The much maligned Big Ten will get a healthy dose of parity this season. In my opinion, the Buckeyes are the cream of the crop. Wisconsin, Penn State, and Illinois will once again challenge for the Big Ten title and the surprise team just may be Michigan State. Check out my predictions for each team by clicking on the links below.
According to my predictions, the Big Ten final standings will look like this:
- Ohio State Buckeyes 12-0 (8-0)
- Wisconsin Badgers 10-2 (7-1)
- Penn State Nittany Lions 10-2 (6-2)
- Michigan State Spartans 9-3 (5-3)
- Illinois Fighting Illini 8-4 (5-3)
- Purdue Boilermakers 7-5 (4-4)
- Indiana Hoosiers 7-5 (3-5)
- Northwestern Wildcats 7-5 (3-5)
- Michigan Wolverines 6-6 (2-6)
- Iowa Hawkeyes 3-9 (1-7)
- Minnesota Golden Gophers 3-9 (0-8)
I also predict that eight of 11 Big Ten Teams will receive bowl game invites.
- Ohio State Buckeyes BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
- Wisconsin Badgers ROSE BOWL
- Penn State Nittany Lions CAPITAL ONE BOWL
- Michigan State Spartans OUTBACK BOWL
- Illinois Fighting Illini ALAMO BOWL
- Purdue Boilermakers CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL
- Indiana Hoosiers INSIGHT BOWL
- Northwestern Wildcats MOTOR CITY BOWL
The Big Ten may have been down the last few seasons, but with the addition of some new coaches and an influx of talent into the conference, I believe the future is bright.
9 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Chris Copeland 11 months ago
Poor Michigan. Ninth place in the big ten. 2-6 in conference play. Bowl eligible, but nobody wants them. Looks like a long, rough year for Rich Rod and the winged helmets...
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Will Jackson 11 months ago
You all are a bunch of retards. I'm not saying that Michigan is going to win the conference, but 6-6? Do you realize how easy there non-conference schedule is? They won't lose a game until Wisco and even that will be close. C'mon. At worst 8-4 and 6-2 in the Big Ten. I think you're just a bunch of Brown-nosing Buckeyes.
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Benjamin Crane 11 months ago
I don't think Michigan's going to have a great year either, but 6-6 with 2 conference wins and no bowl invite? That seems really harsh. I'd like to know more about how you arrived at your projected finishes for the Big Ten, if only so I could understand how you arrived at that particular outcome for Michigan (also, it makes for a much more interesting article if I get to read why you think the conference will shake out that way instead of the results of your having thought about how the conference will shake out).
I can see good reason for lack of confidence in the team: new coach, new system, not much in the way of proven producers and a lingering sense of failure to achieve after the past few years. Perhaps I'm biased in thinking that a program like Michigan simply can't fall that far no matter how many strikes are against them. I'll certainly grant the possibility of your prediction, but for me that would be representative of a worst-case meltdown scenario rather than a most likely one. Then again, I don't follow Big Ten ball that much, being more of a Pac-10 guy, so maybe Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State, and Penn State are better than I think they are going to be and have much better chances of winning those games than I would give them credit for.
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Kristofer Green 11 months ago
I arrived at this conclusion by going through each teams schedule and simply picking whether or not I thought they would win the game. If you click on the team name you can see those predictioins as well. I then calculated a win/loss total from the predictions for each team. I must admit that I was surprised at Michigan's final record as well, but in my opinion they have just too much to overcome on the offensive side of the ball. I could be completely wrong, but I do believe the Big Ten is going to be much more competitive this season than it has been the last couple of years. Penn State, Purdue, and especially Michigan State are going to be much better than they were a season ago At least on paper.
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David Boduch 11 months ago
As a Michigan fan I was appalled by your prediction, until I took a look at how you came to your conclusions. The only games I could come close to disputing would be Purdue and MSU, and both of those are going to be tough games for UofM (especially msu). I was saying seven wins would be expected...8 games would be amazing. Now I'd have to agree that 6 wins would be expected, 7 games would be great (win either purdue or msu), 8 games would still be amazing.
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Chris Copeland 11 months ago
Despite the lack of a proven quarterback and a completely new offensive system, the Michigan defense is extremely talented and, judging by all the preseason publications, highly overlooked. I hope fans of Ohio State and the rest of the big ten expect a 6-6 season from the wolverines. It will make this "rebuilding" year even more fun for UM fans.
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Kent Moore 11 months ago
Fans will overlook Michigan...but the teams won't. The coaches and players of every team on Michigan's schedule know that this isn't a team you can forget about.
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Shane Dayton 11 months ago
Thank you for finally ranking Iowa low. So many holes, so many questions, yet so many know nothing yappers talking about them as a dark horse for the Big Ten. At least someone is finally taking a look at them without gold and black glasses.
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Chuck Dieringer 11 months ago
As a Buckeye fan, I even think 2-6 from Michigan is harsh. But I will say that it could start ugly. Though you have them winning all 4 non-conference games, Utah will be good and Notre Dame should be improved. Not to mention that Miami may be the best team in the MAC (and better than App. St. was). The other tough part of Michigan's schedule is that 4 of their last 6 games are on the road. And that's after hosting Wisconsin & Illinois! They could easily start 2-3 and by the time the new offense might start clicking, they then have several road games to battle through. ... This time last year, I fully expected that 2007 could have been the year when Michigan beat OSU again; the UM seniors are returning, the writing on the wall for Carr's last OSU game, in Ann Arbor, 1st year OSU starter at QB. Man, how things changed just 2 weeks into the season. Everything is supposed to point OSU this year like everything was supposedly pointing UM this time last year. I hope the reversal doesn't happen.
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