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 Here are my Big Ten Conference football predictions for the 2011 season.
Big Ten Legends First Place: Nebraska Cornhuskers The Huskers will have a great opportunity to win the wide-open Legends division in their first season in the Big Ten because of their defense. Plenty of talent returns on a stop unit that only gave up 17.4 points (ninth nationally) and 306.8 yards (11th nationally) per game a season ago. Second Place: Northwestern Wildcats If quarterback Dan Persa can stay healthy, the Wildcats will have a chance to make some noise. Last year, they were 7-3 and honestly could have been 10-0 before he went down with a season-ending injury. Third Place: Iowa Hawkeyes Expectations were sky-high for Iowa after it went 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl in the 2009-10 season. After failing to meet those expectations, the Hawkeyes can go back to flying under the radar. I'm sure that's okay with three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Kirk Ferentz, who has had some of his best seasons when little was expected. Fourth Place: Michigan State Spartans The bar has been raised in East Lansing after an 11-2 campaign, but it will be extremely difficult for the Spartans to improve on last year's results. Plenty of talent remains, but schedule makers have dealt Michigan State a bad hand. Sparty must go to Notre Dame, Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa and Northwestern. Fifth Place: Michigan Wolverines A 37-7 loss to Ohio State in the regular season finale severely damaged the chances of Rich Rodriguez retaining his job. A 52-14 loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl erased any chance. New coach Brady Hoke has his work cut out for him when you consider the steady improvement the Wolverines showed under Rodriguez wasn't good enough to earn him a fourth season. Sixth Place: Minnesota Golden Gophers After a brutal nine-loss stretch, Minnesota finally gave its fans something to cheer about with wins over Illinois and Iowa to close out the season. Unfortunately, there doesn't figure to be much to cheer about in Jerry Kill's first year on the job. Kill is a great hire, but it's hard to win right away when the cupboards are this bare. Big Ten Leaders First Place: Wisconsin Badgers Bret Bielema proved his Badgers were ready to challenge Ohio State for a Big Ten title with an impressive 31-18 victory over the Buckeyes last season. They earned a share of the Big Ten title with a 7-1 record and now appear ready to win an outright title with the league going to a championship game format. College football odds makers have listed the Badgers at +3500 to win the BCS title. Second Place: Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State football program is under investigation by the NCAA, and starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor and head coach Jim Tressel are out as a result. It looks bad for the Buckeyes, but there is still enough talent on the roster to have a good season. A defense that led the conference in nearly every major statistical category in 2010 will keep OSU relevant. Third Place: Penn State Nittany Lions While Penn State should be a better football team than it was in the 2010-11 season, when it won seven games, its schedule will make it very difficult to show major improvement in the win column. The Nittany Lions close out the season with three tough games against Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin. Fourth Place: Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois' 38-14 victory over Baylor in the Texas Bowl marked its first bowl win in 11 years. Now, the Fighting Illini will try to make back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in nearly two decades. They have a good chance with eight home games and no Iowa or Nebraska on the schedule. Fifth Place: Purdue Boilermakers If Purdue wants to go bowling for the first time since 2007, it must show major improvement on the offensive side of the football. The Boilermakers averaged a league-low 19.7 points and 311.6 yards per game in 2010. Sixth Place: Indiana Hoosiers Kevin Wilson's first season in Bloomington figures to have a lot more downs than ups. Quarterback Ben Chappell is gone, which means Indiana's Big Ten-leading passing offense is likely gone as well. Without Chappell, the Hoosiers will have a tough time moving the football. That will put even more pressure on a defense that was among the worst in the league last year. Big Ten Championship Game Wisconsin over Nebraska Make sure you check out my 2011 college football predictions as well.
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