Explore every episode of the podcast Northern Aggression: A College Football Podcast

The Top 50 Most Important People in Big Ten football for 2026 moves into the top half of the list with Nos. 11 through 25. On this episode, Bill Landis, Matt Fortuna and Doug Lesmerises discuss five savior coordinators and their impact; three new head coach hires; another head coach on the hot seat; another head coach chasing a national title; a rising quarterback star; another QB looking to take the next stop; and a Heisman Trophy finalist who didn't make the Top 10.
Make sure you find the previous episode of Northern Aggression to catch the discussion of Nos. 26 through 50. And stay tuned for the next episode to get the Top 10.
Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression and this new discussion of college football from a Big Ten and northern point of view.

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Who are the Top 50 most important, impactful, consequential people for the 2026 Big Ten football season?
On Northern Aggression, Bill Landis, Matt Fortuna and Doug Lesmerises put together the list, and this episode unveils the first 25 players and coaches affecting Big Ten ball this fall.
From quarterbacks to coordinators, from freshmen to head coaches, from receivers to a stadium and a recruit, check out the start of the list and the explanations from Bill, Matt and Doug on the first 25.
Every Big Ten program is represented in the Top 50, with two more episodes ahead to get to No. 1.
Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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It’s a Big Ten vs. SEC showdown. We aren’t playing it on the field yet, so we are playing it out on The Podcast of Northern Aggression.
From Nebraska vs. South Carolina to Washington vs. Alabama to Oregon vs. Texas, Matt Fortuna, Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises vote on who the winners would be.
That reveals a final count in this challenge on which conference really has the most depth. Subscribe to get more Big Ten content like this and thanks for being part of our new college football show, The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Welcome to The Podcast of Northern Aggression, a new college football show talking national college football and Big Ten football from your Northern point of view. Doug Lesmerises, Bill Landis and Matt Fortuna will be here multiple times a week to talk Big Ten and Notre Dame and to keep it real about what's really going on in the SEC.
On this first episode, the discussion is about the eight primary national title contenders favored by everyone: Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia, Miami and Texas Tech. Of those eight, Bill, Matt and Doug had to pick one team for each of three categories, based on how preseason national title contenders a year ago fared.
Suck: A team that is going to fall way out of the playoff race (like Penn State, Clemson and LSU last year)
Manage: Stay in the race but just miss the playoff (like Notre Dame and Texas last year)
Win: Make the playoff (like Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon and Alabama)
Who did they pick for Suck, Manage, Win? Find out on the first edition of Northern Aggression and we hope to see you again for future episodes.
 

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The countdown of the 50 Most Important People in Big Ten Football has reached the Top 10 on this episode of Northern Aggression. Two previous episodes covered the first 25 people on the list, and then the next 15. Now, it's the guys who really will determine the fate of the conference this season.
Matt Fortuna, Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises run through coaches, coordinators, quarterbacks and more for these final 10 spots, then share their honorable mention candidates who just missed the Top 50.
Make sure you catch all three episodes discussing the Top 50 list. And thanks as always for hanging with The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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We have three Heisman Trophy voters on The Podcast of Northern Aggression, and Doug Lesmerises, Bill Landis and Matt Fortuna are here to make their Heisman predictions for the 2026 season.
They each provide their three picks for players to be on their ballots at the end of year, and then they each pick one longshot who could make it, considering that 2025 winner Fernando Mendoza was more than 50-1 before last season.
Stay tuned next week for playoff picks and our new schedule of North Aggression shows. Thanks for letting us talk college football with you.

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