College Football 2011: 10 Likely Matchups for Big Ten Inaugural Championship
The Big Ten Conference underwent a major overhaul a few months back. The name was already technically wrong when Penn State joined over two decades ago and made it the big 11, but now Nebraska is a part of the conference.
Now that there are 12 teams, the teams have been split into two conferences, Leaders and Legends. This means that next season will showcase the Big Ten's inaugural championship game. While there are obvious teams that are frontrunners in this situation, there are a few dark horse teams that could make it to the championship.
Which teams will meet up in the first championship game? Here are the ten most likely possibilities.
10. Penn State vs. Iowa
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Every ranking group needs at least one dark horse matchup, and what better than one team who is in shambles and another that seems to always be just good.
While this sounds very far-fetched, you can never count these teams out. Rob Bolden should get better as the year progresses now that he has some experience, and Iowa always seems to either overachieve or underachieve. Since they are losing many stars to the draft, the former should happen this year.
9. Ohio State vs. Northwestern
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This is another one that may sound shocking, but I have a very good gut feeling about Northwestern going forward. Quarterback Dan Persa was gone for most of the in-conference games due to injury, and now that he's back they should perform surprisingly well.
Ohio might be in the easier division this year, and are the favorites to begin with, so that's not the surprising part of this possibility.
8. Wisconsin vs. Michigan
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Michigan is a team that is rather under the radar, and that's mainly because their defense was terrible last year and they have a new coaching hire to handle right now. Having said that, the defense can't get any worse and it should be much better under Brady Hoke.
Despite losing the starting quarterback, Wisconsin has a good enough running game that they should be able to compete for the division crown. James White will be a name to know in 2011 as he will likely go toe-to-toe with Denard Robinson in terms of rushing yards.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Penn State vs. Michigan State
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Michigan State and Penn State have a pretty good group of players returning, so this is not quite as unrealistic as it may seem. As I've noted, Joe Paterno is a guy you can't count out. Despite his age, he knows how to whip a team into shape.
The Spartans will have Kirk Cousins and the offense returning, and while they won't be under-the-radar this year, they have a good chance at winning the division since Ohio State and Wisconsin are in the other conference.
6. Ohio State vs. Michigan
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Why not? One of the greatest rivalries in all of sports as the inaugural Big Ten title game would draw a huge crowd, if nothing else. Terrelle Pryor and Denard Robinson know each other, and this would be a very hard fought game on offense.
Neither defense is expected to be particularly great, so this would also be a high-scoring affair should it happen. The two meeting twice in one season would leave a bad taste in purists' mouths though, so I don't know if it's a good idea.
5. Penn State vs. Nebraska
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The battle of the sophomore quarterbacks may not be as strange as it sounds right now. Yes, Taylor Martinez and Rob Bolden had their share of problems, with transfer rumors surrounding both of them.
If both settle down and have great years though, then this could end up being a very good matchup. Then again, if Bolden transfers then this probably won't happen, nor will any of the other Penn State matchups I noted.
4. Wisconsin vs. Michigan State
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The final four on this list are the most likely matchups. More accurately, the ones below this are longshots right now, with the top four being very realistic.
The first on this list is a battle of experienced quarterback Kirk Cousins and his offense against the tough running game of James White and Montee Ball. Both have their share of talent on the defensive end as well, though J.J. Watt and Greg Jones are in the draft.
3. Ohio State vs. Michigan State
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Ohio State vs. Michigan State sounds more like a good basketball matchup than a football one, but nonetheless it's very likely to happen this year, with Kirk Cousins battling it out against Terrelle Pryor.
Both teams have running games that are solid but not great and are pitting defenses that had their star players graduate. If nothing else, it will likely be a pretty even matchup, at least on paper.
2. Wisconsin vs. Nebraska
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I'm not discounting the work by Scott Tolzien and others that are graduating or went into the draft, but Wisconsin does have enough weapons that they should not have too much trouble winning the division. They beat Ohio State last year, they could again.
As for Nebraska, they almost won the Big 12 despite the Taylor Martinez drama; they shouldn't have that much trouble making it to the Big Ten title game.
1. Ohio State vs. Nebraska
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To me, this is easily the most likely situation for this year. Both teams have many of their top players coming back this year, and Ohio State will be back to full strength by the time any conference play starts.
This happening would be conditional on Wisconsin's next quarterback fitting in seamlessly with the rest of the offense, as well as Ohio State's defense still being tough despite losing Cameron Heyward. Both are mountains that can easily be climbed by both schools, so for now I'm penciling this in.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
