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Northwestern RB Damien Anderson is the top returning Heisman vote-getter.
Jamie Squire/Allsport |
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Northwestern
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Michigan
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Ohio State
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Purdue
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Illinois
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Wisconsin
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Michigan State
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Minnesota
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Penn State
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Iowa
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Indiana
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| 5,003 |
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The number of total offense Michigan lost with the graduation of
tailback Anthony Thomas and the early departures of QB Drew Henson and WR David
Terrell.
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"I remember growing up in Toledo, Ohio, listening to the great Woody
Hayes say that for every freshman you start, you can expect to lose a game.
But Woody made that comment before Archie Griffin showed up. So, what the
hell."
--
Purdue head coach Joe Tiller on redshirt freshman QB Brandon
Hance replacing Heisman finalist Drew Brees.
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By Brian Hamilton, Special to CNNSI.com
Brooks Bollinger swore he wasn't making this stuff up. Wisconsin, noted
for linemen the size of small islands and running backs just slightly
smaller, installing the high-tech, high-octane, decidedly un-Wisconsin
spread offense?
"People don't believe us," Bollinger, the Badgers' quarterback, said.
"They think it's a conspiracy or something."
Settle down, Oliver Stone. This is the bizarro Big Ten, where up is
down, black is white and Northwestern is, well, good.
If it isn't the most promising conference in the land, the Big Ten stands
to be one of the most tumultuous. Every team has either a proven defense, a
proven offense or neither -- but not both.
"Tell me what team in this conference can't win it," Northwestern head coach
Randy Walker said. "Pick one. I can't."
That makes, oh, hundreds of us.
"Last year, I think you could've pointed out seven, eight teams that
could win the conference -- and I don't think people put Northwestern in that
category, and they were co-Big Ten champs," Illinois head coach Ron Turner
said.
So, of course, most prognosticating folk have attempted to rectify that
mistake by putting the Wildcats at the top of preseason rankings this time
around. Accurate or not, it's appropriate, given that it was Walker's
unconventional, no-huddle, spread offense that turned the button-down Big
Ten on its head a year ago and started the madness. Tailback Damien
Anderson, a potential All-America, quarterback Zak Kustok and the entire
offensive line return for an encore after setting 27 school records a year
ago.
But there are question marks on the other side of the ball, where the
defense welcomes five new starters. Then again, so it goes league-wide,
where everything is turned on its head. Purdue is without Drew Brees and is
suddenly considered the premier defensive team in the league. The young
Michigan defense that got battered in 2000 is now Lloyd Carr's strong suit,
with an unsettled offense decimated by the departures of Drew Henson and
David Terrell. Ohio State has a head coach that was in Division I-AA this
time last year.
And it was just last year that the three teams that tied for the league
title -- Purdue, Northwestern and Michigan -- had four, four and three losses,
respectively. Imagine the carnage now.
"I think that speaks to what we're all up against every weekend," Carr
said, and he may be right -- but just not in the way he means. Unless one or
two teams can caulk their gaping holes, the Big Ten won't make a splash on
the national scene. And that means no Rose Bowl, which this year is reserved
for the BCS title game.
The theme among the coaches at the league's preseason media kickoff was
that no one is conceding that the Big Ten won't be represented in Pasadena, Calif.
"It's kind of like a NASCAR race," Purdue head coach Joe Tiller said. "If
you get out in front and keep the pedal to the metal, you've got a chance to
go to the Rose Bowl."
And, of course, hang on. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
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Bizarro-time has definitely settled in at
Purdue, which will win games with its veteran defense (we swear!) this year.
Stuart Schweigert, a sophomore free safety, should be a big reason why. He was the most dazzling of five freshman starters for a vastly improved defense that helped the Boilers to last year's Rose Bowl.
Schweigert is 6-3,
214 pounds, and has the speed and hands (five INTs in 2000), all of which got
him Freshman of the Year honors a year ago. He might not be the conference's
best safety (see Ohio State's Mike Doss), but he's getting close.
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HOT: The Spread
Northwestern,
Purdue and Minnesota all produce, and even Wisconsin will dabble this
year.
NOT: Balance
Everyone's got a chance, but it ain't pretty.
HOT: Stadium renovations
Penn State debuts its 106,000-seat
model this year. Purdue and Wisconsin are up next.
NOT: Indiana's defense
Ranked 113th out of 114 in I-A.
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We know that college football schedules are set at least five years
before they actually roll around. So one can surmise that, about five years
ago, Penn State was still scheduling like a team regularly ranked at or near No. 1.
The Nittany Lions open with
what might be the best Miami team in years. Then they travel to
always dicey Virginia two weeks later. Then, after three Big Ten games, Penn
State plays host to Southern Mississippi, a no-slouch team from Conference USA.
Obviously, no one in State College, Pa., expected to be coming off a 5-7
season. But come on,
wasn't Louisiana-Lafayette free for a weekend?
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Damien Anderson and Minnesota WR Ron Johnson
Whoever convinced these guys to return to school saved a pair of offenses.
Indiana QB/WR Antwaan Randle El
He better have the ball. It's the only way to save Cam
Cameron 's job.
Illinois defensive coordinator Mike Cassity
Illinois is counting on a revived, improved defense from the first-year coordinator to put it in contention.
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There are marquee Big Ten-only matchups, to be sure, but few that will amp up the conference race like Michigan's trip to Washington on Sept. 8. A win here against the Rose Bowl champs and those holes start looking
awfully filled for the Wolverines. The most important Big Ten matchup? Probably Purdue at Michigan, Oct. 13.
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One would be hard-pressed to find a conference that offers better
backfields than the Big Ten: Six of the top 10 passers from 2000 and seven
of the top 10 rushers return for the 2001 campaign. ... Indiana's Cameron knows exactly where his job security lay this year -- in the fourth
quarter. The Hoosiers lost four games last year that were decided in the
final minute of play. "There's the mental side," Cameron said. "You've
got to want the chance to make a play instead of sitting back on your
heels." ... Michigan State head coach Bobby Williams arrived
at the league's preseason media kickoff last week after spending two days at
the Minnesota Vikings' training camp -- the two days that led to the
heat-related death of Vikings tackle Korey Stringer.
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