Read the names of the players in the Football Hall of Fame and there is a who's who of Big Ten Conference defensive players — Dick Butkus, Rod Woodson, Ray Nitschke, Alex Karras, Herb Adderley, Charles Woodson and others.

The NFL ranks are loaded with guys who played recently in Big Ten: Aidan Hutchinson, Joey and Nick Bosa, Micah Parsons, T.J. Watt, Jeff Okudah and Chase Young. There were five first-round defensive picks in the recent draft, led by Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who was taken fifth overall by Seattle.

Defense has played a vital role in making the Big Ten one of the toughest conferences in the country and nothing has changed early this season.

Eight of the league's 14 teams are among the top 50 overall defenses in the country; No. 2 Michigan and No. 6 Ohio State are in the top three, each surrendering fewer than 225 yards per game. Three Big Ten teams are in the top 10 in scoring defense, too: Michigan (5.33 points allowed per game), Ohio State (6.67) and Rutgers (10.0).

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano knew his team's fortunes would rely on the defense living up to his expectations that it could play with any team in the league. It has so far heading into Saturday's game at Michigan in a matchup of two 3-0 teams.

“I think we can play at a much higher level on a defensive front because I think we have enough depth for guys to be fresh," Schiano said. "When you have guys that you have enough people to go out there and play and be fresh, then I expect darn near perfect execution.”

Rutgers will need it with Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh returning from a three-game school-imposed suspension.

Harbaugh said watching the past three games changed some of his perspectives. He said he felt he might have been putting too much on his team to win by 40, or 30 or even 25.

"I want the defense to be the best," he said. “I want the offense to be the best. I want the special teams to be the best. Then I get even more greedy and want each position group to be the best, and each individual players to be the best. That's where we want to go and what we want to be about and we are going to keep chasing it."

Sometimes the best friend of a good defense is a talented offense.

Ohio State and No. 7 Penn State rank among the top 20 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Buckeyes rank No. 20 in scoring offense (40.3 points). The Nittany Lions are 14th in scoring offense (43.7 points).

Buckeyes coordinator Jim Knowles feels his defense is limiting explosive plays. Still, he admitted he never feels good about things, adding he and his players are constantly striving to get better.

“”You emphasize the positives, you see things (and) you build on that, and that builds confidence," he said. “So I think, you know, we just need to keep getting better at that confident approach. The more reps you get, the more plays you make those all count like in the bank.”

Nebraska (1-2) is playing well in the 3-3-5 scheme new defensive coordinator Tony White brought from Syracuse. The Huskers held Minnesota to 55 yards rushing, and they've allowed an average of 43 yards on the ground through three games. The Huskers have a Power Five-leading 14 sacks.

“This group is playing like a very ferocious unit," defensive back Quinton Newsome said. "No matter if we’re subbing guys in or what. It looks the same throughout the game and we just try to go out there and dominate.”

Wisconsin perennially has been one of the league's top defensive team. New coach Luke Fickell and new coordinator Mike Tressel used a 3-3-5 system with Cincinnati, a shift from the Badgers' longtime use of the 3-4 under Jim Leonhard.

The Badgers, who are giving up more yardage this season, went two games without recording a turnover and were minus-5 for the season before forcing six — including five interceptions — in a win over Georgia Southern last weekend.

“Obviously, turnovers are huge,” said safety Hunter Wohler, who had two interceptions for Wisconsin (2-1). “That was the emphasis all week. Let it fly and play loose.”

BIG TEN ANNOUNCES 2023-24 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Lincoln -- Six weekend home games, including matchups with NCAA Tournament qualifiers Michigan State and Northwestern, highlight Nebraska’s 2023-24 Big Ten Conference schedule announced Tuesday.

The 20-game slate opens with a pair of December matchups, as Nebraska travels to Minnesota (Dec. 6) and hosts Michigan State (Dec. 10). The matchup between the Huskers and Gophers is a rematch of the 2023 Big Ten Tournament opener and marks the seventh time in the last eight seasons that Nebraska has opened Big Ten Conference play on the road.  Michigan State enters 2023-24 as one of the Big Ten favorites and is one of eight conference home opponents that reached postseason play a year ago.

The January slate opens with a pair of marquee home games in the first 10 days of the month, as the Huskers play host to Indiana (Jan. 3) and Purdue (Jan. 9) sandwiched around a trip to Wisconsin (Jan. 6). The month also features road trips to Iowa (Jan. 12), Rutgers (Jan. 17) and Maryland (Jan. 27) while playing host to Northwestern (Jan. 20) and Ohio State (Jan. 23).

February opens with a rematch with Wisconsin at PBA (Feb. 1), along with weekend tilts against Michigan (Feb. 10), Penn State (Feb. 17) and Minnesota (Feb. 25). NU travels to Illinois (Feb. 7) and Northwestern (Feb. 7) with return games at Indiana (Feb. 21) and at Ohio State (Feb. 29). 

The Huskers will honor their senior class against Rutgers on March 3 before closing the regular season with a trip to Michigan on March 10, the final day of the regular season. The 2024 Big Ten Tournament takes place at the Target Center in Minneapolis from March 13-17.

Start times and network designations for all Big Ten and non-conference games is expected to be announced during the week of Sept. 25-29.

Season tickets for the 2023-24 season start at $180 and can be purchased by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets or by calling the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 800-8-BIGRED during business hours (8 a.m.-5 p.m., Mon.-Fri.).  In addition, student season tickets for UNL students are also available, as Red Zone courtside seats are just $50. For more information on how to purchase student tickets, visit Huskers.com/students.

The Huskers return five of their top eight scorers from a team that went 16-16 and won six of its final eight Big Ten contests in 2022-23. The group is headlined by senior All-Big Ten guard Keisei Tominaga, who helped Japan qualify for the 2024 Olympics earlier this month. NU also welcomes back three other players who made at least 12 starts in 2022-23 in juniors Juwan Gary and C.J. Wilcher and sophomore Jamarques Lawrence.  Nebraska adds seven recruits (five transfers and two freshmen) including one of the nation’s top transfer classes. NU’s transfer class is a five-player group which includes all-conference performers Rienk Mast (Bradley), Brice Williams (Charlotte) and Jarron Coleman (Ball State).

2023-24 Big Ten Schedule

MURRAY TAKES TOP 10 IN CINCINNATI

Hamish Murray earned the first top-10 finish of his Husker career by tying for ninth individually at 211 (-2) to lead the Nebraska men's golf team at the Bearcat Invitational on Tuesday.

Murray, a junior transfer from Sydney, Australia by way of NCAA Division II Cameron (Okla.) University, closed his first tournament for the Big Red with a final-round 73 (+2) on the par-71, 7,279-yard layout at the Coldstream Country Club in Cincinnati. Murray's score over the final 18 holes followed back-to-back rounds of 69 (-2) on Monday for the Huskers.

Harry Crockett, a junior from Oxted, England, carded Nebraska's best round on Tuesday with a 72 (+1) to tie for 30th at 216 (+3) in the 90-player field in Cincinnati.

Senior Reed Malleck (York, Neb.) tied for 40th at 218 (+5), while fellow senior Gentry Scheve matched Malleck's final-round 75 on Tuesday to complete Nebraska's team score. Scheve (Emporia, Kan.) finished 71st at 224 (+11), while fifth-year senior Will Marshall tied for 67th at 223 (+10), including a final-round 76.

Nebraska slipped to 11th in the tight team standings at 865 (+13) with a final-round 295. The Huskers finished just two shots back of Virginia Tech and Little Rock (863) in a tie for eighth and one stroke behind Southern Miss (864) in 10th. 

Chattanooga produced Tuesday's best team round with a 279 (-5) to pull away for the team championship with a three-round score of 838 (-14). The Mocs defeated Louisville by eight strokes (846), while BYU finished third at 849 (-3). The hosts from Cincinnati took fourth at 852 (E).

Louisville's Sebastian Moss claimed medalist honors with a three-round total of 201 (-12) that included a sizzling final-round 65 (-6). Cincinnati's Connor McNeely took second at 205 (-8), while Chattanooga's Paul Conroy finished third at 206 (-7).

Nebraska returns to action at the Badger Invitational in Wisconsin (Oct. 1-3).

Bearcat Invitational
Sept. 18-19, 2023
Coldstream Country Club (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Par 71, 7,279 Yards)

Final Team Results
1. Chattanooga - 276-283-279=838 (-14)
2. Louisville - 286-277-283=846 (-6)
3. BYU - 281-287-281=849 (-3)
4. Cincinnati - 277-280-295=852 (E)
5. FGCU - 288-285-283=856 (+4)
6. UNC Greensboro - 282-289-286=857 (+5)
7. Middle Tennessee - 281-283-295=859 (+7)
T8. Little Rock - 288-295-280=863 (+11)
T8. Virginia Tech - 289-288-286=863 (+11)
10. Southern Miss - 293-282-289=864 (+12)
11. Nebraska - 286-284-295=865 (+13)
12. UCF - 285-295-287=867 (+15)
13. Jacksonville - 292-287-289=868 (+16)
14. Arkansas State - 293-294-283=870 (+18)
15. Illinois State - 290-296-287=873 (+21)
16. Sam Houston - 304-289-283=876 (+24)
17. Memphis - 286-292-299=877 (+25)

Final Individual Results
1. Sebastian Moss, Louisville - 67-69-65=201 (-12)
2. Connor McNeely, Cincinnati - 65-68-72=205 (-8)
3. Paul Conroy, Chattanooga - 68-70-68=206 (-7)
4. Samuel Espinosa-Trueba, Chattanooga - 69-70-69=208 (-5)
T5. Filip Raza, Jacksonville - 70-71-68=209 (-4)
T5. Peter Kim, BYU - 68-73-68=209 (-4)
8. Sebastian Gamboa, FGCU - 75-67-68=210 (-3)
T9. William McDonald, Cincinnati - 72-69-70=211 (-2)
T9. Zac Jones, BYU - 68-73-70=211 (-2)
T9. Symon Balbin, UNC Greensboro - 67-73-71=211 (-2)
T9. Jack Tanner, Memphis - 70-69-72=211 (-2)
T9. Hamish Murray, Nebraska - 69-69-73=211 (-2)
T9. Garret Ebbert, UCF - 68-70-73=211 (-2)

Nebraska Individuals
T9. Hamish Murray - 69-69-73=211 (-2)
T30. Harry Crockett - 71-73-72=216 (+3)
T40. Reed Malleck - 74-69-75=218 (+5)
T67. Will Marshall - 72-75-76=223 (+10)
71. Gentry Scheve - 76-73-75=224 (+11)