washington
San Diego Chargers	Derek Watt	FB	Wisconsin	from Minnesota
Detroit Lions	Anthony Zettel	DE	Penn State	from Seattle
Miami Dolphins	Jordan Lucas	S	Penn State	from New England via Chicago
6*	San Francisco 49ers	Aaron Burbridge	WR	Michigan State
6*	New England Patriots	Ted Karras III	G	Illinois
San Diego Chargers	Donavon Clark	G	Michigan State
Cincinnati Bengals	Clayton Fejedelem	S	Illinois
Indianapolis Colts	Austin Blythe	C	Iowa

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 2016 draft.

Round one

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

*Maryland fired Randy Edsall six games into the season. Offensive coordinator Mike Locksley was named interim coach for the remainder of the season

*Jerry Kill stepped down as Minnesota's coach on October 28, 2015 due to health reasons. Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys was named interim coach for a couple of weeks and then named the permanent replacement on November 11.

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