5 Burning Questions: Big Eleven Edition

1)   Are Ohio State and Penn State the only 2 teams that can win the conference? There’s little doubt that they are the league’s most talented teams, but there are as many as 4 teams that can take a step forward if the Buckeyes or Nittany Lions were to take more than a small step back. Joe Pa’s squad has lost 13 starters from last year including its top 3 receivers and the majority of the O-Line. Ohio State must replace its top 3 playmakers on both offense and defense. Iowa has a stout defense and a seasoned QB. Michigan State is stout along the lines of scrimmage. Illinois and Minnesota could each improve dramatically if their defenses are able to even slow up the competition.

2)   Which high profile coach on the hot seat will not survive the season? I get the feeling that Ron Zook is finished. Brett Bielema and Rich Rodriguez probabably each have at least one year to turn things around. Zook’s team is fading as Juice Williams has underperformed and OC Mike Locksley has moved on to New Mexico. It’s a shame that a coach could be fired just 2 years removed from a Rose Bowl trip, but so goes life in major college football. One note, were Rodriguez to offend the boosters any more than he has he could be toast too.

3)   Can Terrelle Pryor really challenge for the Heisman this year? If Tim Tebow hadn’t done it, I probably would have said no, but Pryor’s the better athlete in a system that may actually allow him to do more, against lesser competition than Tebow faced in 2006. If Pryor lights up USC (does anyone really light up USC?) for around 300 yards passing and 70 or 80 yards rushing he’ll be the early front runner. It’s going to be an uphill battle for him to do so with Ohio State’s top 3 returning receivers totaling 27 catches on their career.

4)   Will the Big Ten’s national profile continue to fall? Until a Big Ten team win s a BCS game that matters(read BCS title game or Rose Bowl) then the conference will be seen as little brother to the SEC and Big 12. Ohio State beating USC would go a long way to improve things. That’s no easy task.

5)   How much can Michigan improve on last year’s 3-9 campaign? They’ll improve, but not enough to be mentioned with the elite teams in college football. Implementing Rodriguez version of the spread option is a process, and a long one at that. It took until year 3 to get it done at West Virginia and I’m thinking that it will be about the same at Michigan. Expect the team to finish in the top half of the league, but anything more than a winning record and a bowl win seems a little unrealistic.