Tom Fornelli's College Football Power Ratings: Big Ten hype meets hard truths

Key Points:

• The Big Ten conference has significantly underperformed this season, struggling with key injuries and failing to meet preseason expectations despite previously dominating college football with three consecutive national titles.
• Big Ten teams have a poor record against the spread (36-44-2) when favored, posting a .450 winning percentage, which is the second-worst among all conferences and notably below the overall favorite cover rate of 52.6%.
• Big Ten favorites are failing to cover the spread by an average of 1.82 points per game, a margin far worse than any other conference, with the next closest being the American Athletic Conference at -0.44 points.
• Six of the Big Ten’s seven preseason top-20 ranked teams, excluding Ohio State, are collectively 8-28 against the spread as favorites and are missing covers by an average of 7.76 points per game, highlighting the league’s broader performance issues.
• While other Power Four conferences have seen top contenders falter, the Big Ten’s struggles are uniquely severe, undermining its recent reputation as the dominant force in college football.