BleedGopher
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Per Mandel:
Who could be considered sleeper Big Ten title favorites? (Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, etc.) — Sarah K.
It might be time to recalibrate expectations when it comes to conference titles. With 18 teams and no divisions, I don’t know that any former West division team will be capable of unseating Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State/Oregon. Still, the Big Ten could certainly produce a sleeper Playoff team, just as it did last season in Indiana.
Start with Illinois, which is coming off a surprise 10-win season and has 18 starters returning, an extreme outlier in the era of little continuity. And that was before adding three former Wisconsin defensive starters: Curt Neal and James Thompson Jr., both D-linemen, and linebacker Leon Lowery Jr. Plus, the Illini play a seemingly manageable schedule, with Ohio State and Indiana the only ranked teams from last season.
Washington also intrigues me. Jedd Fisch managed to field a bowl team in Year 1 despite the Huskies losing nearly every key player from their 2023 run to the national title game. Dynamic quarterback Desmond Williams Jr. takes over full-time after shining at the end of last season, and he gets a new target in Penn State transfer wide receiver Omari Evans. Star running back Jonah Coleman and established receiver Denzel Boston are back, too. Admittedly, the defense lost a ton of production and will rely heavily on transfers.
And finally … I wouldn’t assume Indiana immediately falls back into the pack. Yes, Curt Cignetti lost a lot of production from last year’s 11-win team, most notably QB Kurtis Rourke, but the guy has quite a track record of reloading at his previous stops. Cal transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza has a lot of experience and may finally get some pass protection, what with IU bringing in ex-Notre Dame center Pat Coogan and Ohio State tackle Zen Michalski. The main issue, of course, is that the Hoosiers may have to face more opponents with a pulse this year.
www.nytimes.com
Go Gophers!!
Who could be considered sleeper Big Ten title favorites? (Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, etc.) — Sarah K.
It might be time to recalibrate expectations when it comes to conference titles. With 18 teams and no divisions, I don’t know that any former West division team will be capable of unseating Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State/Oregon. Still, the Big Ten could certainly produce a sleeper Playoff team, just as it did last season in Indiana.
Start with Illinois, which is coming off a surprise 10-win season and has 18 starters returning, an extreme outlier in the era of little continuity. And that was before adding three former Wisconsin defensive starters: Curt Neal and James Thompson Jr., both D-linemen, and linebacker Leon Lowery Jr. Plus, the Illini play a seemingly manageable schedule, with Ohio State and Indiana the only ranked teams from last season.
Washington also intrigues me. Jedd Fisch managed to field a bowl team in Year 1 despite the Huskies losing nearly every key player from their 2023 run to the national title game. Dynamic quarterback Desmond Williams Jr. takes over full-time after shining at the end of last season, and he gets a new target in Penn State transfer wide receiver Omari Evans. Star running back Jonah Coleman and established receiver Denzel Boston are back, too. Admittedly, the defense lost a ton of production and will rely heavily on transfers.
And finally … I wouldn’t assume Indiana immediately falls back into the pack. Yes, Curt Cignetti lost a lot of production from last year’s 11-win team, most notably QB Kurtis Rourke, but the guy has quite a track record of reloading at his previous stops. Cal transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza has a lot of experience and may finally get some pass protection, what with IU bringing in ex-Notre Dame center Pat Coogan and Ohio State tackle Zen Michalski. The main issue, of course, is that the Hoosiers may have to face more opponents with a pulse this year.
Mandel’s Mailbag: Could the NCAA’s House settlement kill some sports?
Entire programs going away seems fatalistic, but not everyone will be able to afford this new model.
www.nytimes.com
Go Gophers!!
