Big Ten football 2020: 5 bold predictions – Can Ohio State win National Championship?

Five bold Big Ten football predictions for the 2020 college season, including whether Ohio State can win it all and if Justin Fields can win the Heisman.

The return of Big Ten football will be most glorious, as college football becomes even better.

While it has been great to see the ACC, Big 12 and SEC, as well as a few Group of 5 conferences entertain us the last seven weeks, it’s not really a college football Saturday unless the Big Ten is playing games. Something was missing and that something will return in full force come Friday night and on Saturday morning. Here are some bold predictions for the upcoming Big Ten season.

5 bold predictions for the 2020 Big Ten football season

5. Michigan State finishes below .500 in Mel Tucker’s first year in East Lansing

Eventually, Michigan State Spartans head coach Mel Tucker will get it right in East Lansing. Though he will get the benefit of the doubt this year for a myriad of reasons, including replacing Mark Dantonio so late in the offseason cycle, their three biggest in-division rivals being strong and the whole global pandemic, this will not be a year where Michigan State finishes with a winning record.

Had the Spartans played a typical 12-game schedule with three out-of-conference dates, Michigan State would finish somewhere around 6-6, maybe 7-5 if they pulled off an upset. However, going conference-only negatively impacts the Spartans’ chances to finish 5-4 or better considerably. It really comes down to how they play vs. their three Big Ten West opponents.

Tucker’s Spartans will beat the Indiana Hoosiers, the Maryland Terrapins and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in divisional play, while losing to the Michigan Wolverines, the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions. A road date at the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City is a loss and unfortunately, it will be a home loss to Pat Fitzgerald’s Northwestern Wildcats as well.

So Michigan State will finish 3-5 in its first eight games of the season and play the fourth-place game at Iowa once again. While Tucker’s team will give a better effort the second time around, coaching continuity will end up serving Iowa and Northwestern this year in Tucker’s first season at Michigan State. 3-6 won’t look pretty, but the foundation for a better 2021 will be firmly set.