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The new Big 10 power rankings

I don't know about that. Teams like Washington and Oregon looked as physical as any Big 10 team. Just because some of those teams believe in having team speed doesn't mean they aren't physical.
Washington won’t look like they did last year and it’s not going to be even close on either side of the ball.
Either way NU isn’t playing either one in the regular season.

UCLA had similar defense like we had which was pretty stout, USC was brutal which we know..

I do expect all 4 new teams will have adjust playing on the road with weather that isn’t always what they’ve been a custom too..
 
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Oregon beat ohiost in Columbus a couple years ago

Not too many B1G teams can say that
I think the OSU-Oregon game will tell us a lot. OSU's recruiting is always top 5 but now they have those insane Portal additions over the offseason. Many of their following think that this is the most talented OSU squad in quite a long time.
 
Oregon beat ohiost in Columbus a couple years ago

Not too many B1G teams can say that
Both are top 5 in several preseason rankings. In fact, I've recently seen OSU #1 in a poll or two after those Portal gets. Gonna be a blockbuster early in the year. The TV ratings could go through the roof
 
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I think the OSU-Oregon game will tell us a lot. OSU's recruiting is always top 5 but now they have those insane Portal additions over the offseason. Many of their following think that this is the most talented OSU squad in quite a long time.
Ryan day is the only thing holding ohiost back

Maybe now that his dad went to the nfl he’ll be better
 
Ryan day is the only thing holding ohiost back

Maybe now that his dad went to the nfl he’ll be better
Sure starting to look that way. He better have a HUGE season or they might have a lynching party in Downtown Columbus after the season is over. God, their talent is off the charts
 
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Washington won’t look like they did last year and it’s not going to be even close on either side of the ball.
Either way NU isn’t playing either one in the regular season.

UCLA had similar defense like we had which was pretty stout, USC was brutal which we know..

I do expect all 4 new teams will have adjust playing on the road with weather that isn’t always what they’ve been a custom too..
Agreed. I was just pointing out that the narrative that the Pac 12 is soft isn't necessarily true. In fact, I would love to have a bunch Pacific Islander's like those Pac 12 teams have.
 
Come on, at least know my name…. But Purdue won’t be last. Tough schedule, but won’t be last. Team looks bigger, faster, stronger, and better. I’d go 14 personally.
When I see your name, I think, Boiler for Nebraska, just like that southwest Iowa guy who has a crush on us.
 
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I think the "weather" part is way overblown. First, most of these teams have guys from all over the place. Secondly, Pac 12 weather is not always 75 and sunny.

I suppose there might be a game here or there that is really cold but that is about it.
 
I think the "weather" part is way overblown. First, most of these teams have guys from all over the place. Secondly, Pac 12 weather is not always 75 and sunny.
Yea, Colorado and Utah and at at times Pullman Wash. are more likely to be closer to weather conditions in November..

ASU, Arizona, USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford play in 75 or warmer and Seattle may have more rainy but average temp is in the 50’s for their games, so the majority of the conference doesn’t play football in the 30’s..
 
Weather can neutralize teams to a certain extent. Kids that practice in weather in the sixties and seventies can't simulate cold weather and it does slow them down a bit. Even Matt Rhule said he was happy about the playoff expanding so warm weather schools will have to play in cold weather in some instances.
 
I think the "weather" part is way overblown. First, most of these teams have guys from all over the place. Secondly, Pac 12 weather is not always 75 and sunny.

I suppose there might be a game here or there that is really cold but that is about it.
Agree. I might have it wrote down somewhere still, but I looked up our weather for the last few seasons. Way overblown. Some people confuse the Big 10 with NFL playoff games. You get a couple colder games a year. For the most part it's either hot or just a nice fall day.

Minneapolis is considered the coldest place in the Big 10. Look at their fall weather last year. 8 Saturdays in October/November. 5 at 50 degrees or above for highs. A 40 and 2 about 30.
 
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Agree. I might have it wrote down somewhere still, but I looked up our weather for the last few seasons. Way overblown. Some people confuse the Big 10 with NFL playoff games. You get a couple colder games a year. For the most part it's either hot or just a nice fall day.

Minneapolis is considered the coldest place in the Big 10. Look at their fall weather last year. 8 Saturdays in October/November. 5 at 50 degrees or above for highs. A 40 and 2 about 30.
I think even Husker fans think every Husker home game after September is 0 degrees with freezing rain.
 
Agree. I might have it wrote down somewhere still, but I looked up our weather for the last few seasons. Way overblown. Some people confuse the Big 10 with NFL playoff games. You get a couple colder games a year. For the most part it's either hot or just a nice fall day.

Minneapolis is considered the coldest place in the Big 10. Look at their fall weather last year. 8 Saturdays in October/November. 5 at 50 degrees or above for highs. A 40 and 2 about 30.
True, but most people from LA think 30-50 degrees is freezing and act like it's Antartica.:eek:
 
Agree. I might have it wrote down somewhere still, but I looked up our weather for the last few seasons. Way overblown. Some people confuse the Big 10 with NFL playoff games. You get a couple colder games a year. For the most part it's either hot or just a nice fall day.

Minneapolis is considered the coldest place in the Big 10. Look at their fall weather last year. 8 Saturdays in October/November. 5 at 50 degrees or above for highs. A 40 and 2 about 30.
You make a good point, but using Minnesota from 2023 isn’t a regular occurrence. Going to games here the last 3 years, there were a fair number of colder games than what last year presented.

Edit: that said, I can only think of 2 or 3 where I thought the weather was really uncomfortably cold and nasty.
 
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Has USC decided to play defense? If they haven’t addressed those massive issues, there’s no way they win more than 7-8 games

Probably pretty close given their schedule, But, even with that defense, or lack thereof, they still beat every team in the B1G not named Michigan or Ohio State last year. Most of pretty handily.
 
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Probably pretty close given their schedule, But, even with that defense, or lack thereof, they still beat every team in the B1G not named Michigan or Ohio State last year. Most of pretty handily.
Ummmm… help me out here. Who did USC play last year from the B1G?
 
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I’m excited to see how the west coast teams will make the transition. I would not be shocked to see some serious stumbling by all next year.
 
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True, but most people from LA think 30-50 degrees is freezing and act like it's Antartica.:eek:
It confuses them. True story, I saw a young woman in Orange county in a parka and shorts. It wasn't cold just not their normal warm.
 
I thought Iowa seemed high, then i looked at their schedule. They have a knack for always being dealt the easiest possible schedule in the B1G.

I could see Rutgers opening 4-0, they might be a sneaky tough team when they come to Lincoln.

Maryland and Northwestern should be swapped. I look for Maryland to be the perennial conference doormat
Iowa is a real question here. How much better their offense will be if.......and if........Kirk lets the new guy open up the play book. We know they will have a stout defense. They return a lot of starters. One thing I think is important is that in spite of how good Iowa's defensive ranking was last year. Like Nebraska, they played some pretty weak offensive teams.
 
Washington won’t look like they did last year and it’s not going to be even close on either side of the ball.
Either way NU isn’t playing either one in the regular season.

UCLA had similar defense like we had which was pretty stout, USC was brutal which we know..

I do expect all 4 new teams will have adjust playing on the road with weather that isn’t always what they’ve been a custom too..
Kind of interesting looking at the schedule. Week 11 only one pac team is on the road to a B1G team. Week 12 is the same. Only 1 former pac team traveling to a B1G opponent. In week 13 and 14 there are no games scheduled between B1G and former pac teams. So in short, they won't have weather factoring them this year.
 
Iowa is a real question here. How much better their offense will be if.......and if........Kirk lets the new guy open up the play book. We know they will have a stout defense. They return a lot of starters. One thing I think is important is that in spite of how good Iowa's defensive ranking was last year. Like Nebraska, they played some pretty weak offensive teams.
I don’t think it’s possible for them to have a worse offense then they had last year, and it looks like they return the entire defense for the most part less the one draft pick guy. They’ll probably be pretty good especially if their offense can do something.
 
Iowa is a real question here. How much better their offense will be if.......and if........Kirk lets the new guy open up the play book. We know they will have a stout defense. They return a lot of starters. One thing I think is important is that in spite of how good Iowa's defensive ranking was last year. Like Nebraska, they played some pretty weak offensive teams.
Luckily it sounds like Kirk is spending more time with the OL and it’s gonna be Lester’s show. Still working on a WR and a QB in the portal. Anyone will be better than Deacon freaking Hill.

If OSU doesn’t win it all this year, Day might be gone. They are stacked.

Washington’s O/U is 7.5. No way they are close to going over.

USC is a question mark, but I know they aren’t serious contenders.

Will Rutgers take another step under Schiano?

James Franklin gonna continue to suck in big games?
 
7.

Nebraska
We've reached the portion of these rankings where you can toss these teams into a lottery ball machine, pick a random order and nearly all would be defensible. I'm putting Nebraska at the top not because it's an annual tradition to get Husker fans' hopes up, but because the addition of Dylan Raiola gives this offense a ceiling I'm not sure anybody else in this group has. A lot will have to go right for that to be the case. True freshman QBs typically don't come out guns blazing, but if Raiola lives up to his potential, this team may surprise. At a minimum, it should finally get back to a bowl game.

8.
Iowa
Most years, I look at Iowa questioning nearly everything about the roster and offensive philosophy before deciding it doesn't matter because the Hawkeyes will figure out a way to win at least eight games anyway. Ironically, I'm not nearly as confident now that Iowa has replaced offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz with Tim Lester. This is not because of Lester, rather it's because last year's third-string quarterback, Marco Lainez, is the only healthy quarterback on the roster right now. There's hope Iowa can land a transfer soon, but for the most part, the QBs remaining in the portal come May are there for a reason. Oh, and superstar punter extraordinaire Tory Taylor is gone.
 
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7.

Nebraska
We've reached the portion of these rankings where you can toss these teams into a lottery ball machine, pick a random order and nearly all would be defensible. I'm putting Nebraska at the top not because it's an annual tradition to get Husker fans' hopes up, but because the addition of Dylan Raiola gives this offense a ceiling I'm not sure anybody else in this group has. A lot will have to go right for that to be the case. True freshman QBs typically don't come out guns blazing, but if Raiola lives up to his potential, this team may surprise. At a minimum, it should finally get back to a bowl game.

8.
Iowa
Most years, I look at Iowa questioning nearly everything about the roster and offensive philosophy before deciding it doesn't matter because the Hawkeyes will figure out a way to win at least eight games anyway. Ironically, I'm not nearly as confident now that Iowa has replaced offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz with Tim Lester. This is not because of Lester, rather it's because last year's third-string quarterback, Marco Lainez, is the only healthy quarterback on the roster right now. There's hope Iowa can land a transfer soon, but for the most part, the QBs remaining in the portal come May are there for a reason. Oh, and superstar punter extraordinaire Tory Taylor is gone.
Lainez looks to be the starter since he went through spring drills and McNamara is Questionable to start the season and he looks to be less mobile than he was last season..

Lester has to be a upgrade because it couldn’t get any worse than last year offense..

I find it hard to believe that Washington with all they lost from a national title game that they would be that high but will see.

UCLA will be better than 16th in the new B1G they finished 8-5 last year just like NW and Maryland did.
 
Lainez looks to be the starter since he went through spring drills and McNamara is Questionable to start the season and he looks to be less mobile than he was last season..

Lester has to be a upgrade because it couldn’t get any worse than last year offense..

I find it hard to believe that Washington with all they lost from a national title game that they would be that high but will see.

UCLA will be better than 16th in the new B1G they finished 8-5 last year just like NW and Maryland did.
UCLA lost a lot as well. I’m not really sold on them yet. Washington and USC will be probably 6-8 win teams? Oregon will be tough.
 
Luckily it sounds like Kirk is spending more time with the OL and it’s gonna be Lester’s show. Still working on a WR and a QB in the portal. Anyone will be better than Deacon freaking Hill.

If OSU doesn’t win it all this year, Day might be gone. They are stacked.

Washington’s O/U is 7.5. No way they are close to going over.

USC is a question mark, but I know they aren’t serious contenders.

Will Rutgers take another step under Schiano?

James Franklin gonna continue to suck in big games?
Agree on Franklin. Guy underperforms like mad with the talent he gets.
 
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We should be at #5

USC has talent but they play like sissies and their coach is overrated
 
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Lainez looks to be the starter since he went through spring drills and McNamara is Questionable to start the season and he looks to be less mobile than he was last season..

Lester has to be a upgrade because it couldn’t get any worse than last year offense..

I find it hard to believe that Washington with all they lost from a national title game that they would be that high but will see.

UCLA will be better than 16th in the new B1G they finished 8-5 last year just like NW and Maryland did.
McNamara should be back to full strength (for him) by the end of June. They just grabbed Sullivan from NW also so not as bare as it once was.

A concern for sure, but between those three, there should be something they can use.
 
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