Monday, August 13, 2007

NCAA Projections: Big Ten (Or, Where Hooters Meets William Henry Harrison)


Today's blog post comes from Hooters in King of Prussia, PA. My wife won't come here with me, and I won't bring my kids here, but I like the wings and the free wi-fi. I'm serious!

Pennsylvania is Big Ten country, or it has been for the last 15 years since Penn State became the 11th member of the conference. With that in mind, I will project The Conference That Can't Count.

This conference is made up of big state schools with big enrollments, big stadiums, big alumni bases, and big TV markets. Well, all of them except Northwestern, who brings a big TV market and a history with the rest of the conference. The biggest and baddest of those schools are the triumvirate of Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan. For what it's worth, Wisconsin has given them a run for their money in recent years, in both football and basketball.

Last year, Ohio State and Michigan were undefeated at the end of the season, heading into their matchup in Columbus. Ohio State went on to lay an egg in the BCS national championship game, while Michigan got creamed by USC in the Rose Bowl.

This year, it's the Wolverines' turn to win the conference. The Maize and Blue look really strong, and get Penn State and Ohio State on their home field in Ann Arbor. I look for Michigan to trip up on a late-season road trip to Wisconsin. Outside of that, they would be a strong candidate for the BCS national championship game.

Penn State will also come up big this year. I have them losing only one game: a mid-season trip to Michigan. This will put them in contention for a BCS at-large berth, as they would lose the tiebreaker to Michigan in my projection.

Ohio State will be good, as usual. However, they won't be so lucky in trips to Penn State and Michigan, and will have to settle for a nice bowl trip to Florida.

Wisconsin and Iowa will both be good, but not quite on the level of the top three teams in the conference. I wouldn't want to play either of those teams, though.

Purdue, Indiana, and Northwestern will also be bowl-eligible. In Indiana's case, it's a big deal. The Hoosiers haven't been to a bowl since William Henry Harrison fought the Battle of Tippecanoe. They are also dealing with the tragic loss of coach Terry Hoeppner, who died recently from brain cancer.

Big Ten Projected Standings:

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

2 comments:

Zee said...

I think THE Ohio State University will be on top again. We'll see, though.

John said...

I would rather TOSU finish on top instead of Meatchicken and Joe Paterno U., but I'm afraid the Bucks' good fortune runs out this year.

The people in Columbus would consider 10-2 a failure.