Rank the Big Ten football teams in 2012
January 5th, 2012 at 7:07 PM ^
I'm looking at what they did this year having to play a schedule full of virtual unknowns (to them)... And how young Martinez still is. I'm not sure what their schedule looks like next year but I doubt it's as brutal as their B1G introduction this year.
I'm expecting a great deal of improvement from them next season. I haven't looked at who they're losing either though.
I think MSU is in for a hard fall next season.
January 5th, 2012 at 5:48 PM ^
I think people are too quickly counting OSU out. They lost a few games due to missing valuable players/not having a QB which should be fixed next season. Plus the upgrade at OC should be huge. If they passed more than 6 times a game they wouldn't have struggle quite as much. With the athletes they have, and their defense, they will probably be a 9-10 win team.
January 5th, 2012 at 6:09 PM ^
The Ohio Qb is going to be fixed? The entire team and fanbase should be fixed.
January 5th, 2012 at 5:53 PM ^
How can you have Nebraska and MSU in front of Wisconsin?? Makes no sense...
January 5th, 2012 at 6:17 PM ^
they have no quarterback?
January 5th, 2012 at 6:02 PM ^
We are in 6 team divisions now. Rankings are insignificant.
You need schedules and a breakdown of leaving players and upcoming players to break it down. There is no analysis anywhere
He should have just posted I like Michigan and will always put them #1.
I will post this as a rebuttal
1. Knight
2. Cheese
3. Engineers
4. Akron St
5. Ski Masks
6. Corn
7. Lotta Corn
8. Zookers
9. Joe Pa
10. Rodents
11. Nerds
Y U no rank Michigan?
Michigan is in a different league then these bums....ba dump bump tisss
January 5th, 2012 at 6:07 PM ^
I realize that this is a Michigan blog and that means there is always a certain maize and blue slant. I also realize that coming off a Sugar Bowl victory that the joy and optimism is almost at zenith.
That said, I'm afraid that many are setting themselves up to be dissappointed. There have been several threads in the past two days so I won't bring up all the talking points. But remember:
1. This year's team over-acheived. even if it was only one or two games, it clearly surpassed expectations.
2. Denard still has a lot of issues. He was awful in the Sugar Bowl. People like to blame Borges, but Borges didn't bounce passes to wide open backs on screens that were beautifully set up, Borges didn't almost throw 5 interceptions in 21 attempts. Maybe you could cite Borges a bit for the 13 yards rushing, but it's obvious Denard is still an average-at-best passer.
3. Molk, Martin, RVB, and Hemingway are enormous losses. People tend to underestimate how enormous. You can'y play the "State or Nebraska loses key players" card and undersell Michigan's key losses.
4. As much as we probably hate to admit it, MSU will be ok. Worthy loss hurts, yes. But even though Cousins was a three-year captain, I wouldn't be schocked if Maxwell is better, as early as next year. Fowler and Arnett will cushion the losses at WR.
5. No matter the personnell, Nebraska is going to be tough to beat at their place.
Now I hope I am just being a pessimist. I'll eat boatloads of crow if I'm wrong on all of the above. But with Bama on the schedule... Anything more than 9-3 in the regular season will be overachieving. Let's hope they do it again.
January 5th, 2012 at 6:16 PM ^
I think the reason a lot of people believe we over-acheived this year is because we've under-acheived the last 3 years. I think we finished where we should have finished. Michigan is still loaded with 4* players that just needed to be coached up to their potential.
January 5th, 2012 at 6:24 PM ^
The expectations of the program are to win the Big Ten Championship.
January 5th, 2012 at 7:54 PM ^
1. This team didn't over achieve. Past teams under achieved. As others said, this team had a ton of talent, just had vastly underachieved, especially on defense. Mattison is getting the most out of these guys, just like Dantonio has with his under the radar recruits at MSU. And we had a young defense. 3 freshman started for us at the end of the year. All 3 of these guys should see improvements into next year.
2. You're right, Denard does have issues throwing the ball. He might be an average at best paser. But an average at best passer, who is an incredible runner, with a 1,000 yard back behind him is a dangerous offense. Borges' play calling was questionable at times too. But keep in mind that this was Denard's first year in a new offense. There should be some improvement next year. Next year now that we have a bonafied # 1 all year long, the offense should open up for Denard a little more.
3. I agree, those are big loses. Obviously we won't be able to replace the production 100%. But Stonum coming back helps negate Hemingway leaving. Molk is leaving, but we have a great O-line class coming in and while they won't start right away, they can help provide depth. And while Khoury won't be Molk, give him an entire off season to practice snaps with Denard and he should do a servicable job. Most peope are assuming these 4 are replaced serviceably. If they aren't, we could have some struggles next year, but there is no reason to think they won't be.
Martin and Van Bergen worry me more. Those two were great for us. But like the O-line class, we have a good D-line class coming in to help curb the lose. And Tuesday's game encouraged me for next year. We were under-manned along the D-line, the D was on the field for way too long, but we still managed to keep a potential first round back in check, mainly because of our front 4, that included rotating in a bunch of guys like BWC, Ash, and Washington who will play next year. Roh coming on strong at the end of the year is also a plus.
4. I disagree completely here. Look at what MSU is losing. They esentially went 3 deep at WR this year. Martin, Cunningham, ad Nichols were the only WRs to play a signifcant role, and all 3 are gone. Their 4th leading reciever, Brad Sontag with a whopping 6 catches, is also gone. More importantly, he was the holder who made a ton of nice holds vs Georgia. According to the MSU official depth chart as of Dec. 7th, they have two WR spots, X and Z, and they lose their top 3 receivers at the X spot. This leaves Tony Lippet, a CB this year, as the starter. You say you think Fowler and Arnett will cushion this lose, which they might, but Fowler only had 2 catches this year. That might have been because he was injured, he only played in 2 games this year, but if he was that injured this year, you have to be worried about how he will come back next year. Arnett helps, but there's no guarantee he will be eligible to play next year, the NCAA could deny his waiver.
You say Maxwell could be better, but Cousins was a good QB this year, and in Maxwell's first year, I doubt he matches his stats with a depleted WR core, and no way he matches his leadership qualities. They also lose their top two TEs, their top lineman and only good one on a bad line in Foreman, possibly Edwin Baker to the draft, Worthy, Robinson on defense, and possibly Johnny Adams as well. Their offense will be in shambles next year, and the defense should be good, but with Worthy and Adams leaving early, and Narduzzi possibly leaving as well, much worse than originally thought. I expect a huge drop from MSU.
5. I know much less about Nebraska, but from the little I know, they lose I think 3 lineman on offense, and Crick, Dennard, and David on defense. Those are huge loses.
I expect a loss to Bama, and maybe one more just because the rest of our schedule is brutal. But I think at least 10-2 with an appeareance in the B1G champ game should be the expectations, and once we get into it, the expectation to win the championship as well.
January 5th, 2012 at 9:20 PM ^
We just disagree a bit. I hope you are more right than I am.
Go Blue!
January 5th, 2012 at 6:11 PM ^
When you really think about it, they lost 6 of their 7 games by a single score and the one they got blown out in was the Joe Bauserman Horror Show.
They return a lot of guys from a pretty good defense and the fact that Braxton Miller has all the tools of an Urban Meyer QB makes me think they'll be near the top.
MSU returns 9 guys on a very good defense. While they lose most of their passing game, the running game should be improved as they'll have more depth on the line. However, we should be able to beat them next year. If we don't, ugh.
The top three teams will be:
Michigan, MSU and Ohio.
followed by
Wisconsin, Nebraska and....Illinois? Penn State? Honestly, who has a clue how these two will turn out.
then
Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana and Minnesota.
January 5th, 2012 at 6:13 PM ^
1. Michigan
....
(Indistinct muttering)
...
12. Indiana
January 5th, 2012 at 6:19 PM ^
January 6th, 2012 at 2:12 AM ^
Stonum. I think he would have been our top receiver this year had he not had troubles. we lose Hemingway but get Stonum back. He'll definitely add to the vertical threats next season. Hopefully will he back on kick returns as well. Miss those nasty returns a la ND two years ago.
January 5th, 2012 at 6:32 PM ^
1. Michigan (homer, but not out of the question if defense performs close to what it did this year...not a small task)
2. OSU (have no idea of system change will shock them out of this spot, but too much talent to put any lower)
3. Nebraska (big win against Wisco will propel them near the top, but they will share some losses in their division)
4. Wisconsin (love Ball, but they lose in Lincoln)
5. MSU (no Cousins, no Worthy, maybe no Narduzzi...might be bigger drop)
6. Northwestern (biggest surprise)
7. Iowa (this team should suck, but they never do)
8. Penn State (biggest drop)
9. Purdue (Hope floats nowhere)
10. Illinois (new coach/system drops them to bottom)
11. Minnesota (Kill inspires them to a second to last place finish)
12. Indiana (Without Gunner, they get this spot)
January 5th, 2012 at 6:32 PM ^
1 Michigan
2 Wisconsin
3 Nebraska
4 Ohio State
5 Michigan State
6 Penn State
7 Iowa
8 Northwestern
9 Illinois
10 Purdue
11 Minnesota
12Indiana
Yay uninformed guessing!
January 5th, 2012 at 6:36 PM ^
Surprisingly, everyone here is certain Michigan will come out at number-one.
January 5th, 2012 at 6:56 PM ^
Wisc loses their OC and a couple good coaches..I'd rank them lower.
January 5th, 2012 at 7:07 PM ^
1. Michigan
2. MSU
3. Ohio State
4. Nebraska
5. Wisconsin
6. Iowa
7. Penn State
8. Northwestern
9. Purdue
10. Illinois
11. Minnesota
12. Indiana
8,9 and 10 are interchangeable, as are 11 and 12.
January 5th, 2012 at 7:24 PM ^
East:
Wisconsin
Greater Columbus Community College
Illinois
Penn State
Purdue
Indiana
West:
Nebraska :(
Michigan
Lil Bro
Iowa
Northwestern
Minnesota
About the Nebraska thing: I think they underperformed this year and expect them to be better next year, especially with another year of improvement in the passing department for Taylor Martinez. I could see them running the table in B1G play. Hope I'm wrong.
January 5th, 2012 at 7:44 PM ^
Michigan # 1 Michigan # 1 Michigan # 1....I don't care about the rest ....
January 5th, 2012 at 8:09 PM ^
1. Minnesota. Jerry Kill sells his soul to the Devil for five good years of football, and Minnesota starts playing lights-out. They are a Gopher buzzsaw. People cannot believe it. Are they in our division? Oh, I see they are. Well, they win.
2. (tie) Indiana and Illinois. With OSU out of the title game picture, Delaney believes that these two teams deserve their day in the sun. They are given a special B1G and NCAA waiver to merge their football season, and field 22 players in all their games. With 22 players on the field, they manage to beat everyone in their division except Ohio State, which, let's face it, is led by Urban, who needs no last name, and can never be beaten because the gods so will it.
3. Michigan State. Not to be outdone by Kill, Dantonio sells his soul to Zoroaster. He gets to beat Michigan one last time.
4. Nebraska. Pelini, desperate for wins, threatens his players with having to deal with his personality for the rest of their lives. They are terrified, and play well in most games.
5. Michigan. It's an off-year. Michigan is clobbered by Alabama 85-2. They lose heart. At Notre Dame, Kelly's blood pressure rises so high when he turns purple over a Denard run that he explodes all over the field. Seeing this, Hoke throws up and starts to enjoy the good things in life. Losing interest in the team, he cuts the soles off his shoes and becomes a hippie in Ann Arbor. Mattison and Borges do what they can to take over, but without the gold poop, the team loses a few close games, including Nebraska and MSU.
6-12. Who cares?
January 5th, 2012 at 8:38 PM ^
Lakes: (This division is a joke.... Thanks Delaney, you F-er)
1. Ohio 2. Wisky 3. Purdon't 4. Penn State 5. Indiana 6. Illini
Plains:
1. Neb 2. UM 3. Pat Fitzgerald 4. Sparty 5. Iowa 6. Minny
(we lose to 'Bama, NE and at Ohio... Our d-line will be non-existent)
January 6th, 2012 at 10:56 AM ^
Purdon't is so mean.
January 5th, 2012 at 8:42 PM ^
What's Michigan's OL look like next year? You lose Molk, correct? Who's his replacement?
January 5th, 2012 at 9:35 PM ^
Rocko Khoury replaces Molk. He's going to be a RS senior so he's experienced. He should be a solid starter, he's a 3 star recruit from Michigan.
Every other starter on the O-line returns except for the RT Mark Huyge, but his replacement next year Micahel Schofield played a lot this year as our 6th lineman and did a fine job.
January 5th, 2012 at 9:03 PM ^
January 5th, 2012 at 9:04 PM ^
I would drop MSU to 4 or 5 because of the rumors of Pat Narduzzi leaving little bro for college station. Here is the source: http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/05/pat-narduzzi-to-tex…
January 5th, 2012 at 9:40 PM ^
1. Wisky
2. M (We win the Championship Game)
3. Neb
4. MSU
5. Iowa
6. PSU
7. ohio
8. Purdue
9. Illinois
10. NWU
11. Indiana
12. Minny
January 8th, 2012 at 6:37 AM ^
I'm an OSU fan so I suppose I'm not an impartial observer, but . . .
Sparty beat you guys, split with Wisconsin, and was generally the most fun B1G team this year. They're rightfully the conference's best team. It was a travesty that Michigan got into the Sugar Bowl in the first place (and a bigger one that your opponent was VaTech and not Boise). Sparty was ultimately punished for losing a close one in the championship game because of a roughing the punter penalty, playing against a team Michigan never faced.
Now that I've offended you, my rankings:
1. MSU
2a. Michigan
2b. Wisconsin
.
.
.
12. Everyone else. Especially Ohio State. I've never sworn more at my television than in the fall of 2011. The rest of the Big Ten teams were all capable of being positively terrible on any given day, even if some could occasionally pull a big win out of a hat.
Big Ten bowl wins were over Western Michigan, UCLA, VaTech and Georgia. Not exactly world beaters. I'm happy that Michigan won the Sugar Bowl. I'm not happy that the game was played in a not-nearly-full stadium and I'm not surprised that an ACC team lost a BCS bowl. It's not exactly a big prestige win for the conference. There is a real sad state of affairs in the B1G right now, although there is hope for improvement with a resurgent Michigan, hopefully a rebuilt Ohio State in a couple years, Sparty playing better than average, Wisconsin usually solid and Nebraska no longer quarterbacked by Taylor Martinez. I think we'll improve.