Handicapping the Big 10

Northwestern (5-0) gets their first big test this weekend when Michigan St comes to town. Seniors QB CJ Bacher and RB Tyrell Sutton are solid players who will scare some of the Big 10 elite this year, but struggling with Iowa and Duke is all I need to know to put them down in the lower half of the Big 10.

8. Purdue - Hard to figure the Boilers to date. Are they the team that dominated Oregon for 3 quarters? Or are they the team that needed some late heroics to beat CMU and couldn't stop Notre Dame. One things for sure, they haven't put together 4 quarters of football yet. They start their Big 10 schedule with Penn St, @ Ohio St, @ Northwestern. If they don't get out of Evanston with a win the Tiller era will probably come to an end with way more bark than bite.

9. Indiana - Indiana will score points all year with Kellen Lewis running the show, but they're still Indiana and most teams will have their way with their defense. They miss OSU and Michigan this year but finish with Wisconsin, @ Penn St, and @ Purdue. Playing a 13th for a second consecutive year seems unlikely to me.

10. Minnesota - Tim Brewster's team is 4-1 and has looked much better than last year. You know you've been bad when staying within 20 points of Ohio St is actually a good sign. Minnesota might be a better than a lot of people expected this year, but I'm not ready to put them higher just yet. They don't have to play Penn St or Michigan St this year, 2 sure losses, so a 7-5 record is not out of the question.


11. Iowa - I haven't seen enough of Iowa yet this year, but I know they're going back and forth between 2 QBs who aren't very good. How long before Kirk Ferentz is fired? What a strange career arc it's been for him. Maybe he should have taken one of those NFL jobs when they were actually calling.

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