College Preview- Big 10

The Big 1 and Little 9 is what this conference should be called. You have Ohio St. and then everyone else. You do have some teams that are on the upswing, i.e, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, but otherwise the Big 10 has gone from being one of the strongest BCS conferences to the weakest. The additions of Ron Zook and Rich Rodriguez will bring some much needed speed and athleticism to this conference...as well as the trendy new spread offense. Tressel has been trying to do the same thing at Ohio St. but with mixed results. Here are the picks...

• Ohio St.- Obvious one here. This team is loaded. Last year was supposed to be a transitional year for the Bucks but they overachieved and got into the BCS championship by default. This is supposed to be their year, but I think everyone's tired of them. This may be the most talented team Tressel has put together yet (The '05 team was pretty good too). Beanie Wells is a man-child!
• Wisconsin- Bielema has done a great job replacing Alvarez. Watch Travis Beckum at Tight End, he's a load. Solid team.
• Illinois- Will miss Mendenhall, but they still have Juice and Arrelious Benn at receiver. Zook's recruiting is starting to pay off.
• Penn St.- Joe Pa just keeps chuggin' along. They have a tough time recruiting because no one is sure when he'll step down. Otherwise solid team that will compete.
• Michigan St.- That's right, I'm picking them ahead of the Wolverines! This is a rare chance for the Spartans to actually be a better team than the rivals. Solid defense and great coaching.
• Michigan- Rodriguez will eventually bring some fireworks to Ann Arbor and big blue will eventually get back to prominence...but not this year. Too many holes to fill.
• Purdue- Curtis Painter may be the best qb no one's heard of. Joe Tiller's final season won't be his best though.
• Iowa- Always a scrappy team never to be underestimated. Recent rash of arrests. Kirk Ferentz is a good coach but I think they have a hard time selling recruits on the fine points of Iowa City.
• Indiana- Bit of a cindarella a year ago. Easy schedule this year but I don't think they have the talent to be a consistent competitor.
• Northwestern- Pretty decent qb in Bacher and they do have a good coach. This program just doesn't have the prestige to be consistent. Back to the basement.
• Minnesota- I think fans may be longing for Glen Mason to return! These guys were putrid last year! On the bright side, there's nowhere to go but up, right?