Connelly’s Big Ten storylines

[Pompous Elitist]

Numerous juicy storylines but here are a few

(SP+ preseason Top 25 has OSU 1, PSU 6, WI 7, MN 17, MI 18, IA 22, UN 25 - fire away, and incidentally IN 26 — great to see. Their bowl game last year versus TN was pure entertainment)



... This announcement means my 2020 preview series, which began in February, will somehow continue well into October with Big Ten previews in a few weeks. We'll save the deep dives until then, but here are some of the more interesting on-field storylines I'm looking forward to talking about with this conference back in action.

• Penn State's new offense: Remember when one of the main storylines in the national title race was Penn State's hire of offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca and whether he could help the Nittany Lions make up ground on Ohio State? Well the issue might be on defense now, with the Nittany Lions losing star linebacker Micah Parsons to an opt-out. PSU's offensive improvement takes on even more importance now.
• Another uncertain West division race: My SP+ rankings like Wisconsin quite a bit. It's possible the Badgers will replace Jonathan Taylor with relative ease (they certainly have plenty of practice in replacing star RBs with other star RBs) and, with the best defense in the division, roll to the title. But it's not easy to assume that, especially with Minnesota still dangerous (despite losing star WR Rashod Bateman), Nebraska boasting all the experience it didn't have last year, Iowa returning a very Iowa core, etc. This one could be up in the air into not only late-November but mid-December this time.
• Michigan's new quarterback: With junior Dylan McCaffreyevidently entering the transfer portal, it appears the job is officially Joe Milton's. The sophomore has played briefly over two years, providing reasons to be optimistic, mostly. He has gone 6-for-11 for 117 yards (19.5 yards per completion) and a touchdown, and, not including one sack, he has rushed 11 times for 56 yards and a touchdown. But Milton has also thrown two picks -- a nearly 20% completion rate to the other team. He has a cannon arm and good speed, and he's evidently the future, ready or not.
• Northwestern's new identity: A millennium ago in early April, I wrote about how Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald made maybe the most interesting assistant hire of the offseason, bringing in Mike Bajakian, with his heft-and-tempo attack, from Boston College. We might actually get to see what that looks like next month.
• Nebraska's latest attempt at relevance: Also in April, I wrote about how, along with former Big 12 mate Texas, Nebraska might have the depth and experience necessary to live up to some of last year's hype this fall. The Huskers have since lost receiver JD Spielman to transfer, and they still have to figure out how to defend the run infinitely better than they did last year. But they've gone from dreadfully overrated to slightly underrated, and I'm curious what they're capable of.
• Rutgers' free-agent binge: It's not a given, but the odds are good the NCAA will eventually get back around to eliminating waiver requirements and allowing first-time transfers to go to a new school without having to sit out a season. That might not change day-to-day operations all that much for some schools, but it's going to change things significantly for coaches inheriting major rebuilding projects. You know, like Rutgers' Greg Schiano. The current and former Scarlet Knights head coach didn't even wait for the rule change. He hit the transfer market hard, adding by my count 11 players from other four-year schools, 10 from power conferences. This will likely become a far more common approach, especially if it speeds up Rutgers' rebuilding timeline a bit.

Big Ten's PR approach deserves scrutiny, but on-field storylines are rich

In case you haven't heard, the Big Ten is returning. Here are the early storylines worth watching.

www.espn.com

 

[GoldenRodents]

Hope he's wrong about Bateman.

 

[MplsGopher]

Nebraska boasting all the experience it didn't have last year

All that experience losing games and realizing your program stinks, does a body good!