Ranking Best Big Ten Football Matchups of Week 1
The Big Ten has made an active push to improve its non-league schedule and will participate in some of the most exciting nonconference matchups of the 2016 season.
Most of those exciting showdowns, however, are not slated for Week 1.
The Big Ten's opening week features one titanic showdown involving Wisconsin and an SEC heavyweight, but for the most part, the league has tune-up games in preparation for bigger tests in the coming weeks.
That doesn't mean there aren't good matchups around the league. These five games carry intrigue because they involve the conference's top teams or have the potential to feature an upset.
No. 5: Oregon State @ Minnesota
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Minnesota has scheduled some tough matchups in recent years with home-and-home series against USC and TCU. That trend will continue over the next two seasons due to a similar arrangement with Oregon State.
On Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET, the Beavers will travel to Minneapolis for their showdown with the Gophers.
Despite these two teams last meeting in 1981, head coach Tracy Claeys and Minnesota should feel a sense of familiarity when they kick off on Thursday night. On the other sideline, Oregon State head coach (and former Wisconsin head man) Gary Andersen brings his customary, hard-nosed running game and physical style to the season opener.
The Beavers are still in the midst of an enormous rebuilding job under Andersen. After winning two of its first three games last season, Oregon State dropped its final 10 games—a stretch that suggests an immediate year-two turnaround is unlikely.
Minnesota meanwhile has an offense led by quarterback Mitch Leidner that can give Oregon State's defense fits all night. The Big Ten then should be well represented on Thursday night.
No.4: Bowling Green @ Ohio State
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Ohio State blew a chance at repeating as college football champions down the stretch last season, and its path to redemption begins on Saturday at noon ET when it hosts Bowling Green.
And while it looks like a complete mismatch on paper, the Falcons are set to bring a championship pedigree to Ohio Stadium after winning the MAC in two of the past three seasons.
The Buckeyes, on the other hand, could be ripe for an upset after losing 16 total starters from last year's 12-1 squad. That group included 12 players who were selected in the first four rounds of the NFL draft last May, so the Buckeyes could struggle early if the reloading process lingers into Week 1.
"We're going to play football, man," Bowling Green head coach Mike Jinks said when discussing a potential upset this week, according to Jordan Strack of WTOL. "Crazier things have happened."
Bowling Green will have to be at its absolute best to pull of this stunner, though, as the Buckeyes enter Saturday as four-touchdown favorites, according to Odds Shark.
No. 3: Rutgers @ Washington
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Rutgers reached national prominence a decade ago with the emergence of former head coach Greg Schiano and former running back Ray Rice, who teamed up to lead the Scarlet Knights into BCS national championship contention during a breakout 11-2 campaign.
But since that unexpected run 10 years ago, Rutgers hasn't reached a double-digit win total once, and after a 4-8 season last year, the university parted ways with former head coach Kyle Flood.
The Scarlet Knights have new hope of recapturing that 2006 glory after making former Ohio State defensive coordinator Chris Ash their new head coach. His Rutgers debut, however, is a brutal test as his team travels across the country to play No. 14 Washington on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies are coming out of a transition phase under head coach Chris Petersen, who built Boise State into a national powerhouse before taking over at Washington. After two years of mediocrity (15-12 from 2014-15), the pieces are in place and Peterson's system is established for Washington to contend in the Pac-12.
With Washington's program two years ahead of Rutgers in its rebuilding phase, it could spoil Ash's first impression.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 2: Hawaii @ Michigan
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Michigan is a popular pick to win the Big Ten as it returns 15 starters and a load of playmaking ability, and it'll kick off its 2016 campaign on Saturday when it hosts Hawaii at noon ET in Michigan Stadium.
The No. 7 Wolverines arguably have the best perimeter attack with receivers Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh and tight end Jake Butt in the fold, but the quarterback situation is still unknown heading into the season opener.
Jim Harbaugh is in the know, apparently, and he's waiting to release that information.
"Yeah, we know who our starting quarterback is," Harbaugh said this week, according to Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press. "I'll say who our starting quarterback is before Saturday."
That distinction will belong to either Wilton Speight or John O'Korn, but whoever gets the nod will have an exploitable secondary to attack on Saturday.
The Rainbow Warriors opened up the college football season this past Friday and got absolutely gashed by Cal, which threw for 441 yards in a 51-31 barnburner victory.
No. 1: LSU vs. Wisconsin
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The showcase game of the Big Ten's opening week takes place at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon when Wisconsin takes on No. 5 LSU at Lambeau Field.
Technically a neutral site game, the location gives the Badgers an enormous edge as it'll be played in the home of the Green Bay Packers. The Wisconsin-heavy crowd will try and help the Badgers contain the Tigers and running back Leonard Fournette, who's hoping to launch his Heisman Trophy campaign with a big performance on an even bigger stage.
Wisconsin will combat that with a stingy defense that ranked second nationally last year in total yards allowed and first overall in scoring defense. Six players from last year's front seven return for the Badgers, and the lone replacement happens to be linebacker T.J. Watt, the younger brother of former Badger and superstar defensive end J.J. Watt.
Offensively, Wisconsin will look to get running back Corey Clement on track. The senior was supposed to fill in seamlessly for Melvin Gordon a season ago, but injuries derailed his junior year.
If the Badgers find a way to move the ball against new LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda's defense, and manage to slow Fournette and a powerful running game, they'll have a great chance at giving the Big Ten a marquee victory right out of the gate.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
