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Written by Jason Macor
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Monday, 09 October 2006 |
 Can someone please explain to me why Ohio State is being picked #1? Anybody? Well I guess that just goes to show just how wide open this season is because OSU is returning, count them, 2 starters on defense. I'm no Harvard grad, but I believe that was easy enough math. Now granted, OSU is notorious, as are some other teams in the Big Ten, for it's defense, and has in past years been so with little to no offense. So it is understandable, coming into a year where it is OSU's offense, not defense, is highly touted, people would take the defense for granted.
There is a difference, though, between having only 6 returning starters and having the rotation Miami does meaning they actually have 12-15 returning players with significant time, and only returning 2 men and trying to break in everyone else. With all this said, the Big Ten is not a lock, not even close, especially with the glaring hole on defense for OSU, and the fact that half the Big Ten teams play a scary Notre Dame team, besides each other.
Iowa should not be a team forgot, they did go 8-4 last year, and then finish with a loss in their bowl game against Florida, but they only lost by 7, and two of their 4 regular season losses had a total deficit of 4 points. With blow outs at Ohio State, and at Iowa State being their only blemishes, this Iowa team could feasibly come back with a great season. They have 8 home games, and the only test on the road comes at Ann Arbor in mid October. That seems to be the trend this year, schedule, not outright talent difference, will be key this year in getting to the national championship, or at the very least winning your conference.
Don't expect Michigan to repeat a 7-5 performance, but also don't look for them to be in the national title hunt, the road date against ND and the season cap at OSU will answer that, but 10 wins are still possible.
Also on the slate of Big Ten Contenders are of course Penn State and Ohio State, who should get at least 9 wins each off the coat tails of great seasons, but also look out for Wisconsin. They too have been blessed by the schedule gods, most notably with 7 home games, and only two road dates to worry about, at Michigan, and at Iowa.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 12 April 2007 )
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