Preseason

After a 2010 NFL draft, which saw 34 Big Ten athletes selected, 12 2009 first-team All-Big Ten selections, 8 second-team selections and 33 honorable mention selections returned for the 2010 season. The Big Ten held the 2010 Football Media Days and 39th annual Kickoff Luncheon on Monday and Tuesday, August 2–3.

Schedules

In a given year, each Big Ten team will play eight of the other Big Ten teams. Thus for any given team in a given year, there are two others which will not be competed against. Below is the breakdown of each team and its two "no-plays" for 2010:

• Illinois: Iowa, Wisconsin
• Indiana: Michigan State, Minnesota
• Iowa: Illinois, Purdue
• Michigan: Minnesota, Northwestern
• Michigan State: Indiana, Ohio State
• Minnesota: Indiana, Michigan
• Northwestern: Michigan, Ohio State
• Ohio State: Michigan State, Northwestern
• Penn State: Purdue, Wisconsin
• Purdue: Iowa, Penn State
• Wisconsin: Illinois, Penn State

Rankings

In Weeks 3 and 4, the Big Ten had six teams ranked in both polls for the first time since September 13, 2004.

Spring games

April 17

• Indiana
• Iowa
• Michigan
• Purdue
• Wisconsin

April 24

• Illinois
• Michigan State
• Minnesota
• Northwestern
• Ohio State
• Penn State

Season

Homecoming games

October 2

• Penn State @ Iowa 7:05 p.m. CT (Iowa's record in homecoming games is 52-41-5)
• Northwestern @ Minnesota 11:00 a.m. CT (Minnesota's record in homecoming games is 54-33-3)

October 9

• Illinois @ Penn State 12:00 p.m. ET (Penn State's record in homecoming games is 65-20-5)
• Minnesota @ Wisconsin 11:00 a.m. ET (Wisconsin's record in homecoming games is 52-45-5)

October 16

• Arkansas State @ Indiana 12:00 p.m. ET (Indiana's record in homecoming games is 43-48-6)
• Iowa @ Michigan 3:30 p.m. ET (Michigan's record in homecoming games is 83–26)
• Illinois @ Michigan State 12:00 p.m. ET (Michigan State's record in homecoming games is 61-30-3)
• Minnesota @ Purdue 12:00 p.m. ET (Purdue's record in homecoming games is 48-35-4)

October 23

• Indiana @ Illinois 11:00 a.m. CT (Illinois's record in homecoming games is 42-55-2)
• Michigan State @ Northwestern 11:00 a.m. CT
• Purdue @ Ohio State 12:00 p.m. ET (Ohio State's record in homecoming games is 64-19-5)

On September 25, Joe Paterno became the fifth head coach to earn 150 victories as a member of the Big Ten Conference. On November 6, Paterno became the first FBS coach to total 400 career wins.

Big Ten vs. BCS matchups

Attendance

Week 3 attendance (September 18) set an all-time Big Ten single-day attendance record with an average of 78,844. All eight games had crowds of over 50,000; Michigan State (78,411), Wisconsin (81,332), Ohio State (105,075) and Michigan (110,187) had sellouts; and 100,610 patrons were in attendance for Penn State. It surpassed the September 3, 2005 eight-game single-day average of 76,475. On October 9, the Big Ten set a five-game attendance record of 88,034, surpassing the 87,620, set on October 28, 1995. Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin all hosted sellouts.

Bowl games

The following is the Big Ten Bowl game schedule.

Head coaches

• Ron Zook, Illinois
• Bill Lynch, Indiana
• Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
• Rich Rodriguez, Michigan
• Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
• Tim Brewster, Minnesota (first 7 games) and Jeff Horton, Minnesota (last 5 games)
• Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
• Jim Tressel, Ohio State
• Joe Paterno, Penn State
• Danny Hope, Purdue
• Bret Bielema, Wisconsin

2011 NFL draft

Main article: 2011 NFL draft

                  - Round 2   ************

--

                  - Round 3   ************

--

                  - Round 4   ************

--

                  - Round 5   ************

-- :Thompson**#135: Denver → Tampa Bay (PD).** Denver traded this selection to Tampa Bay for a 2010 seventh-round selection it acquired from Pittsburgh (225th overall; Denver selected Syd'Quan Thompson) and a 2010 seventh-round selection it acquired from Baltimore (232nd overall; Denver selected Jammie Kirlew). :Magee**#135: Tampa Bay → Kansas City (PD).** Tampa Bay traded this selection to Kansas City for Kansas City's 6th round selection (#187) and defensive tackle Alex Magee.|group=note}} |cfb page exists=yes }}

                  - Round 6   ************

--

                  - Round 7   ************

--

Awards

HONORABLE MENTION: ILLINOIS: Jeff Allen, Nate Bussey, Trulon Henry, Graham Pocic, Tavon Wilson; INDIANA: Damarlo Belcher, James Brewer, Mitch Ewald; IOWA: Christian Ballard, Mike Daniels, Adam Robinson, Ryan Donahue; MICHIGAN: Denard Robinson, Stephen Schilling; MICHIGAN STATE: Edwin Baker, Kirk Cousins, Mark Dell, Joel Foreman, Charlie Gantt, Marcus Hyde, Jerel Worthy; MINNESOTA: D.J. Burris; NORTHWESTERN: Drake Dunsmore, Jeremy Ebert, Brian Peters; OHIO STATE: Devin Barclay, DeVier Posey, Terrelle Pryor, John Simon; PENN STATE: Quinn Barham, Chris Colasanti, D'Anton Lynn, Derek Moye; PURDUE: Ricardo Allen, Dwayne Beckford, Carson Wiggs; WISCONSIN: Montee Ball, Niles Brinkley, Antonio Fenelus, Peter Konz, Bill Nagy, Blake Sorensen, Mike Taylor, Ricky Wagner, Philip Welch, James White, Kevin Zeitler.

Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees: Tavon Wilson, ILL; Tyler Replogle, IND; Ricky Stanzi, IOWA; Mark Moundros, MICH; Kirk Cousins, MSU; Jon Hoese, MINN; Corbin Bryant, NU; Bryant Browning, OSU; Brett Brackett, PSU; Ryan Kerrigan, PUR; Scott Tolzien, WIS.

• Additional honorees due to ties

Second team reduced by one due to additional first-team honoree

----2010 All-Big Ten Conference Football Team

As selected by CONFERENCE MEDIA

HONORABLE MENTION: ILLINOIS: Nate Bussey, Derek Dimke, Trulon Henry, Graham Pocic, Tavon Wilson; INDIANA: Ted Bolser, Ben Chappell, Damarlo Belcher, James Brewer, Tyler Replogle; IOWA: Christian Ballard, Mike Daniels, Brett Greenwood, Jeremiha Hunter, Micah Hyde, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Marvin McNutt, Allen Reisner, Adam Robinson, Ryan Donahue; MICHIGAN: Jordan Kovacs, Mike Martin, Stephen Schilling; MICHIGAN STATE: Johnny Adams, Kirk Cousins, B.J. Cunningham, Mark Dell, Joel Foreman, Trenton Robinson, Chris L. Rucker, Jerel Worthy, D.J. Young; MINNESOTA: D.J. Burris, Troy Stoudermire, Gary Tinsley; NORTHWESTERN: Corbin Bryant, Drake Dunsmore, Jordan Mabin, Al Netter; OHIO STATE: Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Terrelle Pryor, John Simon; PENN STATE: Drew Astorino, Quinn Barham, Chris Colasanti, D'Anton Lynn, Derek Moye, Ollie Ogbu, Evan Royster, Devon Still, Collin Wagner; PURDUE: Kyle Adams, Peters Drey, Dennis Kelly, Ken Plue, Cody Webster, Carson Wiggs; WISCONSIN: Montee Ball, Aaron Henry, Peter Konz, Blake Sorensen, Mike Taylor, Scott Tolzien, Ricky Wagner, Philip Welch, Kevin Zeitler.

|}

Notes

References

References

1. (2010-04-26). "National Football League Selects 34 Big Ten Student-Athletes in 2010 Draft: Big Ten ranks second among all conferences with 34 selections overall". [[CBS Interactive]].
2. (2010-04-12). "2010 Big Ten Football Prospectus: Twenty All-Big Ten players return to the field for the 2010 campaign". [[CBS Interactive]].
3. (2009-08-03). "Big Ten Weekly Football Release - Preseason: Big Ten set to kick off 114th year of football on Sept. 3 and Sept. 5". CBS Interactive.
4. (2010-09-27). "Big Ten Weekly Football Release - Sept. 27: 115th Big Ten football season starts Saturday". [[CBS Interactive]].
5. (2010-06-25). "2010 Iowa Football Schedule". Iowa Sports Information.
6. (2010-06-25). "2010 Minnesota Football Schedule". Minnesota Sports Information.
7. (2010-06-25). "2010 PSU Football Schedule". PSU Sports Information.
8. (2010-06-25). "2010 Wisconsin Football Schedule". Wisconsin Sports Information.
9. (2010-06-25). "2010 Indiana Football Schedule". Indiana Sports Information.
10. (2010-06-25). "2010 Michigan Football Schedule". Michigan Sports Information.
11. (2010-06-25). "2010 Michigan State Football Schedule". Michigan State Sports Information.
12. (2010-06-25). "2010 Purdue Football Schedule". Purdue Sports Information.
13. (2010-06-25). "2010 Illinois Football Schedule". Illinois Sports Information.
14. (2010-06-25). "2010 Northwestern Football Schedule". Northwestern Sports Information.
15. (2010-06-25). "2010 OSU Football Schedule". OSU Sports Information.
16. (2010-10-11). "Big Ten Weekly Football Release - Oct. 11: Five Big Ten teams among top 25, including nation's No. 1 team for first time since 2007". [[CBS Interactive]].
17. (2010-11-08). "Big Ten Weekly Football Release - Nov. 8: Penn State's Joe Paterno becomes first FBS coach to earn 400 wins.". [[CBS Interactive]].
18. (2010-09-20). "Big Ten Weekly Football Release - Sept. 20: Big Ten tied for national lead with six top 25 teams, most top 25 squads since 2004 season.". [[CBS Interactive]].
19. (2010-12-05). "2010-11 bowl schedule". [[ESPN]].
20. Stellino, Vito. (April 28, 2011). "Blaine Gabbert: Face of the Jaguars' future: Jags pull major surprise again with deal for Missouri QB". [[The Florida Times-Union]].
21. (March 5, 2010). "Former All-Pro Cromartie headed to Jets". [[ESPN.com]].
22. Schefter, Adam. (June 19, 2010). "Redskins add OT Brown in trade". [[ESPN.com]].
23. (April 24, 2010). "Draft trade tracker: Let's make a deal: Broncos collect two more late picks from Buccaneers". National Football League.
24. Stroud, Rick. (October 19, 2010). "Bucs trade for Chiefs' DE Alex Magee". [[St. Petersburg Times]].
25. "Big Ten Announces 2010 Football All-Conference Teams and Individual Honors".