Top 5 Games that will decide the Big Ten, Schedule Lottery Winners & Losers + Dabo vs Tampering
Top 5 Games that will decide the Big Ten, Schedule Lottery Winners & Losers + Dabo vs Tampering  
Podcast: The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast
Published On: Mon Feb 02 2026
Description: FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt breaks down the Big Ten’s schedule release and gives out his winners and losers of the conference’s “schedule lottery.” He explains which under-the-radar teams’ schedule could propel them to a big season and which schedules will force teams to fight to stay above water. He then ranks his top 5 games for the upcoming season as teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Indiana, Penn State and USC all set for key matchups in the conference. Klatt gives his analysis of Ohio State’s hiring of Arthur Smith as the new OC and what it means for Ryan Day and the Buckeye offense as well as USC’s hiring of former TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson to lead the Trojan defense this upcoming season. He wraps up the show by looking at the tampering problem in college football after Miami got Duke QB Darian Mensah at the 11th hour of the Portal window and Dabo Swinney went off on Ole Miss for convincing one of his players to enter the Portal. 0:00-2:58 Intro2:59-7:38 Biggest takeaways from the Big Ten schedule release7:39-14:32 Klatt’s easiest schedules in the Big Ten14:33-25:15 Klatt’s hardest schedules in the Big Ten25:16-32:40 5 games that will decide the Big Ten32:41-38:41 Ohio State hires new offensive coordinator38:42-41:04 USC hires new defensive coordinator41:05-54:17 Dabo Swinney calls out Ole Miss for tampering Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices