College Football Report - Spring Previews and Early Predictions: Big Ten

The Big Ten Conference:

Ohio State 12-1, Michigan State 11-2, Wisconsin 11-2, Nebraska 10-4, Iowa 8-5, Michigan 7-6, Penn State 7-6, Northwestern 7-6, Illinois 7-6, Indiana 5-7, Purdue 4-8, Minnesota 3-9

Reason to be excited: The conference finally expanded to an even number of teams, which in result, a championship game and two separate leagues have been formed. There’s always been a thought that the final member would be Notre Dame, but surprisingly, it was Nebraska who stepped up to the plate. The Huskers will be a good fit, though, and the added championship game will make for a better showing of conference games. The league names, Legends and Leaders, aren’t anything to be excited about.

Breakout player (s): Iowa has turned out some good linebackers over the years, with Desmond Bishop and Chad Greenway, coming to mind. The next on the list is sophomore James Morris. As a true freshman, he brought in 70 tackles as an injury replacement. Morris will have the starting spot to himself in 2011 and will become a star. On offense, watch the Michigan receiving core. It’s a deep and talented group, and with Michigan switching back to a pro style offense, it should allow for an emergence of a couple of players. I like redshirt freshman Ricardo Miller’s chances of having a breakout season in Ann Arbor.

Get to work on: A big key this spring will be getting the quarterback battles settled. Eight teams in the league will have open quarterback competitions in the spring. Quarterback could be a messy situation for the Big Ten next season if enough work isn’t put into spring evaluations and practices. The big ones are Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State and Nebraska. Don’t be surprised to see one in Ann Arbor, either.

What to look for: Look for a far more balanced conference. Last season, Purdue, Minnesota and Indiana all turned in horrendous Big Ten records. Michigan and Northwestern weren’t far behind. In years past, the league has been far more even, I’d expect the Big Ten to get back to those days, especially with divided divisions. With new coaches throughout and a spread of wealth at the top of the conference, a few major turnarounds can be expected.

Quarterback competitions: As touched on before, there are numerous teams heading into spring with open competitions. A couple to keep an eye on will be those at Penn State and Wisconsin. Penn State has the biggest mess, with four quarterbacks competing for the starting nod. Juniors Kevin Newsome and Matt McGloin will battle sophomore Robert Boldin and redshirt freshman Paul Jones. Boldin began the year at the starter in 2010, but later lost it to McGloin. With the chunk of the Big Ten schedule under him, McGloin should be the favorite for 2011. In Madison, Badgers sophomore quarterback Jon Budmayr looks in a race with junior Curt Phillips and redshirt freshman Joe Brennan. Really a two man race between Budmayr and Brennan, the more experienced Budmayr should take the job.

Bold prediction: In 2010, Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa broke onto the Big Ten scene, becoming one of the better offensive players in the conference. In an upset of Iowa, though, Persa suffered a torn achillies injury, putting him on the shelf for the year. Persa doesn’t appear ready to go for spring practice, but in 2011, he’ll return to become Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and lead Northwestern to a third place finish in the conference. The Wildcats return 17 starters, including four offensive linemen and four out of five skill players.

How they’ll finish: A few teams will be heading into big transition stages, including Iowa and Wisconsin, so I’m putting them to the side for now. Michigan should face a transition stage as well, with the change in coaching. The competitors look to be Ohio State, Michigan State and Nebraska. I like Northwestern a lot in 2011, but not as possible Big Ten Champs. Michigan State looks to be on the rise, but the late season trip to Nebraska may be out of their league still . Ohio State will face some adversity with Pryor and others missing the first five games, but they’re talented enough to get through it. Nebraska, because of their defense and Ohio State, because of their offense, will meet in Indianapolis for the title. It looks to be a warm welcoming for Nebraska in 2011. CHAMP: Nebraska