[1] The Big Ten had one new coach for the 2018 season, with Nebraska hiring alumnus Scott Frost.
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season by Ohio State for the mishandling of a situation involving domestic abuse charges against former assistant coach Zach Smith.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Ryan Day served as acting head coach for the first three games of the 2018 season.
Durkin was placed on administrative leave on August 11, 2018 due to the death of a player on his team, Jordan McNair, during summer workouts.
[3] On October 30, the school reinstated Durkin to his role as head coach, and was set to rejoin the team in Week #10.
[4] However, after a lot of negative reaction, a day later the University of Maryland decided to fire DJ Durkin.
[6] Ohio State defeated Wisconsin, 27–21, in the Big Ten Football Championship Game.
The event commenced with a speech by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, and all 14 teams sent their head coaches and two selected players to speak with members of the media.
Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses.
† denotes Homecoming game Nebraska adds Bethune-Cookman to 2018 schedule in place of previously scheduled bye week to make up for Akron game that was canceled in Week 1 due to weather.
Coaches Honorable Mention: ILLINOIS: Nick Allegretti, Blake Hayes; INDIANA: Marcelino Ball, Jonathan Crawford, Donovan Hale, J-Shun Harris II, Brandon Knight, Wes Martin, Stevie Scott; IOWA: Jake Gervase, Matt Nelson, Miguel Recinos, Keegan Render, Tristan Wirfs; MARYLAND: Byron Cowart, Tino Ellis, Derwin Gray, Ty Johnson, Wade Lees, Brendan Moore, Joseph Petrino; MICHIGAN: Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Nico Collins, Bryan Mone, Josh Ross, Josh Uche, Khaleke Hudson, Tyree Kinnel; MICHIGAN STATE: Felton Davis III, Andrew Dowell, Khari Willis, Mike Panasiuk; MINNESOTA: Emmit Carpenter, Donnell Greene, Jacob Huff, Jacob Herbers; NEBRASKA: Isaac Armstrong, Mohamed Barry, Carlos Davis, Luke Gifford, Brenden Jaimes, Adrian Martinez, Devine Ozigbo; NORTHWESTERN: Blake Gallagher, Cameron Green, Flynn Nagel, J.R. Pace, Nate Hall, Clayton Thorson; OHIO STATE: Damon Arnette, Tuf Borland, Jonathon Cooper, Jordan Fuller, Malik Harrison, K. J. Hill, Demetrius Knox, Robert Landers, Thayer Munford, Jeffrey Okudah, Malcolm Pridgeon, Kendall Sheffield, Mike Weber; PENN STATE: Pat Freiermuth, Steven Gonzalez, K. J. Hamler, Garrett Taylor, John Reid, Robert Windsor; PURDUE: Derrick Barnes, Kirk Barron, Antonio Blackmon, David Blough, Spencer Evans, Brycen Hopkins, D.J.
Knox, Matt McCann, Jacob Thineneman; RUTGERS: Rahmeem Blackshear, Justin Davidovicz, Saquan Hampton, Jonah Jackson, Adam Korsack; WISCONSIN: Jake Ferguson, Rafael Gaglianone.
Media Honorable Mention: ILLINOIS: Del'Shawn Phillips, Alex Palczewski, Bobby Roundtree; INDIANA: Marcelino Ball, Jonathan Crawford, J-Shun Harris II, Brandon Knight, Wes Martin, Stevie Scott; IOWA: Jake Gervase, Parker Hesse, Matt Nelson, Miguel Recinos, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Geno Stone, Tristan Wirfs; MARYLAND: Antoine Brooks, Byron Cowart, Tino Ellis, Derwin Gray, Ty Johnson, Wade Lees, Brendan Moore, Joseph Petrino; MICHIGAN: Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Zach Gentry, Khaleke Hudson, Tyree Kinnel, Sean McKeon, Michael Onwenu, Shea Patterson, Kwity Paye, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Cesar Ruiz, Josh Uche; MICHIGAN STATE: Felton Davis III, Andrew Dowell, David Dowell, Connor Heyward, Mike Panasiuk; MINNESOTA: Blaise Andries, Emmit Carpenter, Demetrius Douglas, Daniel Faalele, Donnell Greene, Jacob Herbers, Jacob Huff, Mohamed Ibrahim, Conner Olson, Jared Weyler; NEBRASKA: Isaac Armstrong, Khalil Davis, Luke Gifford, Brenden Jaimes, Adrian Martinez, Boe Wilson; NORTHWESTERN: Cameron Green, Nate Hall, Flynn Nagel, J.R. Pace, Rashawn Slater, Clayton Thorson; OHIO STATE: Damon Arnette, Tuf Borland, Nick Bosa, Jonathon Cooper, J. K. Dobbins, Malik Harrison, Terry McLaurin, Thayer Munford, Malcolm Pridgeon, Kendall Sheffield, Pete Werner; PENN STATE: Pat Freiermuth, Steven Gonzalez, K. J. Hamler, Micah Parsons, John Reid, Nick Scott, Garrett Taylor, Robert Windsor; PURDUE: Kirk Barron, Antonio Blackmon, Spencer Evans, Kenneth Major, Matt McCann, Lorenzo Neal, Joe Schopper, Jacob Thineneman, Isaac Zico; RUTGERS: Saquan Hampton, Jonah Jackson, Adam Korsack, Trevor Morris; WISCONSIN: Ryan Connelly, Jake Ferguson, Andrew Van Ginkel.
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources.
2018 College Football Award Winners[49] Doak Walker Award (Nation's Top Running Back) Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin John Mackey Award (Outstanding Tight End) T. J. Hockenson, Iowa Paul Hornung Award (Most Versatile Player) Rondale Moore, Purdue 2018 CoSIDA Academic-All Americans[50] Bold – Exceed capacity †Season High ‡Played at Soldier Field Current through games of January 1, 2019 * Tom Allen was hired to replace Kevin Wilson in December 2016 at Indiana and coached the Hoosiers in their 2016 bowl game.
[4] A day after his reinstatement, after much negative reaction from multiple stakeholders, Maryland ultimately decided to fire D.J.
[5] * Urban Meyer was suspended by Ohio State University for the first three games of the 2018 season due to the mishandling of domestic abuse allegations against one of his former assistant coaches.