The Big Ten team with the easiest path to the College Football Playoff in 2025

You can only play the teams on the schedule, and winning games should matter, period. Not all schedules are created equal, and there are some glaring examples of teams in the ACC, B1G, Big 12, and SEC that have an easier road to the College Football Playoff.

Now, it’s only fair to acknowledge that this is based on what is expected from the teams on the schedule, considering their roster composition and past performance. There are examples of teams every year that improve more than anticipated and have an unpredictably great season.

So let’s identify the teams in each Power 4 conference with the easiest road to the College Football Playoff. Two criteria were considered in making this list: Ease of schedule being the first. Some teams simply don’t play the top teams in their conference, or may have an extremely favorable home versus away game split. Secondly, of the teams with the easiest schedules in each conference, which have the talent and depth to navigate that schedule with one or no losses?

Today, we look at the team in the B1G that best fits those two criteria…

Oregon

Dan Lanning and the NIL juggernaut that is the fighting Oregon Ducks will never be short on talent. What they are short on this season, though, is challenging regular-season games. Even while hosting Oklahoma State and Oregon State early on in the season, Oregon should be heavily favored, and the talent of the Ducks should prove too much for the Cowboys and Beavers to mount much of a challenge in Autzen Stadium.

Trips to Penn State, a rematch of the 2024 B1G Championship Game, and Iowa will not be easy. Both teams are physical and typically play great defense. If they can each improve just marginally offensively, they’ll each be challenging to handle. If Oregon splits those contests at worst, the rest of the schedule is quite manageable. Unbelievably, the Ducks avoid the last two national champions, Michigan and Ohio State, and possibly the third most formidable squad not named Oregon in the Big Ten, Illinois. Games against Northwestern, Indiana, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Minnesota, USC, and Washington round out the B1G schedule. None of those contests should strike fear into the hearts of Duck faithful, even with the Hoosiers coming off a college football playoff berth.

Lanning replaces Heisman finalist Dillon Gabriel at quarterback with Dante Moore, who is likely more talented and naturally gifted. With Lanning having stacked multiple top-five recruiting classes and adding key portal additions at defensive tackle (Bear Alexander), wide receiver (Malik Benson), and running back (Makhi Hughes), all the pieces are in place for the Ducks to stride back into the playoffs with relative ease.