Big Ten talk

[El Turco]

last year there were lot of michigan and wisconsin fans around so this thread might get off the ground.

Big Ten preseason awards...

The media votes are in for the Big Ten preseason awards and to no surprise, it's all Ohio State. After back-to-back trips to the BCS national championship game, the Buckeyes were tabbed preseason Big Ten favorites. Wisconsin was picked second and Illinois came in third. Unlike other leagues, the Big Ten releases only the top three teams in its preseason media poll.

Ohio State junior running back Beanie Wells was tabbed preseason Offensive Player of the Year, and his teammate, senior linebacker James Laurinaitis, earned preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. It marks the first time a team has swept all three awards since 1996, when Northwestern was the favorite, running back Darnell Autry the preseason Offensive Player of the Year and linebacker Pat Fitzgerald the preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

This year's selections went pretty much as forecasted, though I'm sure the third-place vote between Illinois and Penn State was close.

To recap:

Big Ten preseason media poll

1. Ohio State

2. Wisconsin

3. Illinois

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Chris "Beanie" Wells, Jr., RB, Ohio State

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: James Laurinaitis, Sr., LB, Ohio State

[meatball sub]

Rich Rod has never had the overall collection of talent he's been given this year, and his teams at WVU were BCS contenders year in and year out. This defense is absolutely nasty and it all starts up front with potentially one of the best D-lines in the country. I'm just not sure how the offense is going to be with Steven Threet (he's not very mobile) at QB and an inexperienced o-line. The RBs and WRs are pretty deep so we should be fine at those positions. There will be some growing pains no doubt, but I think the defense will be able to keep them in some games even when the offense is looking terrible. IMO, people are underestimating UM predicting 5-6 wins. I think they've got a shot at 8 or 9 if the offense comes together.

[El Turco]

Michigan s offense is as bad as it could be for a big time bcs program. It is very optimistic to expect 8 wins from a team that won 9 games previous season and lost their 2 best QBs, 2 best WRs, best RB and just about entire o-line. not to mention it is going to take some time to get used to Rodriguez s schemes.

[UrbanLegendMD]

Illinois will be 2nd best team in the Big Ten this year, but we will probably lose to OSU this time. We are such an overrated conference.

[Da Schwab]

I don't think the Big 10 is necessarily 'overrated' as a whole, but the fact that two of the biggest, most prestigious programs in the nation reside in the conference (who have both been underachieving the last few years), makes people think its overrated.

[meatball sub]

Michigan s offense is as bad as it could be for a big time bcs program. It is very optimistic to expect 8 wins from a team that won 9 games previous season and lost their 2 best QBs, 2 best WRs, best RB and just about entire o-line. not to mention it is going to take some time to get used to Rodriguez s schemes.

Don't forget we lost Boren too.

I don't think any school in the country has done so little with the talent UM has been given every season since 2000. Other than tOSU there hasn't been any team that's strung together more than 2 or 3 good years. I love everything I've read about the new strength and conditioning program and the effect it's had on the players. I really feel like the addition of a creative and energetic coach is just the shot in the arm the program needed. Let's be honest here, 9 wins for that team last season was an absolute joke and a huge coaching failure.

We lost a ton of talent, no doubt, but the only real question marks I see are the o-line and QB, and the only one I'm really concerned about is QB. If Threet is able to manage the offense in a system that is better suited for a scrambler, then I think they'll be just fine. If Feagin is able to become an adequate passer, then things should look really good since he is more or a scrambler.

The reason I think they've got a shot at 8 or 9 wins is because of the defense. As I said, I think they'll be good enough to keep them in games despite the offense. If they lose to OSU, Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, another regular season game, plus the bowl game they would go 8-5. That's not all that optimistic when you think about it, IMO. This Michigan team is not going to be terrible like Notre Dame was last year, which is what I think many people believe.

[ReasonablySober]

I didn't expect Wisconsin to be ranked as high as they are, but an easy schedule could keep them in the top 10 all season.

[IlliniNRG]

I think Illinois is a team that could be better than last year, but still have a better record. Everyone knows they lose Mendenhall, and some know about J Leman, but other big losses are G Martin O'Donnell, and our excellent kicker Jason Reda. However, Illinois has scads of new talent to step in at key positions. The defensive line should be the best it's been in about 15 years, and the WRs should be much, much improved as well.

I won't say Illinois got "lucky" per se last year, but they won most of their very close games, and overperformed in several as well. 8 regular season wins would be an excellent goal for the Illini.

Wisconsin does not excite me as a potential conference standard-bearer, but as another poster mentioned, their schedule is just so darned easy. Their talent, oustide of Beckham and a few others, is middling in the conference. Even P.J. Hill I always thought was overrated. Sure they're top-heavy in experience, but I look at their QB and secondary and think, here's a team that could get overseeded and embarass the Big Ten in a bowl game down the road...

1. OSU
2. Wisconsin
3. Penn St
4. Illinois
5. Michigan State
[dropoff]
6. Michigan
7. Purdue
8. Indiana
[dropoff]
9. Iowa
10. Minnesota
11. Northwestern