Heading into the 2026 college football season, it's always important to look at ESPN's Football Power Index.Remember, the FPI is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.In simpler terms, the higher the FPI, the better a team is projected to be.All 18 Big Ten teams were ranked on this scale, and the range is incredible. The projected 2026 conference champion leads the way at 28.7, while five teams have a score lower than 1.0, two of which are even in the negatives.2026 Big Ten football FPI rankingsOhio State Buckeyes: 28.7Oregon Ducks: 25.3Indiana Hoosiers: 23.1USC Trojans: 17.0Michigan Wolverines: 15.9Penn State Nittany Lions: 13.7Iowa Hawkeyes: 10.6Washington Huskies: 9.9Nebraska Cornhuskers: 8.8Illinois Fighting Illini: 6.3Wisconsin Badgers: 4.8Northwestern Wildcats: 1.4Maryland Terrapins: 1.0Minnesota Golden Gophers: 0.6UCLA Bruins: 0.5Michigan State Spartans: 0.3Rutgers Scarlet Knights: -0.2Purdue Boilermakers: -0.9Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Jordon Lawrenz on X @jordonlaw_pxp.This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: 2026 Big Ten preseason power rankings via ESPN's Football Power Index

Source: Yahoo Sports