The 2008 Big Ten Conference football season was the 113th season for the Big Ten.

Preseason

Ohio State was selected as the preseason favorite to win the conference with Wisconsin and Illinois second and third, respectively by the Media. Ohio State running back Chris Wells was chosen as the Preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the year while fellow Buckeye linebacker James Laurinaitis was named the Preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the year. Purdue Head Coach Joe Tiller entered his final season, while Michigan's Rich Rodriguez began his first in Ann Arbor. 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 "no-plays" for 2008: Team—Does not play

Standings

Rankings

Schedule

Akron @ Wisconsin Coastal Carolina @ Penn State Maine @ Iowa Syracuse @ Northwestern Western Kentucky @ Indiana Youngstown State @ Ohio State Utah @ Michigan Northern Illinois @ Minnesota Michigan State @ California Illinois @ Missouri Eastern Illinois @ Illinois Eastern Michigan @ Michigan State Marshall @ Wisconsin Miami (Ohio) @ Michigan Northern Colorado @ Purdue Ohio @ Ohio State Florida International @ Iowa Oregon State @ Penn State Murray State @ Indiana Northwestern @ Duke Minnesota @ Bowling Green Florida Atlantic @ Michigan State Louisiana @ Illinois Montana State @ Minnesota Southern Illinois @ Northwestern Iowa State @ Iowa Oregon @ Purdue Penn State @ Syracuse Michigan @ Notre Dame Ohio State @ Southern California Wisconsin @ Fresno State Central Michigan @ Purdue Florida Atlantic @ Minnesota Iowa @ Pittsburgh Ohio @ Northwestern Temple @ Penn State Troy @ Ohio State Notre Dame @ Michigan State Ball State @ Indiana Michigan State @ Indiana Minnesota @ Ohio State Northwestern @ Iowa Purdue @ Notre Dame Wisconsin @ Michigan Illinois @ Penn State Indiana @ Minnesota Iowa @ Michigan State Penn State @ Purdue Illinois @ Michigan Ohio State @ Wisconsin Iowa @ Indiana Minnesota @ Illinois Toledo @ Michigan Michigan State @ Northwestern Purdue @ Ohio State Penn State @ Wisconsin Purdue @ Northwestern Wisconsin @ Iowa Ohio State @ Michigan State Michigan @ Penn State Indiana @ Illinois Illinois @ Wisconsin Minnesota @ Purdue Northwestern @ Indiana Penn State @ Ohio State Michigan State @ Michigan Northwestern @ Minnesota Central Michigan @ Indiana Iowa @ Illinois Michigan @ Purdue Wisconsin @ Michigan State Illinois @ Western Michigan Michigan @ Minnesota Ohio State @ Northwestern Penn State @ Iowa Purdue @ Michigan State Wisconsin @ Indiana Indiana @ Penn State Minnesota @ Wisconsin Northwestern @ Michigan Ohio State @ Illinois Purdue @ Iowa Iowa @ Minnesota California Polytechnic State @ Wisconsin Illinois @ Northwestern Indiana @ Purdue Michigan @ Ohio State Michigan State @ Penn State

Key matchups

Spring games

April 12

April 19

April 25

April 26

Homecoming games

September 27

October 4

October 11

October 18

October 25

November 1

Statistical leaders

Team

Individual

All-Big Ten Conference Team

Awards

National awards

Doak Walker Award Rimington Trophy Lott Trophy Jim Thorpe Award

Conference honors

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year Big Ten Freshman of the Year Dave McClain Coach of the Year (Big Ten Coach of the Year)

Bowl games

Attendance

The overall attendance for the Big Ten was a total of 5,399,659 fans attending 77 contests this year. This meant that conference schools averaged 70,125 fans per home contest this season. Each Big Ten team has seven home games during the season with two exceptions; Indiana played eight games in Memorial Stadium and Illinois played two neutral sites to limit the Illini to six games in Memorial Stadium. Below are the figures for each game, the total for the team's season and the average attendance per game. The rankings below are by average attendance per game. ***** denotes Ohio Stadium record vs. Penn State on October 25.