Since scrapping the Leaders and Legends divisions six years ago, the East has dominated the West in the Big Ten. The gap might be shrinking a tiny bit, but for now the most pessimistic view for the East is having four out of the top five teams. And that dominance might be highlighted even more this year, with Ohio State and Michigan seemingly separating themselves atop the Big Ten power rankings.
Aiming for the playoff
Ohio State Buckeyes
Michigan Wolverines
These teams have combined to win 79 Big Ten championships in their history and it’s a good bet that this year will be 80. OSU has dominated the conference lately, losing just five conference games in the last seven years. They are reloading on offense, but have more than enough talent for Ryan Day to score a lot of points. The defense might have struggled last year, but a revamped coaching staff and more experience should lead to a huge step forward. This might be transition year for the Buckeyes, but that won’t stop them from continuing to dominate the conference.
And while Michigan hasn’t actually won the conference since 2004, they’ve just barely missed out the last few years. In 2016 they were really just one play away from almost certainly winning the B1G and making the playoff! Was that just an excuse to remind you that the spot was good? Maybe.
Anyway… Michigan really is one of the two best teams in the Big Ten, if not the best. The Wolverines might have the best quarterback in the conference and return excellent starters at receiver and offensive line. Even though they lose a lot on defense, they still have a strong core of talented seniors like DB Khaleke Hudson and CB Lavert Hill. Overall, both of these teams will be looking to win the Big Ten and then challenge for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
New Year’s Six is possible
Penn State Nittany Lions
Wisconsin Badgers
Michigan State Spartans
All three of these teams, especially Wisconsin, will still be looking to challenge for the Big Ten title. However, if they don’t manage to upset OSU and UM, at least one of them could still end up in a NY6 bowl.
Penn State really just needs a QB, probably Sean Clifford, to step up and the rest of the pieces should fall into place. Wisconsin is in a similar situation with the school’s highest rated recruit ever, Graham Mertz, looking to takeover as a true freshman. Michigan State is in a different place, coming back from two down years in a row. But the Spartans have at least eight starters back on both sides of the ball, including QB Brian Lewerke and the entire defensive line.
Challenge for the West
Iowa Hawkeyes
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Purdue Boilermakers
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Northwestern Wildcats
The middle of the Big Ten West is a huge mess. Wisconsin is a step ahead, Illinois a step behind, but there isn’t much separation with everyone else. Any of these five teams could get lucky in close games(there will be plenty in this division) and win the West. But disaster in close games could also mean missing a bowl.
Iowa is in a decent position with returning stars like QB Nate Stanley and DE A.J. Epenesa, but lost their top three receivers and most of the front seven. Scott Frost could be in for a leap in his second year, but doesn’t have many pieces besides Adrian Martinez. Purdue and Minnesota are both improving under their new coaches, but are still a year away from really contending in the West without at least some chaos. Northwestern was able to sneak by in close games to win the division last year and could potentially do the same this year.
Unlucky draw
Indiana Hoosiers
Maryland Terrapins
There is a pretty low ceiling for both of these teams and it isn’t their fault at all. Being in the Big Ten East division with four bluebloods is awful. Just picking off one win against those four would make a great season for one of these teams. However, the Hoosiers and Terps could still both be right around bowl eligibility at the end of the season and there are some reasons to be excited. Indiana has QB Peyton Ramsey, most of his top receivers and all but one member of the secondary back. Maryland will likely lean on some transfers this year, but they have exciting players like QB Josh Jackson from Virginia Tech and LB Keandre Jones from Ohio State. Mike Locksley will also have some exciting skill position players to work with like RB Anthony McFarland or WR Dontay Demus.
Hope for B1G changes
Illinois Fighting Illini
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
The bottom of each division in the Big Ten is very clear. These teams have have combined to finish dead last in their respective divisions more times than they have managed to finish fifth or better. For the Illini, it does seem like Lovie Smith is at least starting to change things. They signed five 4-stars in the last two classes, which is good compared to the zero blue chip recruits they had in the first two years. There’s also a large influx of talent from the seven transfers they added, most of which are from elite recruiters like USC, Georgia and Alabama.
While there could actually be some hope for Lovie at Illinois, that probably isn’t happening for Chris Ash at Rutgers. They’ve just been too bad for too long and it doesn’t look like anything will change this year. Greg Schiano, who led the Scarlet Knights to their post-1976 peak, could always comeback next year though.
