By: Scott Miller (The Daily Iowan) —
CHICAGO – Members of the media endured typical Chicago traffic, ridiculous parking rates, and $10 cab rides to hear the Big Ten announce what they already suspected: Ohio State – the winner of the last three Big Ten crowns – was named the overwhelming conference favorite, followed by Wisconsin and Illinois.

The Buckeyes come off the heels of an 11-2 (7-1) season loaded with a roster that returns 20 starters including the Big Ten preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in junior running back Chris “Beanie” Wells and senior linebacker James Laurinaitis.

“Think about what [these guys] have been through,” said Kirk Herbstreit, an ESPN and ABC college football analyst and former Ohio State quarterback. “All these wins, all these Big Ten championships, all these BCS bowl games, and they looked at it and almost laughed at it, mocked it. … I think they feel like there’s unfinished business. I think they’re embarrassed, collectively.

“Imagine … you’d be like, ‘Let’s go one more [year].’ That’s how I would be. I could see passing on all that money for a lifetime of memories just to say, ‘Let’s go one more.’ ”

Perhaps overshadowed by the return of such All-American players as Laurinaitis and cornerback Malcom Jenkins, quarterback Todd Boeckman comes back to Columbus with another year under his belt, as well.

“Well, Todd now has a body of work that he can evaluate, and he has some experiences that he now has seen,” Tressel said. “There’s no price tag on experience, and he can now evaluate things from a whole different perspective.”

Unlike Tressel’s squad, Wisconsin, which was picked to finish second in the conference, lost its quarterback Tyler Donovan to graduation, leaving senior Allan Evridge and junior Dustin Sheer to compete for the position.

“[Evridge] backed up Tyler a year ago, so the one advantage with Allan is he’s been [in the] huddle, he’s made calls, made adjustments, been hit very hard,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “A year ago at this time, we had the same quarterback controversy, and I believe competition brings the best out people.”
While much of the attention until the Badgers’ Aug. 30 season-opener against Akron will be focused on this so-called controversy, Herbstreit contends that Bielema’s should be the focal point for this team.

“I know Bret is one of the wizards of defenses in the country,” Herbstreit said. “You look at the players and the names, and you’re like, ‘This can be the best defense in the Big Ten based on who’s coming back.’

“And getting Ohio State at home at night … if they can get off to a good start and get into that game undefeated, man, who knows what they can do?”

Illinois, last year’s surprise team and this year’s third-place preseason pick, comes into this season with a more experienced unit but with some holes to fill. Junior quarterback Juice Williams and his 57 percent completion percentage returns to Champaign, but running back Rashard Mendenall doesn’t. Coach Ron Zook’s spread offense, however, is here to stay.

“When I first became a head coach … most of my experience was on the defensive side of the football,” Zook said. “And the one thing I wanted to do was run an offense that I hated to see the most as a defensive football coach.

“[With the new 40-second clock rule], now you’re going to be able to go as fast as buy drugs without a prescription you can and once again, it will cause the defense some problems.”

But despite all of this – Illinois’ potent spread offensive and Wisconsin’s deep, experienced defense – Ohio State, with its back-to-back national championship appearances and its 20 returning starters and its three-straight Big Ten Championships, is clearly the team to beat.

“I believe everyone is looking up at Ohio State,” said Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald. “That’s pretty obvious to me.”

No related posts.