Around the Big Ten

[iam416]

AP Preseason:

6. Ohio State
7. M
12. MSU
17. Iowa

Wisky, Nebraska and NW also "received votes." Good show, Huskerz!

[entropy]

(sigh)

[froot loops]

12 is a little high for MSU. If the defense lives up to the early hype, they could be OK, that's a big if.

[AlabamAlum]

Keep in mind, Mike Riley and Mike Dubose both played at Bama at the same time. You're in good hands, Husker faithful. Good hands.

[Hannibal]

MSU as always will have a great defense, but I could see their offense losing them a few 17-13 type games like in 2012.

[entropy]

Keep in mind, Mike Riley and Mike Dubose both played at Bama at the same time. You're in good hands, Husker faithful. Good hands.

why do I feel as if we got the slow cousin

[froot loops]

I hope their defense gets back to being great, it hasn't been the last two years. It had flashes but way too many big plays. A lot of it defends on those two grad transfers at DT. I'm not that worried about QB, TOC should be OK.

[entropy]

How is the UNL transfer Williams doing at MSU so far..?

[froot loops]

They had a few preseason puff pieces on Williams and Sherrod but nothing to really note as being significant.

[entropy]

Bielema on schedule: we have TCU for a home and home, unless they 'Michigan' us

[The Oracle]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh man! Good one Bert!

[WM Wolverine]

How many wins for M in '16? Who wins the B1G? Who is most overrated and underrated in B1G?

Who is in CFP? Who wins NT?

[lineygoblue]

How many wins for M in '16? Who wins the B1G? Who is most overrated and underrated in B1G?

Who is in CFP? Who wins NT?

a. I think Michigan wins 10 in the regular season, and will win their bowl matchup to finish 11-2. But those two losses will not be both OSU and MSU. They'll beat MSU.

b. I think OlieO probly wins the B1G. The QB makes the difference.

c. Most overrated = MSU .. They were in a position to lose as many as 5 games last year. And they were exposed by Alabama. The QB that helped them get where they were is long gone. O'connor is no Connor Cook.

d. Underrated - I think Nebraska. Lots of folks are overlooking them, but they were young last year. They'll be better than expected.

e. NT Winner - I don't see how you can pick against the Tide. One top recruiting class after another, and Nick Saban coaches them. They're in the conversation for at least the next 2-3 seasons.

[Jeff Buchanan]

a. Michigan wins 10 in the regular season. They'll beat MSU. Iowa and osu are both toss ups. I don't have a lean toward 11 so, I think M will lose both of those on the road. One caveat, if things work out as predicted (no major injuries and both teams win the games they are supposed to win), M and osu will be playing for the East crown on 11/26, each with 8-1 records (M with a loss to Iowa, osu with a loss to OU. Good times return. If M beats osu, it wins the league tie breaker and moves on to the BTC, osu to a FL bowl).

Right now in every computational model I've seen, osu is favored by the slimmest of margins. We're back to the way it should be.

b. M or osu for the BT Championship over Neb or Iowa.

c. Most overrated, MSU.

d. Most underrated, Nebraska.

e. National Championship game, Vols v. Seminols or OU. Vols win it all.

f. Two most surprising teams, Tennessee (if it wins the SEC) and Michigan (if it wins the BT).

[WM Wolverine]

a. 10 wins - M's offense will be very good against bad, averages defenses but the lack of true player makers will be an issue against the few good defenses M faces. M has a fortunate schedule in some ways but it's 3 toughest games are all on the road in tough places to play. Only 5 games I see that are tough, but look how we played vs Indiana & the Gophers last season, any game is a possible loss if you just don't show up. 3-2 is most likely in those 5, though more optimistic about 4-1 than 2-3 but 3-2 is far more likely...

b. Winner of Ohio State vs Michigan. Could be either and I don't have a good feel at all on how good Ohio State is with so many young players stepping into much bigger roles but I'll be a homer and pick Michigan. OSU will have to lose another B1G game if M loses 2 other B1G games. I don't think M or OSU is that much better than the rest the B1G this season so I think both will trip up more than expected.

c. Yet another vote for Sparty as overrated, they were very fortunate to win so many close games last season and lost a lot of talent to graduation. They've been recruiting really well for Sparty so the drop won't be severe. Still, I think this is the weakest Sparty has been for some time.

d. Underrated is a toughie. I like Nebraska more than most, Iowa has a really easy schedule. I'd take the over on Penn State and most the B1G West which has closed the gap on the B1G East at least for this upcoming season. Nobody really stands out but I'd choose Iowa mostly due to their favorable schedule.

e. & f. LSU beats Clemson but I could change my mind tomorrow. FSU, Oklahoma, Bama not far behind in talent.