CONFERENCE SPOTLIGHT: BIG TEN (B1G)

The Big Ten saw a new champion last season when the Michigan Wolverines put it all together. As a whole, the conference was superb in 2021 and expectations are higher entering 2022. In addition to making noise on the gridiron, the conference has expanded their footprint and they aren’t done yet. In July it was announced that the league has welcomed the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins to the midwestern fraternity. The league secured kickoff time slots from 12pm EST to 10pm EST. This day long branding potential for the league, as well as the massive media deal with FOX, NBC, and CBS gives the conference firepower.

Michigans breakthrough last season was welcomed by thousands of fans waiting to relive the National Title times of 1997. They defeated the Buckeyes, won the league and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff, but the fun stopped there. Superstar Aiden Hutchinson is now a Detroit Lion, so who will lead the Wolverines? This is a very big year for Coach Harbaugh and the program. Can he put the great recruiting classes together and follow up a championship with another?

The conference is much more than just the Maize and Blue. The Ohio State Buckeyes have owned the East for a while and they are primed to avenge 2021. Mel Tucker got the Spartans headed in the right direction last fall with a strong campaign. Penn State will always be lethal and considering how quiet it’s been in Happy Valley this offseason, the Nittany Lions might be ready to roar. The pair of east coast schools (Rutgers & Maryland) face tall tasks, but their rosters have improved tremendously in the past few years. The Hoosiers had a great run in 2019 and 2020, but last year saw a hiccup, can they reverse course?

The Big Ten West has been a brawl for years. Iowa, Wisconsin and Northwestern have traded off representing this half in Indianapolis lately. Is this the season where we see Minnesota, Purdue, Nebraska or Illinois earn that spot in the conference title game? The Badgers, Gophers and Hawkeyes play great defense, but is that enough to win? The Boilermakers and Cornhuskers have the offense to win, but can their defenses get the critical stops? Are the Wildcats ready to rebound or will Bret Bielema get the Illini to a bowl game? The Big Ten West is basically a roll of the dice at a Vegas craps table, place your bets and see what the dice reveal.

There are 2 other things that the Big Ten flaunts that add to the pageantry of college football; marching bands and trophy games. These bands have made fight songs like On Wisconsin and Hail to the Victors world renown. The creative and inventive halftime routines bring joy to the crowd. With that said, nowhere in the world will a tradition like Script Ohio or Dotting the I mean so much to so many as it does in Columbus. The bands are part of the team, but they don’t get the chance to lift one of the many trophies. The trophy games start with the best one and that’s the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Seeing a team finally win it and sprint across the field to get it and then mimic cutting down the goalpost is classic. There are 15 other trophy games that consist of both schools being from the Big Ten. 10 of these historical trophy competitions go back to the 1890’s, the oldest being Paul Bunyan’s Axe and the battle between Illinois and Purdue for the Purdue Cannon, both of which started in 1890.

INSTITUTIONS JOINING THE CONFERENCE FOR 2024-25 ACADEMIC YEAR:

• UCLA BRUINS
• USC TROJANS

2022 INSTITUTIONS::

• ILLINOIS ILLINI
• INDIANA HOOSIERS
• IOWA HAWKEYES
• MARYLAND TERRAPINS
• MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
• MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
• MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS
• NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
• NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS
• OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
• PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
• PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
• RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS
• WISCONSIN BADGERS

PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

QB CJ STROUD – OHIO STATE: The Buckeye offense is loaded and CJ is the straw that stirs the drink. He will be throwing it all over the field racking up yards and touchdowns.

HONORABLE MENTION — RB BRAELON ALLEN (WISCONSIN): Allen didn’t get carries for the entire year last season since he started so low on the depth chart. Entering 2022, he is RB1 and coming off a stellar campaign. Look for the Badgers to feed him early and often. It isn’t crazy to say that he could rush for 1,500 and 20 TD’s.

HONORABLE MENTION —RB MOHAMED IBRAHIM (MINNESOTA): He has surpassed 1,000 yards twice in his career and focused on doing it again in 2022. I think he will run for more than 1,400 yards this Fall and easily capture the Comeback Player of the Year Award if there is one awarded.

4 TEAMS WE’RE WATCHING IN 2022:

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS:

• Currently own Paul Bunyan’s Axe
• Finished 2021 with the 4th Best Defense in the Nation in total yards allowed per game with 284.8
• The only defense in the conference that was better than Minnesota in total yards allowed, passing yards allowed and rushing yards allowed was their border rival Wisconsin.
• They gave up 18.3 points per game, which was 4th in the conference and 10th in the Nation.
• The defense returns 7 starters, led by linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin
• The Gopher offense was gutted by injuries last season, highlighted by star running back Mohamed Ibrahim who exited during the opener.
• Minnesota was 3rd in the conference last season in rushing yards per game with 193.8.
• They scored 26.1 points per game last year, but that was only good enough for 9th in the league.
• The offense returns 6 starters highlighted by Ibrahim, QB Tanner Morgan and 1st Team All Irrational Confidence Center; John Michael-Schmitz.
• Coach PJ Fleck might have done the greatest coaching job in the country last season to keep the team progressing amidst the injuries, can he guide them further in 2022?
• Minnesota should be 3-0 heading into their Big 10 opener at Michigan State. That begins a 4 game stretch of the Spartans, Purdue, Illinois and Penn State. If they emerge 3-1 or better, they are in great shape.
• Their final 2 games are trophy games against Iowa and Wisconsin, which mostly likely will be elimination games in the race to win the West.

NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS

• Is this FINALLY the year Scott Frost gets the Huskers going?
• Exit QB Adrian Martinez and Enter QB Casey Thompson
• Nebraska finished 2021 with the 3rd Best Offense in the conference for total yards per game (447.6) and 4th Best in passing yards per game with 266.4 and points per game with 27.9
• The offense returns 4 starters, 3 of which are lineman. They won’t have much time to gel as a unit since they open with Northwestern and host Oklahoma a few weeks later.
• The famed Black Shirt Defense has not played to their historic standards in years.
• Nebraska finished 8th in total yards allowed per game (366 yards), 9th in passing yards allowed per game (219), 8th in rushing yards allowed per game (146.9) and 9th in points allowed per game (22.7). Not terrible numbers, but compared to their conference peers, they need to improve.
• The defense returns 5 starters including all 4 linebackers. I expect LB’ Garrett Nelson and Luke Reiner to push this unit to the next level.
• The Cornhuskers lost 6 straight to close 2021, all by less than 10 points. These are the games that Big Red must win in 2022 and finish in the 4th quarter.
• The toughest stretch of the schedule are the final 4 games. They host Minnesota, travel to Michigan, host Wisconsin and wrap at Iowa. These 4 games could decide Scott Frost’s fate in Lincoln.

PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS:

• QB Sean Clifford returning in 2022 is HUGE
• The Nittany Lions were 5-0 heading to Iowa, but during that game Sean Clifford got hurt. They went 2-6 the rest of the way including a loss to the Hawkeyes.
• Penn State returns 12 starters, 6 on each side of the ball.
• They finished 7th in the conference with 376 yards per game, 13th in rushing yards per game with 107.8 and 9th in scoring with 25 points a game.
• The bright spot on offense was the passing attack, which was 4th in the conference and 26th in the nation with 268.5 yards a game.
• The defense was rock solid all season. They were top 5 in the Big Ten in total yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed per game. The scoring defense was stellar, only allowing 17.3 points, which was 2nd in the league and 6 in the country.
• Joey Porter Jr and Ji’Ayir Brown have the secondary ready to be even better in 2022.
• The schedule is very manageable, but the true test is October 15th thru 29th. This 3 game stretch starts in Ann Arbor, followed by games against Minnesota and Ohio State in Happy Valley.
• James Franklin got a nice contract extension as well as a top 10 recruiting class so far in 2022, can he guide this squad to the Big Ten Championship and/or a New Years Six Bowl Game?

RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS:

• Is Rutgers ready to win in the Big Ten?
• They return 10 starters this Fall, 5 on each side of the ball including the entire secondary.
• The 2021 offense really struggled, finishing in the 100’s Nationally in points per game, total yards per game and passing yards per game.
• The ground game was the only bright spot, finishing 9th in the conference and 89th Nationally with 138 rushing yards per game.
• The defense gave up yards and finished in the bottom third of the league for total yards allowed per game, passing yards per game and rushing yards allowed per game.
• They we’re 56th nationally in points allowed per game with 25.6
• This is a critical season in Piscataway coming off a 5-8 year and bowl invite to the Taxslayer Bowl to replace Texas A&M
• The schedule might be the toughest in the conference, so the record might not reflect improvement, but their play must.
• They open at Boston College and get Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota as their crossover foes. If they win 5-6 games, Greg Schiano is the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
• The Scarlet Knights signed the 8th best recruiting class in the conference and I expect a majority of this class to play early and often.

CONFERENCE GAMES TO KEEP ON YOUR RADAR:

• NEBRASKA VS NORTHWESTERN from Dublin, Ireland (Week 0)
• PENN STATE AT PURDUE (Week 1)
• NOTRE DAME AT OHIO STATE (Week 1)
• WASHINGTON STATE AT WISCONSIN (Week 2)
• VIRGINIA AT ILLINOIS (Week 2)
• IOWA STATE AT IOWA (Week 2)
• OKLAHOMA AT NEBRASKA (Week 3)
• PENN STATE AT AUBURN (Week 3)
• COLORADO AT MINNESOTA (Week 3)
• MICHIGAN STATE AT WASHINGTON (Week 3)
• WISCONSIN AT OHIO STATE (Week 4)
• MINNESOTA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Week 4)
• MICHIGAN AT IOWA (Week 5)
• PURDUE AT MINNESOTA (Week 5)
• OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN STATE (Week 6)
• WISCONSIN AT NORTHWESTERN (Week 6)
• WISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Week 7)
• PENN STATE AT MICHIGAN (Week 7)
• MARYLAND AT INDIANA (Week 7)
• IOWA AT OHIO STATE (Week 8)
• MINNESOTA AT PENN STATE (Week 8)
• OHIO STATE AT PENN STATE (Week 9)
• MICHIGAN STATE AT MICHIGAN (Week 9)
• MINNESOTA AT NEBRASKA (Week 10)
• IOWA AT PURDUE (Week 10)
• WISCONSIN AT IOWA (Week 11)
• NEBRASKA AT MICHIGAN (Week 11)
• MARYLAND AT PENN STATE (Week 11)
• WISCONSIN AT NEBRASKA (Week 12)
• IOWA AT MINNESOTA (Week 12)
• INDIANA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Week 12)
• MICHIGAN AT OHIO STATE — THE GAME (Week 13)
• NEBRASKA AT IOWA (Week 13)
• MINNESOTA AT WISCONSIN (Week 13)
• MICHIGAN STATE AT PENN STATE (Week 13)
• ILLINOIS AT NORTHWESTERN (Week 13)
• PURDUE AT INDIANA (Week 13)
• RUTGERS AT MARYLAND (Week 13

BEST STADIUM IN THE CONFERENCE:

• The Big Ten is home to some of the most iconic cathedrals in college football. The Shoe, The Big House, Camp Randall, Memorial Stadium, Spartan Stadium, Beaver Stadium and Kinnick Stadium are world renown. They each have their amazing attributes and history, but the best stadium in the conference is The Shoe in Columbus, followed by the Jump Around enthusiasts in Madison, Wisconsin.

CONFERENCE CHAMPION: OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

-The Buckeyes will storm their way to Indianapolis. The West will be a knockdown, bare knuckled brawl the whole way. When the snow/ ice settles, I expect the Minnesota Golden Gophers to earn their first trip to the title game. The Buckeyes will best them on their way to a conference title and college football playoff spot.

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