Families all around the nation are getting back from their vacations. The youngins are back to school where they belong learning and stuff. With those pesky little kids out the door, Mommy and/or Daddy can now start the time-honored tradition of day drinking just enough so it doesn’t limit their ability to go pick up the kids.
If a team is going to win the Big Ten, they better have a schedule conducive to doing so. Too many road games against top-level opponents, and you can kiss your trophy-hoisting dreams goodbye. That’s why I’ve always included the schedule when I do my Big Ten ratings. It is given equal weight with every other position rating…
In football, special teams can be a forgotten edge when trying to figure out who the best teams are. It is rare that a team can avoid having a game decided by either a punt or a field goal. Team A may be leading by one score late in the game and have to punt to Team B from deep in their own territory. An outstanding punt…
It’s been almost two weeks since I last did a Big Ten position ratings, but we’re going to have to power through over these next five days so that I can let you know what’s going to happen in the B1G before game week really gets underway. When I last left you, we rated the Big Ten’s linebackers, which now takes us to the…
As expected, the Ohio State Buckeyes opened at No. 2 in the initial Amway Coaches Poll of 2017 on Thursday. They were one notch below Alabama, who earned the top spot for the second year in a row. The Buckeyes were one of four teams that earned first-place votes. Joining Ohio State in the Top 10 were fellow Big Ten…
You can’t win the Big Ten without a talented defensive line, so take note of the teams at the top of these two divisional rankings. Only three defensive linemen from any of the three 2016 All-Big Ten football teams return from last year, and only Ohio State defensive end Tyquan Lewis made the first team. The other two…
When Urban Meyer was hired by Ohio State in late 2011, the Big Ten was at a low point in terms of national reputation. The conference was an annual whipping boy on ESPN and sports talk radio. B1G punchlines stretched as far as the ear could hear. And there was plenty of truth to what was being said. While the talk…
In terms of the number of starting offensive linemen returning from last season, only four Big Ten teams rank in the top 59 nationally. Every team returns of a number of players with starting experience, though only one member of last year’s First-Team All-B1G offense is back. This is always going to be an unheralded group…
For any college football program to be successful, the best in-state recruits generally need to stay in state. Not every state produces the same amount of talent, so the in-state pool isn’t always that deep, but it is still important to keep other states’ programs out of your pool. How are the Big Ten schools doing as lifeguards?
There have been six Big Ten Conference Championship Games since the B1G joined the conference championship party back in 2011. In that time, however, only six teams have participated. Wisconsin has played in the game four times, Michigan State three, Ohio State twice, and Penn State, Nebraska, and Iowa once each.
It has been several weeks or maybe just two weeks or maybe even a month since I last completed a mailbag. I don’t know how long it’s been, I just know that it’s been long enough that I don’t feel guilty at all about asking for submissions. Generally, sportswriters request submissions because they have nothing to write about.
