Big 10 Preview

Written by Josh Cohron | 17 August 2009

The Big 10 has gotten an awful reputation nationally over the past couple years. Poor performances in bowls, Ohio State getting worked by two SEC teams in the BCS Championship Game and Michigan's downward spiral have all played a large role in the conference looking bad to the country.

Last year was especially rough for the conference in bowl games. They were an abominable 1-6 in the postseason, but most teams were underdogs in their bowls and were playing teams that were superior to them. Penn State stood no chance against USC and Ohio State was playing a Texas team that was pissed off because they weren't playing in the National Title game. Iowa, the lone bowl winner, actually beat an SEC team, but few noticed their Outback Bowl victory.

Ohio State has dominated the conference the last three years, compiling a record of 22-2 in conference. The Buckeyes have played in two BCS Championship games and the Fiesta bowl in the last three years, but have lost in all three of their bowl games. Troy Smith even won the Heisman in 2006 for OSU. Does any of this matter to the national media? Obviously not, as the Bucks are constantly crucified for losing to better teams in their three past bowl appearances.

Things are looking up for the conference, though. Ohio State (#6) and Penn State (#8) are ranked in the top ten of the coaches' poll and Iowa checks in at #21. Other teams could very well play their way into the top 25 within the first few weeks of the season. Big Ten fans will be hoping the conference can rebound from its awful bowl performances last year and vie to once again be the second best conference in the country.

More after the jump.

Here are things to watch for in the Big Ten this year:

Michigan looks to return to a bowl.The longest bowl streak in college football was broken last year as the Wolverines missed out on the postseason for the first time since the Disco era. Lloyd Carr had left the cupboard absolutely bare for new coach, Rich Rodriguez, going into last season. Combine a mediocre roster with a new system and it was an absolute disaster in Ann Arbor last year. QB play was poor (at best) and if QB play is bad, every aspect of your team will struggle. Freshman Tate Forcier looks to start at QB this year for UM and is the dual-threat type of QB that Coach Rod is looking for. He should play much better than the platoon that filled the position last year, but then again, it would be hard for him to be worse.

Terrelle Pryor looks to be the man in Columbus.The highly touted Pryor took over midseason for Todd Boeckman last year and played pretty well as a true freshman. He threw for 12 TDs and ran for another 6, which aren't exactly Tebow-esque numbers, but are pretty good for a guy in his first year of college football. The offense will miss some big-time playmakers from last year, but Ohio State is never lacking for talent. Pryor won't get a lot of Heisman love, but should be the best QB in the Big Ten.

Joe Paterno LOVES cupcakes. Have you looked at Penn State's non-conference schedule? If Daniel Tosh ever needs material (which he doesn't, dude is the funniest guy in the world), he should check this thing out. PSU's first three games are all at home and they play Akron, Syracuse and Temple. Apparently, they were looking for teams that have no shot of playing in a bowl for the next ten years. The Nittany Lions also squeeze the football powerhouse, Eastern Illinois, on the schedule in October. They should honestly win those four games by a combined 120 points... at least. Their schedule is set up for them to run the table this year as they have Iowa and Ohio State at home. Games at Michigan and Michigan State could be the only two slip-ups, but still should be wins.

Who's number 3? Penn State and Ohio State are clearly the two best teams in the conference, but who is the next best team? Is it Iowa? Michigan State? Michigan? Illinois? Depending on who you ask, you could get a lot of different answers. Michigan State's schedule is pretty friendly as they dodge Ohio State. Iowa has to play at Ohio State and Penn State, which all but guarantees they will have at least two losses in conference. Michigan will have to win more games than they did last year to truly compete this year. Illinois is still coached by Ron Zook, which greatly hurts their chances. It should be a very interesting year in the Big Ten.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Penn State
2. Michigan State
3. Ohio State
4. Iowa
5. Michigan
6. Illinois
7. Northwestern
8. Purdue
9. Wisconsin
10. Minnesota
11. Indiana