These are my predictions for the Big Ten this season. Because of conference realignment all of the conferences look very different. This will make the new Big Ten one of the best conferences in college football. I think they will have at least 3 teams in the playoff which will make the standings of the conference very important. Without further ado, I will get right to it.
10: Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Rutgers is coming off of a 7-6 season which saw them tied for 8th in the Big Ten. They have a pretty good running back by the name of Kyle Monongai and a good defense that helped them to most of their wins. I think that they will be just inside the top ten of the Big Ten standings.
9: Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State is currently in the middle of a complete rebuild. In the middle of the season last year they fired their head coach, Mel Tucker. They went through the second half of last season with an interim head coach and finished the season 4-8. They have gotten multiple transfers out of the transfer portal and got a new head coach, Jonathan Smith, who previously coached at Oregon State.
8: Maryland Terrapins
Maryland is coming off of a 7-5 season where they made the Music City Bowl and blew out Auburn. I think that Maryland is a very underrated team every year and give most Big Ten teams a good fight. Their biggest storyline this season is that they lost their starting quarterback, Taulia Tagovailoa, to the NFL in the spring. This is one of the things that will make them interesting to watch with the quarterback battle.
7: Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes are coming off an appearance in the Big Ten championship where they were beaten by Michigan. They got to the championship because the Big Ten West was not very good. Their head coach, Kirk Ferentz, was suspended for the first game because of recruiting violations. I think that they should finish around 7 and make a bowl game but not make the playoffs.
6: Washington Huskies
Washington has just made the national championship game so you might be surprised to see them ranked this low. This is because they lost nearly all of their starters and their head coach either to the NFL or other NCAA teams. I still think that they could be good but I will have to see how they can perform with nearly a whole new starting lineup.
5: Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State is the team that I believe benefits the most from no divisions in the conference and a 12-team playoff. This is because all other years they have had to play Michigan and Ohio State to which they have lost. They had a very good defense last year with an okay offense. They return their quarterback from last year, Drew Allar, so I think that they could make the playoffs this year.
4: USC Trojans
USC was one of the biggest disappointments from last year’s season. People were expecting them to go to the Pac-12 championship game and maybe even the playoff but instead, they went 6-6 while having a bad defense. Their starting quarterback last year, Caleb Williams, went first in the draft so they are starting last year’s backup, Miller Moss, for this year. He played very well in their bowl game so I expect them to do well this season.
3: Michigan Wolverines
Michigan is coming off a national championship and a 15-0 perfect season. They lost a lot of starters to the NFL draft and their coach to the Los Angeles Chargers. They still have quite a few key players from last year including, Will Johnson, Kenneth Grant, Mason Graham, and Donovan Edwards. Sherrone Moore is their new head coach. He coached for 3 games last year because of a suspension to Jim Harbaugh.
2: Oregon Ducks
Oregon made the Pac-12 championship last year and lost to Washington who went to the National Championship. They have a lot of returning starters and have gotten multiple starters from the transfer portal. Bo Nix was their quarterback last year and since he was drafted in the first round of the NFL draft this year they got a new starting quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, from Oklahoma. He is the transfer that the whole country is wondering about. If this team doesn’t make the national semifinals, I would be very surprised.
1: Ohio State Buckeyes
The top team in my rankings is the team that most people have ranked in their top 2 teams in the country. The Buckeyes have brought a lot of starters from the transfer portal including former five-stars Julian Sayin and Caleb Downs. They also brought in a new quarterback, Will Howard. This team is the closest team to a national championship or bust that I have ever seen. They spent around 20 million dollars on the portal this year which is an insane number for a sport that is supposed to be all amateurs. If this team doesn’t make the national championship then I would think it would result in the firing of their head coach Ryan Day.
