NCAA FBS Big Ten

Northwestern football predictions & picks

Big Ten

2026 record: 6-3
Big Ten: 7th
PPG: 31.0
Streak: L2
Last 5: Won 45–14 vs Ball State · Sat, Oct 10 Won 24–21 at Michigan State · Sat, Oct 17 Won 42–14 vs Rutgers · Sat, Oct 24 Lost 26–34 at Oregon · Sat, Oct 31 Lost 10–24 vs Iowa · Sat, Nov 7

Northwestern next game

Wk 11

Northwestern @12:00 PM ET Saturday, November 14 Ohio State

Best pick OSU ML−556 94% confidence See the prediction: Northwestern at Ohio State

Northwestern 2026 schedule & results

Every pick graded once the game ends

WeekOpponentResult Our best pickGame page

Wk 1Sat, Sep 5Sep 5 vs South Dakota State S Dakota St W34–18 —

Wk 3Sat, Sep 19Sep 19 vs Colorado Colorado W41–7 —

Wk 4Fri, Sep 25Sep 25 @Indiana Indiana L23–29 —

Wk 5Fri, Oct 2Oct 2 vs Penn State Penn State W34–13 —

Wk 6Sat, Oct 10Oct 10 vs Ball State Ball State W45–14 —

Wk 7Sat, Oct 17Oct 17 @Michigan State Michigan St W24–21 NU ML−345✓ Northwestern at Michigan St prediction

Wk 8Sat, Oct 24Oct 24 vs Rutgers Rutgers W42–14 NU ML−769✓ Rutgers at Northwestern prediction

Wk 9Sat, Oct 31Oct 31 @Oregon Oregon L26–34 O 42.5−208✓ Northwestern at Oregon prediction

Wk 10Sat, Nov 7Nov 7 vs Iowa Iowa L10–24 IOWA +1.5−175✓ Iowa at Northwestern prediction

Wk 11Sat, Nov 14Nov 14 @Ohio State Ohio State 12:00 PM ET OSU ML−556 Northwestern at Ohio State prediction

Wk 12Fri, Nov 20Nov 20 @Minnesota Minnesota TBA Pick coming soon

Northwestern team stats

2026 regular season · 9 games · rank among 138 FBS teams

Offense

Points 31.0/ game 49th

Total yards 421.4/ game 35th

Passing yards 231.0/ game 64th

Rushing yards 190.4/ game 31st

Third-down conversions 42.7% 44th

Giveaways 0.3/ game 2nd

Time of possession 31:40 29th

Defense

Points allowed 19.3/ game 28th

Yards allowed 365.4/ game 82nd

Passing yards allowed 216.1/ game 72nd

Rushing yards allowed 149.3/ game 78th

Takeaways 1.7/ game 18th

Penalties 6.6/ game 74th

Northwestern leaders

2026 regular season

Passing Aidan Chiles 1,898yds 13 TD · 1 INT · 68.8% comp. · 8 games

Rushing Caleb Komolafe 643yds 5 TD · 5.8 per carry · 9 games

Receiving Griffin Wilde 813yds 49 catches · 5 TD · 9 games

Tackles Braydon Brus 75 9 games

Sacks Braydon Brus 4 9 games

Interceptions Robert Fitzgerald 3 2 passes defended · 6 games

Northwestern picks record

Our best picks on their games, 2026 · pushes not counted

100.0% 4 won · 0 lostSmall sample so far. Picks never change once posted and are graded from the final score. Full track record

Big Ten standings

All college standings

#Team WLT W-L PCTPFPA DIFFSTRKSTK

1 UCLA UCLA 900 9-0 1.000 302127 +175 W9

2 Indiana Indiana 810 8-1 .889 292112 +180 W2

3 Iowa Iowa 720 7-2 .778 250110 +140 W2

4 USC USC 720 7-2 .778 292218 +74 W1

5 Ohio State Ohio State 630 6-3 .667 321165 +156 L2

6 Oregon Oregon 630 6-3 .667 307199 +108 W2

7 Northwestern Northwestern 630 6-3 .667 279174 +105 L2

8 Wisconsin Wisconsin 630 6-3 .667 220147 +73 W1

9 Illinois Illinois 630 6-3 .667 256207 +49 W4

10 Nebraska Nebraska 540 5-4 .556 272149 +123 L4

11 Penn State Penn State 540 5-4 .556 260174 +86 W2

12 Washington Washington 540 5-4 .556 237197 +40 L1

13 Michigan Michigan 540 5-4 .556 176146 +30 L1

14 Minnesota Minnesota 540 5-4 .556 222198 +24 L2

15 Purdue Purdue 360 3-6 .333 265291 −26 L3

16 Maryland Maryland 360 3-6 .333 249282 −33 W1

17 Michigan State Michigan St 360 3-6 .333 174212 −38 W1

18 Rutgers Rutgers 270 2-7 .222 232292 −60 L3

Northwestern FAQ

Who does Northwestern play next?

Next up for Northwestern: on the road at Ohio State, Saturday, November 14, 12:00 PM ET. Our moneyline, spread and over/under picks for that game are on its prediction page.

What is Northwestern’s record this season?

Northwestern is 6-3, 7th in the Big Ten.

Who leads Northwestern in passing yards?

Aidan Chiles, with 1,898 passing yards in the 2026 regular season (13 TD · 1 INT · 68.8% comp. · 8 games).

What is the model’s record picking Northwestern games?

Its best pick is 4-0 in Northwestern games this season (100.0%, small sample). Picks never change once posted, and each one is graded from the final score.

Big Ten rivals

All teams

Illinois Indiana Iowa Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Nebraska Ohio State Oregon Penn State Purdue Rutgers UCLA USC Washington Wisconsin

Northwestern this week

Northwestern is 6-3, 3-3 in Big Ten play. Its last game was a 24–10 loss to Iowa at home on November 7, its second in a row. Its offense averages 31.0 points a game (tied for 49th in FBS), and its defense allows 19.3 (tied for 28th).

Next up, Northwestern visits Ohio State on Saturday, November 14 at 12:00 PM ET. At the sportsbooks, Northwestern is a 12.5-point underdog, and the over/under is 45.5 points. Our moneyline, spread and over/under picks for the game are on the Northwestern vs Ohio State prediction page. The rest of the week’s games are on the college football picks board.