College Football Stat Leaders

2015 Big Ten College Football Defensive PPA Leaders

Predicted points added allowed per defensive play.

Seasons Covered

2003-2025

Current Leader

Northwestern (-0.011)

Best Season

Michigan 2004 (-0.146)

Scope

Big Ten • 2015

Browse Metrics

Crawl sibling stat pages without leaving the shared leaderboard template.

Total Yards Per Game Passing Yards Per Game Rushing Yards Per Game Points Per Game Offensive PPA Defensive PPA Turnover Margin Havoc Rate

Season Selector

All-Time 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

Conference Selector

All Conferences ACC American Big 12 Big Ten Conference USA MAC Mountain West Pac-12 SEC Sun Belt

Summary

This page captures down-to-down defensive suppression rather than flashy single-game outcomes, which is why the best programs here often stay near the top through multiple seasons and coordinators.

Defensive PPA pages track Big Ten teams in 2015 using a shared leaderboard template with season winners, all-time context, and trend lines across 2003 through 2025.

Northwestern sits atop the current leaderboard at -0.011, giving the page an immediate answer for fans comparing the top teams in this metric.

Ohio State owns the strongest average across 23 seasons at 0.011, while Ohio State anchors the recent year-by-year trend view.

Northwestern currently headlines this route, while Ohio State supplies the most recent yearly-winner checkpoint in 2025, giving the page both snapshot and trend context.

What The Numbers Say

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

How Defensive PPA Reads

Defensive PPA is a prevention metric, so lower numbers are better because elite defenses consistently erase scoring value and force opponents into less efficient possessions. On this 2015 leaderboard, the visible range runs -0.011 to 0.057, with Northwestern setting the pace.

Big Ten Context

Big Ten teams have claimed 100% of the yearly titles in this filtered dataset, and Ohio State is the latest winner at -0.014.

Spread At The Top

The gap from No. 1 Northwestern to No. 5 Iowa is 0.068, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.

Recent Trend And Baseline

The yearly winning mark improved from -0.010 in 2024 to -0.014 in 2025, a swing of 0.003. Northwestern's current mark of -0.011 sits above the all-time average leader benchmark of 0.011 held by Ohio State.

Leaderboard

Top 14 rows for the current route scope.


1	Northwestern	Big Ten Conference	2015	-0.011
2	Michigan	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.006
3	Wisconsin	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.021
4	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.026
5	Iowa	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.057
6	Illinois	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.058
7	Penn State	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.073
8	Michigan State	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.109
9	Minnesota	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.113
10	Nebraska	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.139
11	Maryland	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.163
12	Purdue	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.191
13	Indiana	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.210
14	Rutgers	Big Ten Conference	2015	0.238

Trend Chart

Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.

Yearly Winners

Season	Team	Conference	Value
2025	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.014
2024	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.010
2023	Penn State	Big Ten Conference	-0.014
2022	Iowa	Big Ten Conference	-0.043
2021	Wisconsin	Big Ten Conference	-0.011
2020	Wisconsin	Big Ten Conference	0.016
2019	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.011
2018	Michigan	Big Ten Conference	0.004
2017	Wisconsin	Big Ten Conference	-0.040
2016	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.051
2015	Northwestern	Big Ten Conference	-0.011
2014	Penn State	Big Ten Conference	-0.045
2013	Michigan State	Big Ten Conference	-0.057
2012	Michigan State	Big Ten Conference	-0.080
2011	Michigan State	Big Ten Conference	-0.050
2010	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.041
2009	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.037
2008	Iowa	Big Ten Conference	-0.042
2007	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.059
2006	Wisconsin	Big Ten Conference	-0.095
2005	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	0.011
2004	Michigan	Big Ten Conference	-0.146
2003	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.143

Historical Leaderboard

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

Rank	Team	Seasons	Average	Best Season
1	Ohio State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.011	2003 (-0.143)
2	Iowa	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.026	2004 (-0.134)
3	Penn State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.030	2014 (-0.045)
4	Michigan	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.031	2004 (-0.146)
5	Wisconsin	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.034	2006 (-0.095)
6	Michigan State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.068	2012 (-0.080)
7	Oregon	2025, 2024	0.076	2025 (0.041)
8	Northwestern	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.080	2004 (-0.047)
9	Washington	2025, 2024	0.094	2025 (0.057)
10	Illinois	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.109	2022 (-0.038)
11	Minnesota	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.110	2003 (0.005)
12	Indiana	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.111	2004 (-0.021)
13	Purdue	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.122	2003 (-0.057)
14	Nebraska	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011	0.128	2012 (-0.013)
15	Maryland	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014	0.152	2022 (0.076)
16	USC	2025, 2024	0.160	2025 (0.149)
17	Rutgers	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014	0.203	2023 (0.116)
18	UCLA	2025, 2024	0.212	2024 (0.163)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads the Big Ten defensive ppa leaderboard in 2015?

Northwestern ranks first at -0.011 in 2015.

Which Big Ten program has the best long-term defensive ppa profile?

Ohio State owns the strongest all-time average at 0.011 across 23 tracked seasons in this conference scope.

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

Ohio State 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.