College Football 2015: B1G September or Bust?

[cidsports]

How strong is the Big Ten in 2015?

There is a lot of love for the B1G East with the Four coaches of the Conference, but Indiana, Maryland and Rutgers are clearly not going to give the Big Ten any Top 25 love?

How many Big Ten teams get through September without a loss?

Heck, first Thursday match ups have TCU @ Minnesota and Michigan at Utah ...

Wisconsin opened 2014 with LSU and this year it is Alabama, which should be very interesting in Arlington.

Labor Day will have Ohio State at Virginia Tech.

The Big Ten has three teams that receive a fair amount of Top 15 love: Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Clearly, OSU and MSU are the B1G 2 of the Big Ten right now.

Will Wisconsin repeat in the B1G West?

Iowa's biggest game of 2015 will be in Madison to open the Big Ten. Just like 2007!

In 2007, everyone expected Iowa to be a strong team, without Michigan and Ohio State on the schedule. Eight years later, Iowa isn't talked of much at all, despite a variable schedule again. This could be a very interesting season for Iowa.

The 2015 recruiting is gearing up, as we speak. Could this be a good season for Momentum for Iowa?

Week 2 in September: Oregon at Michigan State will keep the Big Ten in the national light.

Nebraska at Miami-FL hits Week 3, but does either program have the same attention as they did in the Rose Bowl Season during the 2001 season?

Penn State opens the Big Ten season hosting Rutgers in Week 3 of September. The Nittany Lions open Week 1 at Temple. Buffalo, San Diego State and Army are the other three early visitors in the OCC to Happy Valley.

Sorry folks, but what has James Franklin ever done, other than put Vanderbilt on the map, to suggest that the Nittany Lions will be a Top 25 program anytime soon?

7-6 at Penn State, 31-21 as a head coach. Recruiting has been good, but are they a program ready to compete with Michigan or Maryland, let alone Michigan State and Ohio State?

Purdue hosts Virginia Tech in Week 3, rather than play Notre Dame this season. They open the 2015 season at Marshall on Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Week 4 vs. Bowling Green is the MAC date this year.

IU opens with Southern Illinois, FIU, Western Kentucky, then a trip at Wake Forest.

Northwestern hosts Stanford to kick off the 2015 season, then vs. Eastern Illinois ahead of a trip at Duke, followed up by Ball State.

Illinois hosts Kent State and Western Illinois, before a road trip to Tobacco Row and a date at North Carolina. Final B1G tune-up before Big Ten play is a game vs. Middle Tennessee.

Maryland opens with Richmond, followed by Bowling Green, South Florida and a road date @ West Virginia.

Rutgers opens with Norfolk State and Washington State at Home. The Scarlet Knights opened 2014 with a solid win in Seattle over Washington State. Week 3 at Penn State, after last year's 13-10 loss. Kansas comes to High Point Stadium to close out September. The Scarlet Knights final OOC game comes the Saturday ahead of Thanksgiving at Army.

Could Minnesota be ripe for an 0-2 start in 2015, with a home opener vs. TCU, then a road date at Colorado State?

Minnesota has had a tough time in road OOC openers over the Jerry Kill era. Final two OOC games are Kent State and Ohio U out of the MAC.

Iowa gets Illinois State, at Iowa State, Pitt and North Texas ...

Nebraska opens 2015 with BYU in Lincoln. A great start to the Mike Riley era?

BYU travels to both Nebraska and Michigan in September. UNL hosts South Alabama, before the road trip to South Beach (Miami-FL). The final home OOC game is Southern Miss.

Michigan opens at Utah, then home dates with Oregon State, UNLV and BYU. Interesting Mountain play list for Coach Harbaugh in Year 1 of Ann Arbor!

Wisconsin opens in Arlington vs. Alabama for Dallas Game II. Will they be able to close in 2015 to open the new Paul Chryst era?

Miami-OH, Troy and Hawaii are the final 3 OOC dates for the Badgers, before hosting Iowa in the B1G opener.

Michigan State opens Friday night of Labor Day weekend at Western Michigan. Could this be a trap for Spartans ahead of big date at home with Oregon in Week 2?

Air Force and Central Michigan close out OOC home dates ahead of B1G home opener with Purdue.

#1 Ohio State at VA Tech on Labor Day! Then, Hawaii, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan ... light home slate!

The Big Ten have some good opportunities to earn some street creed in the OOC in 2015, but will they?

 

[ellobo]

My take on the East with an expanded look at my school (Michigan) which I'll put last:

tOSU: Not much to say here because we all know how good this team can be. IMO it really comes down to if they are buying into all the (warranted) hype or if they still are playing like they have something to prove. I actually think the inury to Miller and loss to VT early last year helped them. They started playing like they were underdogs, with a chip on their shoulder, and won the NC with a team that on paper really was a year away. If they lose that edge this could be the team people wonder "what could have been" because...

MSU: Yes it sucks for us Michigan fans that our two biggest rivals look to be peaking right now...in the same year...but at the same time only one can win the East. MSU doesn't quite have the explosiveness of tOSU but they play with that edge...they play nasty. On paper this is the best MSU team I've seen (going into the season) ever and I'm not that young. This is a team that should be able to both score quickly and slow it down depending on the situation...a dynamic O is something you don't think of when it comes to Dantonio's teams but this year the O might be able to help the D instead of mostly relying on it. Keeping the D fresh for tOSU will be key to beating them.

PSU: I'm not sure saying that the only Franklin has really done is win at Vandy is a bad thing. He won at fricken Vandy. Some may say he is a better recruiter than game day coach but he's never had an elite squad so I think the jury is still out on that one. Don't think we'll get that complete answer this year because he is still rebuilding/refilling the roster. However, it could be a fun team to watch. Hackenberg is arguably the most talented QB in the country and we shouldn't forget this is a guy that should be coming off his RS Frosh year. Yes, it seemed he regressed last year but he had a new system and was still quite young...and the bar/pressure had been raised after a very good true frosh year. They still need a few more playmakers, more depth on the lines and some guys to grow up fast but they are capable of winning a lot of games if they get the right bounces.

INDIANA: Yes Coleman is gone but they get their QB back from inury. Plus, if I'm not mistaken they are getting a half decent RB transfer coming in who I believe is eligible right away. But scoring points hasn't exactly been their issue the past few years. They have been upgrading their athleticism on D (from none to some) in recruiting lately and if they can learn to stop somebody at some point in time...like once, they could surprise some people. By surprise I mean make a bowl.

RUTGERS: There are some that say this squad will be challenged to maybe even win one game in the B10. They are starting a new QB behind what will be a patch work OL and their DBs on paper look scary bad. But people said they might be challenged to win a single B10 game last year as well and won 8 total games (3 B10) including their bowl game. They have an undersized but bery quick DL that can reak some havic. They have some athletes at LB. Caroo at WR might be the B10's best and they have some young pups at RB that have shown flashes. They are not in a place were they can compete and upset an elite squad but they only play a couple/few of those this year. But they might surprise a very good team or two...then look terrible the next week against a team more in their class.

MARYLAND: I know almost nothing about them except that they have the ugliest uniforms in the B10. I was so disgusted by my school's play against them last year that I intentionally turned off a Michigan game for the first time in my life (my better half making me turn off a game to do something with her doesn't count).

MICHIGAN: Will be the bestest, most amazing team in the entire universe ever!!! Ok, I'm not a total homer and haven't taken a bunch of acid but there is reason to be optimistic. Harbaugh will win in Ann Arbor, however when that happens is anybody's guess. Is there talent in Ann Arbor? Yes. Does Michigan have some holes (position wise) on it's team? Yes that is very true especially on O. Jimmy will try to do his crazy best to will his team to win but in the end he probably doesn't have enough thoroughbreds to win the East. What he does have is enough to win most of his games and maybe even pull off an upset along the way seeing he gets both tOSU and MSU at home (not that I would go out and bet on that happening, just saying it could happen).

The defense looks like it could be very, very good...well if they are only on the field for 30 or less minutes per game (I'll get back to this). The DL might not have that one guy that makes you go wow but they run 2 deep with guys who are very good and could start anywhere. The LB corp is similar with a lot of guys who can play even if there is not an all american in the bunch. They also have a lot of guys who bring different skill sets so deployed properly and in the right situations they could create some havoc. The DBs are kind of the opposite of the front 7. The top 5 guys are as talented as Michigan has had in a while with a potential future star in Peppers. But after the top 5 there is a big drop off so health is critical for this group. Stribling has the talent to provide depth (as a 6th guy or replacement if someone gets hurt) but needs to start showing he likes football. Don't be surprised if hear Michigan landing another 5th year DB transfer or two in the couple weeks.

But all of the above, on the D, will depend if they are not left out to dry on the field for 40 minutes a game and/or with short field after short field because of of turnovers. Last year the OL made huge strides when they went from absolutely horrific to a more platable "they aren't that bad." If they can make the jump to average with a spurts of good then Michigan is in business. The new OL coach has quite a track record of doing that and he has some talent to work with. Michigan is certainly not loaded with homerun hitters with the exception of a couple younger guys who have yet to prove anything. What they do have is the potential to grinds things out (with an unispiring but effective short and mid range passing game) and if they control the clock score enough points to win...if they master this, minimize mistakes and get great special teams play (in particular the punt game to win the field position battle) Michigan will be pretty good this year.

 

[Tulsa Tom]

Wisconsin top 15 love? Where? They lost a ton and have a new coach who has been received with a feeling of...meh.

 

[SilentCommit]

Crystal ball says: Ohio State lives up to expectations. Michigan State loses twice in the regular season, but ends up remaining the clear second best team. Nebraska, Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan exceed preseason projections. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northwestern disappoint.

 

[Bill_Callahan2.0]

Crystal ball says: Ohio State lives up to expectations. Michigan State loses twice in the regular season, but ends up remaining the clear second best team. Nebraska, Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan exceed preseason projections. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northwestern disappoint.

You read my mind bro.

Nebby 9-3

 

[sparky62]

Personally I think we win the west. There is a new atmosphere in Lincoln & I really think the kids are starting to realize what an enjoyment college ball can be.

 

[Cornicator]

Wisconsin is getting a lot of love. They are perennial top 15 in most preseason polls

They've earned respect, and their schedule will be a joke in 2015. So from that perspective, the ranking makes sense.

But I've argued for a while that Andersen recruited like shit the last 2 seasons and they lost a major nucleus of Bielesmas players after 2014.

I think the preseason respect is foolish and ignorant. They don't have a QB. They don't have the same oline they've had for years. They have Clement, but he is not Melvin Gordon. Nobody can be Gordon. He was a once in a generation type player. Wiscy has no receivers and they lost something like 100 combined starts in their front 7 on defense.

Bama is going to kill them.

 

[sparky62]

Wisconsin is getting a lot of love. They are perennial top 15 in most preseason polls

They've earned respect, and their schedule will be a joke in 2015. So from that perspective, the ranking makes sense.

But I've argued for a while that Andersen recruited like shit the last 2 seasons and they lost a major nucleus of Bielesmas players after 2014.

I think the preseason respect is foolish and ignorant. They don't have a QB. They don't have the same oline they've had for years. They have Clement, but he is not Melvin Gordon. Nobody can be Gordon. He was a once in a generation type player. Wiscy has no receivers and they lost something like 100 combined starts in their front 7 on defense.

Bama is going to kill them.

I really think that Wisky lost too much and can't reload just yet. They are getting a lot of love on reputation.

 

[cidsports]

Paul Chryst is 19-19 after 3 years at Pitt. Will the Madison native and UW alum continue to success Wisconsin has enjoyed, since Nebraska joined the Big Ten?

 

[huskerfan1414]

Wisconsin is going to have it rough early and often.

I can't wait for this season to start. Hurry up!