College Football Stat Leaders

2020 Big Ten Third Down Conversion Rate Leaders

Share of offensive third downs converted.

Seasons Covered

2004-2025

Current Leader

Ohio State (49.1%)

Best Season

Indiana 2025 (56.3%)

Scope

Big Ten • 2020

What The Numbers Say

Route-specific context pulled from the current leaderboard, winner trend, and historical baseline.

How Third Down Conversion Rate Reads

Third down conversion rate shows how often an offense extends drives after reaching the money down, which helps separate efficient possession teams from boom-or-bust attacks. On this 2020 leaderboard, the visible range runs 49.1% to 38.6%, with Ohio State setting the pace.

Big Ten Context

Big Ten teams have claimed 100% of the yearly leaderboard wins in this filtered dataset, and Indiana is the latest winner at 56.3%.

Spread At The Top

The gap from No. 1 Ohio State to No. 5 Indiana is 10.5%, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.

Recent Trend And Baseline

The yearly winning mark improved from 48.3% in 2024 to 56.3% in 2025, a swing of 7.9%. Ohio State's current mark of 49.1% sits above the all-time average leader benchmark of 48.1% held by USC.

Leaderboard

Top 14 rows for the current route scope.

1Ohio StateBig Ten Conference202049.1%
2MinnesotaBig Ten Conference202047.7%
3Penn StateBig Ten Conference202042.1%
4NorthwesternBig Ten Conference202039.9%
5IndianaBig Ten Conference202038.6%
6WisconsinBig Ten Conference202038.0%
7MarylandBig Ten Conference202037.9%
8IllinoisBig Ten Conference202037.7%
9PurdueBig Ten Conference202037.5%
10MichiganBig Ten Conference202036.0%
11NebraskaBig Ten Conference202035.9%
12RutgersBig Ten Conference202034.0%
13IowaBig Ten Conference202033.6%
14Michigan StateBig Ten Conference202032.7%

Trend Chart

Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.

Line chart. Line chart with 1 data series: Third Down Conversion Rate. Categories include 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 18 more.

Historical Leaderboard

Average across seasons for each team in the current filter scope.

RankTeamSeasonsAverageBest Season
1USC2025, 202448.1%2025 (51.3%)
2Oregon2025, 202447.4%2024 (48.3%)
3Ohio State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200445.9%2019 (55.2%)
4Washington2025, 202443.4%2025 (50.3%)
5Wisconsin2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200442.0%2011 (54.7%)
6Michigan2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200441.6%2012 (50.3%)
7Nebraska2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 201140.9%2025 (45.7%)
8Minnesota2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200440.6%2022 (51.8%)
9Penn State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200440.5%2008 (52.0%)
10Northwestern2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200440.5%2011 (47.8%)
11UCLA2025, 202440.1%2024 (42.9%)
12Indiana2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200439.3%2025 (56.3%)
13Michigan State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200439.1%2014 (49.7%)
14Purdue2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200438.6%2006 (47.1%)
15Illinois2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200438.3%2013 (47.6%)
16Iowa2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 200438.0%2010 (46.2%)
17Maryland2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 201436.1%2023 (42.0%)
18Rutgers2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 201434.8%2024 (43.4%)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads the Big Ten third down conversion rate leaderboard in 2020?

Ohio State ranks first at 49.1% in 2020.

Which Big Ten program has the best long-term third down conversion rate profile?

USC owns the strongest all-time average at 48.1% across 2 tracked seasons in this conference scope.

How does the Big Ten race compare with the recent trend?

Indiana is the most recent yearly winner in this conference scope, so the route combines the current leaderboard with a recent trend line instead of showing only one season snapshot.