College Football Preseason Rankings: Breaking Down Big Ten Poll Reps

There has been lots of buzz around the Big Ten this offseason.  Most of it bad news coming from Ohio State, but there is much to celebrate this season as the Big Ten has five teams ranked inside the preseason top 25 according to the USA Today rankings. 

There were also two other teams that received votes, which means this year like every other, there will be some great competition in this conference. 

This is the inaugural season for Nebraska and we should welcome them in with a bang.

25: Penn State Nittany Lions

Rounding out the bottom of the top 25 is the Penn State Nittany Lions.  Entering his 46th season as Head Coach, Joe Paterno looks to push his team harder this season to improve on their 7-6 finish in 2010.  All the injuries last season are a blessing in disguise, as younger players received playing time and experience they can bring into this season. 

Two of those players were quarterbacks Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin.  This season they will have to challenge each other for playing time again as both have decided to return this season to Penn State.

They will have some other young skilled players to help them, though.  Salas Redd looks to improve on a promising true freshman season.  Fitting the zone blocking scheme that the Nittany Lions plays, I think Redd will prevail over Senior Stephon Green and Junior Brandon Beachum for carries this season. 

Penn State also has a defense led by Michael Mauti, the playmaking linebacker who is moving to the middle this season.  It seems like Penn State manufactures linebackers and Mauti looks like an NFL talent.  He will carry this defense on his back this season.  Mauti, along with DT Devin Still, will clog lots of holes this season and make it tough for opposing teams to run against them. 

Overall it looks like this season could be a good one for Penn State as they look to regain the prevalence they once had.

17: Michigan State Spartans

Kirk Cousins and the Michigan State Spartans had a disappointing end to their magical season last year.  After getting crushed by Alabama in the Capital One bowl, Michigan State will just try to remember that they did hold a share of the Big Ten title last year for the first time in 20 years. 

After setting a school record 11 wins in 2010, it will be hard to improve this season record-wise, but that is not the only goal for this team. 

Returning for his fifth season, starting quarterback Kirk Cousins will look to lead his team this season to another Big Ten championship. Even though the Spartans lost players like Greg Jones, Eric Gordon, D.J. Young, Mark Dell and Chris L. Rucker, they are going to field a very talented team this year. 

Edwin Baker played like a Big Ten running back should at times last year, as he went on to gain over 1200 yards and 13 TDs.  The only problem was that in the two games that State lost, he combined 21 carries for only 35 yards and no scores.  If Michigan State wants repeat their record from last year, he has to produce in those big games, and not be a main reason for the loss.

The defense, anchored by Jerel Worthy, and its defensive line, along with Senior Trenton Robinson at his safety position, should be a solid group this year.  It will be tough to replace two-time All-American Greg Jones, but it looks like sophomore Max Bullough will give it his best shot. 

This will be a fun season to watch for Michigan State fans, as it will be another proud season of being the best football team in the state of Michigan.

16: Ohio State Buckeyes

After a crazy offseason, USA Today still has Ohio State ranked at 16 in their latest poll.  It is going to be a tough season for Buckeye fans to watch, but we all know, life must go on. 

After all the suspensions, the dismissal of Jim Tressell, the abrupt leaving of Terrell Pryor and all the players that have moved on to Pro Football, it is going to be interesting to see how Ohio State rebounds.  The only positive is that three out of their first four games are home games and aren't against strong opponents. 

Dan Herron is still a force at running back and TE Jake Stoneburner is a player to watch, according to the 2011 John Mackey Award preseason watch list. 

Quarterback is a major concern, though, as it will be either highly-touted freshman Braxton Miller or inexperienced senior Joe Bauserman calling the shots.

All I know is that Luke Fickell definitely has his work cut out for him this season, especially if he expects Ohio State to be the dominant team they usually are. I just hope that Dan Herron is saying a long prayer for Buckeye nation in that picture.

11: Nebraska Cornhuskers

With three preseason All-Americans on the defense, Nebraska is looking to have a huge inaugural season in the Big Ten.  Apparently USA Today thinks so too with their preseason ranking of 11th in the country.

The defense is led by defensive tackle Jared Crick, linebacker Lavonte David and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard.  They will look to carry this Cornhusker team all the way to the inaugural championship game in Indianapolis.  They will switch to a standard 4-3 defense this year to help combat the running games of the Big Ten, as opposed to the spread offenses in the Big 12. 

Nebraska is showcasing a new hurry up spread offense this year that may resemble something like Oregon's, and it will be interesting to see how that style fits in with the smash mouth Big Ten football.  It will be an easy transition as all of the starting skilled players on offense are returning along with three offensive linemen. 

Nebraska has always had the talent but hasn't been able to come out of the Big 12 with a championship, failing to gain a victory in the last two championship games.  They look to change that this year and finally get the championship they deserve.

10: Wisconsin Badgers

As the only team in the Big Ten ranked inside of the top 10 nationally, this may be the year that Wisconsin can finally claim a National Championship, something that has never happened in their history. 

With historical conference leaders Ohio State having all of their problems and the Michigan Wolverines still trying to recover from the Rich Rodriguez experiment, this may be the only legitimate chance they have at winning a National title. 

Bret Bielema enters his sixth season as Wisconsin's head coach.  He will have transfer quarterback Russell Wilson lead his offense and will add versatility to the team that averaged over 41 points a game last season.  The transfer from North Carolina State will also add some mobility that Steven Tolzien lacked last year. Wilson, along with Montee Ball and James White, will lead a skilled offense and look to improve on that 41 point per game average.

On the defensive side of the ball, there are 10 players returning that started at least one game, led by senior cornerback Antonio Fenelus and safety Aaron Henry.  The only big loss was defensive tackle J.J. Watt moving on to the NFL, but with every other defensive linemen returning, it will not be that detrimental to their success. 

It will be hard for Wisconsin not to come out of the Big Ten as champions, as they had such a stellar season last year and have majority of their players returning.  It will be a fun season for the Badgers and I look for them to have a real shot at winning their first ever National Championship.