Ultimate Road Trip: Big Ten Football 2011 (and Early Week 1 Previews)

Over the past couple of summers, two stories weaved through the national media about some young men taking "ultimate road trips" to all 30 major league baseball parks in one summer.

One of these men, Darren O'Donnell, was biking across the country throughout the entire 2011 season to see all 30 ballparks. The other group managed to drive across the country and see all 30 ballparks in an astounding 39 days.

Both of these instances led to me another thought, perhaps an even more tantalizing thought. What if the same style of ultimate road trip were planned for Big Ten football? With a full week between games, there's plenty of travel time to enjoy the sights and attractions in Big Ten country, and the best game possible from each of the 12 teams can be chosen.

So how would you plan the trip in 2011?

Ultimate Road Trip 2011

1. 9/3: Middle Tennessee State at Purdue, West Lafayette IN (Ross-Ade Stadium).

Although this game may not be the sexiest pick for opening weekend, it is also relatively centrally located so that if you were beginning a road trip from anywhere in Big Ten country, this is not too far to travel. MTSU was a bowl team a season ago and should provide a good test for the Boilermaker defense.

2. 9/10: Notre Dame at Michigan, Ann Arbor MI (Michigan Stadium).

A short trip of five hours for this leg of the journey will bring you to one of the best college towns in America, Ann Arbor. This will be the fight night game at Michigan Stadium and, therefore, is a must-see on the 2011 trip. Notre Dame could be a BCS bowl contender as well, which makes the trip all the more fulfilling.

3. 9/17: Miami (OH) at Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (TCF Bank Stadium).

The trek to Minneapolis is 12 hours from Ann Arbor through Chicago, but this would be a great opportunity to drive through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and see sites, such as the Mackinac Bridge. Miami is last year's MAC champion but is also going through the pains of a first year head coach, like Jerry Kill and Minnesota. The battle of two new head coaches is always worth watching.

4. 9/24: BYE WEEK. This is one of the weaker Saturday schedules for the conference in recent memory, so that makes this a great week to take a breather and plan for the remainder of the trip.

5. 10/1: Nebraska at Wisconsin, Madison WI (Camp Randall Stadium).

The trip from Minneapolis to Madison is only five hours long, but the two week break would provide plenty of opportunity to see places such as Minneapolis and Milwaukee. The game is likely a preview of the Big Ten Championship and is Nebraska's first conference game, so it gets included as a first pick in this road trip.

6. 10/8: Ohio State at Nebraska, Lincoln NE (Memorial Stadium).

If last week's game was first pick, then this is second pick, as Nebraska opens up with a monster home conference game against the current league dynasty OSU. The trip from Madison is only 8 hours long and provides opportunities to catch some Iowa corn right at harvest time.

7. 10/15: Ohio State at Illinois, Champaign IL (Memorial Stadium).

We then travel with the Buckeyes (eight and a half hours east) to their annual rivalry game with Illinois. These teams played at Memorial Stadium last year as well, and Illinois is the one team that OSU always seems to have problems putting away.

8. 10/22: Wisconsin at Michigan State, East Lansing MI (Spartan Stadium).

A six hour trip will then put the car back into Michigan for a stop at Spartan Stadium. Michigan State fans are still slightly irked about beating the Badgers and splitting the conference title, yet being left out of the Rose Bowl and other BCS bowls as well. This will be a chance for another big win against the Badgers.

9. 10/29: Wisconsin at Ohio State, Columbus OH (Ohio Stadium).

For the second time on the trip, we follow a road team, this time for 4 hours to Columbus, Ohio. Wisconsin throttled the Buckeyes last season and has actually had better luck in Columbus than in Madison in recent memory. This game could decide the Leaders division.

10. 11/5: Michigan at Iowa, Iowa City IA (Kinnick Stadium).

A long 9-hour trek then takes the road trip out to Iowa for their game against Michigan. Iowa finally broke through against the Wolverines during the Rich Rodriguez era, and a young Hawkeyes team will be looking to continue the streak against Denard Robinson and company. Assuming that the street vendors are not outlawed in Iowa City this year, check out a Big-A Turkey Leg. Trust me, it's worth every penny.

11. 11/12: Nebraska at Penn State, State College PA (Beaver Stadium).

More long driving this week as PSU is a long haul from nearly everywhere else (13.5 hours from Iowa City). However, Cedar Point amusement park and Cleveland offer some good pit stops on the way to Nittany Lions country. This protected rivalry of the two newest members of the Big Ten will be a good series, and division title implications for both may ride on this late season game.

12. 11/19: Minnesota at Northwestern, Evanston IL (Ryan Field).

10.Five more hours the other direction brings the roadtrip to Evanston, and there's no doubt the week before the game should be spent experiencing Chicago. By this point in the season, Minnesota should be up and running and could be a good test for Fitzgerald's Wildcats.

13. 11/26: Purdue at Indiana, Bloomington IN (Memorial Stadium).

A brief five hour jaunt to Bloomington sends the road trip to the final Big Ten stadium not yet visited, although it is the third Memorial Stadium listed. The battle for the Bucket should be spirited, even if both these teams are out of contention.

14. 12/3: Big Ten Championship, Indianapolis IN (Lucas Oil Stadium).

It would not be a true ultimate roadtrip without including the new championship game, which is only an hour and fifteen minutes from Bloomington. This will be the new crown jewel of the conference, and what would a road trip be without a good conclusion?

So that ends our ultimate road trip for Big Ten football 2011. The schedule balances out fairly well, with three of the conference heavy hitters (Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio State) appearing three times and most other teams showing up at least twice. Now that would make for a good fall!

Take a look at a composite schedule and let me know how you would do it in the comments section below. Thanks for reading, and come back tomorrow for my weekend preview, of which a small sample for the early games on Thursday and Friday is included below.

Game Previews - Week 1

UNLV at Wisconsin: Wisconsin will begin the season under the Thursday night spotlight against UNLV, one of the weakest teams in college football a season ago (2-11). Look for Wisconsin to use the normal power rushing game to overwhelm a UNLV defense that gave up 223 yards per game rushing a season ago. The Rebels may be able to key on the inexperience of quarterback Russell Wilson in the Badger system, but he will have too much help to slow the Badgers down.

UNLV does have a nice passing attack that will provide an early-season indicator of whether Wisconsin has reloaded in the defensive backfield. A key match up will be UNLV receiver Phillip Payne versus the Badger cornerbacks.

Wisconsin should traverse this game easily and begin to gel  with their new quarterback in this one. Badgers win by 28.

Youngstown State at Michigan State: When the Big Ten goes to a nine game conference schedule in a few years, apparently these are the types of games that we will not be subjected to anymore. For now, we must live with watching YSU collect a paycheck for a big loss on Friday night.

Michigan State will not find much trouble on offense, as the Penguins are not solid defensively. However, young talent for the Penguins, such as quarterback Kurt Hess, may find some success against the Spartans defense, given that this is the first game of the season. Look for Michigan State to find out who their best linebackers are in this game.

Michigan State will pull away early and maintain a comfortable margin throughout the second half, as some of the second-string players get their opportunity to shine. Spartans by 41.

Football returns tonight. Hallelujah. See you tomorrow for more previews!