1. Michigan: The Wolverines visit UW early in the season and have a difficult four-game closing stretch that includes home games against Indiana and Ohio State sandwiched around trips to Penn State and Maryland.
2. Purdue: The Boilermakers open Big Ten play with home games against Illinois and Minnesota, but their slate gets much more difficult from there with back-to-back games against Iowa and UW. Plus, Purdue gets crossover opponents Ohio State and Indiana in a span of three games to end the regular season.
3. Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights play four of five games on the road during a stretch that begins in mid-October. That grind ends with a home game against UW followed by trips to Indiana and Penn State.
4. Penn State: Road trips to UW, Iowa and Ohio State await a program that started 2020 with five consecutive defeats before it rallied to win its final four games.
5. Michigan State: Year 2 of the Mel Tucker era includes the usual East Division grind. Whether the Spartans can improve on their 2-5 mark may depend on whether they can knock off Michigan and Penn State in East Lansing.
