Two Big Ten Conference football coaches dropped six spots in CBS Sports’ 2025 Big Ten Coach Rankings, released Tuesday by Cody Nagel.
Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell and Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith had the largest rankings drop among the 18 Big Ten coaches. It’s a tough break especially for Smith, who enters his second season leading the Spartans ranked No. 13.
“Smith joins Wisconsin's Fickell as the biggest fallers in the Big Ten coach rankings,” Nagel wrote. “In his first season in East Lansing, Smith posted a shaky 5-7 record in 2024 -- though that's largely in line with how the Spartans have fared over the past seven years, aside from their standout 11-win campaign in 2021 under Mel Tucker.”
Smith entered his debut season last year ranked 7th, but finished with only three conference wins over Maryland (27-24), Iowa (32-20) and Purdue (24-17). The Spartans fell to Big Ten opponents Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Rutgers.
Cleveland.com’s Stephen Means projects Michigan State to finish at No. 13 in the conference this season, tied with Rutgers and a small improvement from last year (No. 14). However, starting quarterback Aidan Chiles didn’t make Andy Staples’ preseason Big Ten top-10 QB list.
Smith and Chiles have the opportunity to impress this season. The Spartans’ toughest Big Ten matchups are against Penn State (Nov. 15) and Michigan (Oct. 25), but Michigan State has the home advantage in both games. Smith’s program got lucky with its schedule, the team won’t face conference powers Ohio State, Oregon or Illinois.
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