Big Ten Football Preview
This year will be the 124th year of Big Ten Football. Michigan leads all teams with 42 Conference Championships, Ohio State being second with 37. In case you didn’t know, The Big Ten has two Divisions (East and West) who both have seven teams respectively. The winners of both divisions play against each other to determine the Big Ten Champion. In the event of a tie, both teams count as a Big Ten Champion.
According to many sources, including Big Ten Network itself, Michigan and Wisconsin seem to be the favorite to win their respective Big Ten East and West divisions. They then predict Michigan to win the championship game by a good margin. The Big Ten East is predicted to be the harder division as Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State are all expected to finish with at least 9 wins. On the other hand, the Big Ten West has zero teams who are predicted to get at least 9 wins. Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin are predicted to be the best offenses this year, and Michigan and Michigan State are favorites to be the best defensive teams.
The Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year seems to be a two-way race between Purdue’s Rondale Moore and Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin. Rondale Moore is a shifty wide receiver with blazing speed and Jonathan Taylor is an overpowering running back who ran for nearly 2,200 yards last year. The Conference Defensive Player of the Year will likely go to Michigan State’s Defensive End Kenny Willekes, who tallied 8.5 sacks and 78 total tackles last year. Not too far behind is Chase Young of Ohio State and A.J. Epenesa of Iowa. Both are Junior Defensive Ends who snagged 10.5 sacks last year. Epenesa obtained 37 total tackles and Young had 34. The Big Ten Coach of the Year is up in the air. A strong candidate is Scott Frost of Nebraska. His overall head coaching record is 23-15 in two years with UCF and one year in Nebraska.
The All Big Ten First Team Predicted by freep.com includes the following:
Offense:
QB: Adrian Martinez, Sophomore, Nebraska RB: J.K. Dobbins, Junior, Ohio State
RB: Johnathan Taylor, Junior, Wisconsin WR: Rondale Moore, Sophomore, Purdue
WR: Donovan Peoples-Jones, Junior, Michigan TE: Pat Freiermuth, Sophomore, Penn State
OL: Tyler Biadasz, Junior, Wisconsin OL: Ben Bredeson, Senior, Michigan
OL: Alaric Jackson, Junior, Ohio State OL: Thayer Munford, Junior, Ohio State
OL: Jon Runyan, Senior, Michigan
Defense:
DE: A.J. Epenesa, Junior, Iowa DE: Kenny Willekes, Senior, Michigan State
DT: Raequan Williams, Senior, Michigan State DT: Robert Windsor, Senior, Penn State
LB: Paddy Fisher, Junior, Northwestern LB: Joe Bachie, Senior, Michigan State
LB: Markus Bailey, Senior, Purdue CB: Joshiah Scott, Junior, Michigan State
CB: Lavert Hill, Senior, Michigan S: Jordan Fuller, Senior, Ohio State
S: Josh Metellus, Senior, Michigan
Special Teams:
K: Matt Coghlin, Junior, Michigan State P: Drue Chrisman, Junior, Ohio State
KR: Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Junior, Ohio State PR: Rondale Moore, Sophomore, Purdue
The Predicted Standings by college.footballnews.com is as stated below:
Big Ten East Predicted Predicted
Big Ten Record Record
Michigan 9-1 11-1
Ohio State 8-2 10-2
Michigan State 6-3 9-3
Penn State 6-3 9-3
Maryland 3-6 6-6
Indiana 2-7 5-7
Rutgers 1-8 3-9
Big Ten West Predicted Predicted
Big Ten Record Record
Wisconsin 6-3 8-4
Iowa 5-4 8-4
Minnesota 5-4 8-4
Nebraska 5-4 7-5
Purdue 4-5 6-6
Northwestern 3-6 6-6
Illinois 2-7 5-7
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