Big Ten football: Early conference power rankings for 2020
9. Northwestern Wildcats
The 2019 season felt like an anomaly for Northwestern under Pat Fitzgerald as they went only 3-9 after winning the Big Ten West the previous year. A big part of that is certainly the failed Hunter Johnson experiment but now Indiana transfer Peyton Ramsey should stabilize things at quarterback. How much of a difference will that make, though?
Honestly, it depends on how good the offense is with competence under center. The Wildcats defense, led by veteran linebacker Paddy Fisher, should be among the better groups in the Big Ten. So if the offense is able to even hold their own in comparison to the paltry 12.7 points per game they averaged last season, Northwestern could fight for bowl eligibility.
8. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Remember when Nebraska was one of the darlings heading into the 2019 season? That didn’t exactly turn out how fans planned for the Scott Frost-led team as they fell miles short of expectations that had them ranked in the preseason top 25. So now what for the Cornhuskers?
The good news is the Huskers have been recruiting well under Frost, which should help this team get a boost. Furthermore, Adrian Martinez returns and could take a step forward with an experienced offense around him. Nebraska will need that, however, as the defense has a ton of departures they don’t have readymade replacements for. But if the offense can start to truly take shape, maybe we could’ve been a year too early on the Cornhuskers being “back”.
7. Iowa Hawkeyes
In the simplest terms, the college football gods have not smiled upon the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2020 season. Just looking at their schedule, not only do they have to play at Ohio State and Penn State in matchups against the East but are also on the road against Minnesota. And if that weren’t enough, this team has a ton of roster turnover that could really hurt them.
The Hawkeyes will have to replace long-time quarterback Nate Stanley, likely with Spencer Petras, but he should have a solid offense around him to work with. The defense is a bigger question, though, as virtually every key player on that unit is now gone. Kirk Ferentz will have this team fiery and never rolling over but their ceiling seems incredibly limited to me.