Once again, Ohio State and the Big Ten continue to perform at an extremely high level when it comes to the NCAA’s academic progress rate. The Buckeyes once again led the way in the multi-year APR in the conference, and were one of just two programs to have a perfect APR score over multiple years.
First, some housecleaning on how the NCAA defines APR:
“The APR, or Academic Progress Rate, holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.”
And if you care about how the sausage is made, here’s how APR scores are calculated:
Though it doesn’t happen very often, there are real consequences to programs not performing well with APR scores. In fact, programs must maintain an average APR of 930 to compete in postseason play. We’ve seen teams be ineligible before because of not meeting that standard, and the APR score has been the tiebreaker in receiving lower-level bowl invites when there aren’t enough teams with at least six wins.
Recently, the NCAA released a new four-year composite, which includes the 2024-25 school year. Below is the official 18-team ranking for the Big Ten, and also a comparison of how each team did compared to last year’s rankings. Beat your Scarlet and Gray chest Ohio State fans.
No. 18 – Penn State Nittany Lions
2026 APR Score: 957
2025 APR: 947 (No. 17)
It was an underachieving year on the field for Penn State last year, but it clearly has work to do in the classroom as well when it comes to matching the rest of the Big Ten. We are … last place.
No. 17 – Oregon Ducks
2026 APR Score: 958
2025 APR: 946 (No. 17)
All that Nike money can’t buy elite success in the classroom, apparently. C’mon, Oregon … Just do it!
No. 16 – Maryland Terrapins
2026 APR Score: 960
2025 APR: 962 (No. 16)
The Terrapins are stuck in neutral and have seemingly gone into their shells with any kind of progress in APR.
No. 15 – UCLA Bruins
2026 APR Score: 961
2025 APR: 967 (No. 15)
UCLA is still searching for the necessary competitive level in the Big Ten, and it has yet to get anything “Bruin” in regards to an improved APR either.
No. 14 – Michigan State Spartans
2026 APR Score: 967
2025 APR: 968 (No. 14)
Michigan State improved by just one point and is still much closer to the bottom of these rankings than the top. It’s anything but a Spartan effort, but we’ll see what kind of impact new head coach Pat Fitzgerald has.
No. 13 – Purdue Boilermakers
2026 APR Score: 968
2025 APR: 972 (No. 12)
To be fair, it’s hard to do well in these APR rankings with a lack of continuity in the coaching staff, and that’s what we saw in West Lafayette. Purdue just Purd-didn’t here.
No. 12 – Illinois Fighting Illini
2026 APR Score: 973
2025 APR: 971 (No. 13)
Much like on the field, the Illini are showing progress in the classroom, too. However, with the academic profile of Illinois, you would expect a little better showing with APR. I-L-L, A-P-R.
No. 11 – Washington Huskies
2026 APR Score: 977
2025 APR: 978 (No. 8 – tie)
A slight, one-point increase, but a drop when compared to other programs and an institution that again, should probably be doing better because of the high academic expectations. Washington should be Jedd Fisching for more in the upcoming years.
No. 10 – USC Trojans
2026 APR Score: 978
2025 APR: 976 (No. 10 – tie)
Lincoln Riley is still trying to find the right culture and players to have USC be a title contender in the Big Ten, and there’s still some work to do in order to get back on the Trojan horse with the APR rating as well.
No. 9 – Nebraska Cornhuskers
2026 APR Score: 979
2025 APR: 976 (No. 10 – tie)
This part of the rankings is a lot like watching youth soccer. Everyone is around the ball, clustered together, and Nebraska is as corny as the rest of the middle of the pack.
No. 8 (tie) – Rutgers Scarlet Knights
2026 APR Score: 982
2025 APR: 978 (No. 8 – tie)
We have a lot of respect for head coach Greg Schiano here on Buckeyes Wire, and he does pretty well in the classroom as well. There’s room for improvement to be sure, but if they keep chopping wood like he wants, eventually, maybe Rutgers will break through.
No. 8 (tie) – Indiana Hoosiers
2026 APR Score: 982
2025 APR: 982 (No. 6 – tie)
Not only has Indiana gotten better in the game of American football, but the Big Ten has shown improvement in APR, so the Hoosiers dropped a little in the rankings despite performing the same. Something tells me nobody in Bloomington cares, as they are still living in a dream state.
No. 6 – Wisconsin Badgers
2026 APR Score: 987
2025 APR: 991 (No. 5 – tie)
It wasn’t a great year on the field for Wisconsin over the last two years, and they are pretty proud of their academics in Madison. If Luke Fickell doesn’t start showing progress in either area, he might be badgered right out of town.
No. 5 – Iowa Hawkeyes
2026 APR Score: 992
2025 APR: 982 (No. 6 – tie)
Iowa may have settled for just being a pretty good football program over the last three decades, but Kirk Ferentz and the program have the eye of a hawk when it comes to a ten-point improvement in the APR score. Well done.
No. 4 – Northwestern Wildcats
2026 APR Score: 993
2025 APR: 993 (No. 3)
Look, this is a really good score, but is anyone else surprised that the academic school in the Big Ten isn’t first in APR scores? Maybe the Wildcats do more with less on the field and less with more in the classroom?
No. 3 – Minnesota Golden Gophers
2026 APR Score: 995
2025 APR: 992 (No. 4)
P.J. Fleck doesn’t get enough credit for what he has done in Minneapolis with the program on the field. But he’s not just doing good things there; he has the program just five points away from a perfect score. All that rowing of the boat has this program on solid footing, the best it has been consistently for a long, long time.
No. 2 – Michigan Wolverines
2026 APR Score: 996
2025 APR: 996 (No. 2)
An almost perfect score is nothing to sneeze at in Ann Arbor, but as haughty as Michigan fans are about their academics, it has to make their egos Maize and Blue to lose to Ohio State on the field and then inside the classroom with APR scores. Neener neener.
No. 1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
2026 APR Score: 1000
2025 APR: 1000 (No. 1)
What Ohio State is doing on and off the field doesn’t get enough publicity. To be able to win at the rate the Buckeyes are on the field, all while being just one of two programs to have a perfect multi-year APR score, is hard to believe. Yes, Ryan Day and the ‘eyes truly have it right now.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ranking all Big Ten football programs by 2026 Academic Progress Rate
Reporting by Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
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