Preseason Big Ten power rankings: Does Ohio State have any competition?
The Big Ten and the rest of the college football world hope to get back to normal in 2021. There’s just a question about what kind of normalcy returns.
Ohio State has won the Big Ten Championship four years running. Wisconsin wants to shake things up. So do Penn State, Iowa and Michigan.
Will the 2021 season proceed as expected? Or will someone have what it takes to knock the Buckeyes off their perch?
Preseason Big Ten power rankings
Pick Analysis. Big Ten. West. 14. 807. Scouting Report. Illinois Fighting Illini. player
New head coach Brett Bielema has to get the Illini moving in the right direction, but it will take some time. After posting a 2-6 record in 2020, don’t expect Illinois to start a revolution. Getting back quarterback Brandon Peters and running back Chase Brown will help, but this was still the second-worst scoring offense in the conference last season. It wasn’t much better on defense, where they gave up 34.9 points per game
Rutgers has a ton of returning starters, so maybe Greg Schiano can continue to wring improvement out of his squad. The defense doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence. The good news is the offense that took a real step forward last year returns just about everyone, including multiple options at quarterback.
East. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 805. Big Ten. Michigan State Spartans. 12. player
Mel Tucker did stellar work at Colorado, so you’d expect the defense at least to get better in Year 2. Giving up 35.1 points per game shouldn’t happen again. Expecting vast improvement on the offensive end is a tougher sell. Transfer quarterback Anthony Russo could make things interesting.
Pick Analysis. West. 11. player. Scouting Report. Big Ten. Purdue Boilermakers. 848
Purdue is starting from scratch on defense with an entirely new staff. They’ll want to see improvement, but it’s not guaranteed from the outset. On offense, it all comes down to the battle between Jack Plummer, Aidan O’Connell, UCLA transfer Austin Burton and freshman Michael Alaimo. The result of that competition will change the complexion of the season with room to leap over many of the teams ahead.
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Big Ten. East. Maryland Terrapins. 10. 824. player
The continued development of Taulia Tagovailoa should do wonders for the Terrapins offense in 2021. They just need him to be far less feast-or-famine as a junior. The defense took a nice step forward, though they have to replace five starters, including leading tackler Chance Campell.
Big Ten. West. Nebraska Cornhuskers. 9. player. 810. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis
Adrian Martinez is back for what feels like his 10th season but is really his fourth. Having a veteran quarterback coming off one of his best years is a major plus. After giving up nearly 30 points per game last year, the Cornhuskers get another shot to improve with nine returning starters.
West. Minnesota Golden Gophers. 8. 852. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Big Ten. player
Minnesota and quarterback Tanner Morgan took a step back in 2020. It’s up to P.J. Fleck to prove that was just a blip and not a cause for major concern. Losing Rashad Bateman hurts, but bringing back running back Mohamed Ibrahim and receiver Chris Autumn-Bell should steady the ship. Defensively, it shouldn’t get worse than last season, especially with Clemson transfer Nyles Pickney on board.