B1G Uglies: Bold Predictions For The Big Ten

The B1G Uglies: Bold Predictions for Every Team, Part 1-Legends Division

Media Days are just around the corner, which means that it’s almost time to taste football season on the palette of anticipation. With that in mind, it feels like a great time to fill the chasm with a bridge to exciting times ahead with some bold predictions for each team in the Big Ten Conference. That’s right, we said bold, not your low-hanging Midwestern fruit variety. We’ll start it off with a look at each team in the Legends Division--B1G Uglies style of course:

Iowa Bold Predictions-

Phil Harrison:

Okay, we’re going bold right? Remember that before you bomb away with stacks of E-mail full of bad intentions. We’re talking about the barbecue sauce with zing, not your standard fast-food-chicken-finger barbecue cup ‘0’ sauce. So, here goes--Kirk Ferentz will step down at the end of the year. He’s the elder statesman in the league now, meaning he’s had a good, long run, and his kids are getting older. He’s done about all he can do at Iowa and the wear and tear on his body and emotions seem to seep out more with each passing season. It might be time to hang ‘em up and enjoy the rest of life instead of keeping the seat warm in Iowa City. Whether it’s fishing, golfing, or harvesting corn, it might be a welcome reprieve from the stresses of big time football.

Bart Doan:

You know, I thought about going nuts and doing the whole “Kirk Ferentz is going to pass it down to his son whom he just hired” thing, but Phil apparently has a mortgage on that. Then I thought it didn’t make sense seeing as his son needs a few years grooming. Then I looked at their schedule and said “wow, there’s 10 wins there.” Then I saw Terry say the same thing, and I guess I’m not bold anymore. I do think 10 wins are there though with a weaker schedule and a lot of returning talent--it makes perfect sense.

Terry Johnson:

The Hawkeyes will win ten games this season, ending all speculation about Kirk Ferentz’s job security. Iowa will not win in Ann Arbor but will match up favorably with the rest of its schedule. Even if they lose on the road against Michigan State and at home against Nebraska, the Hawkeyes need only a victory in the bowl game to reach ten wins.

If Phil’s prediction is correct, a ten-win season would be a fitting end to a remarkable career.

Michigan Bold Predictions-

Phil Harrison:

Unless you are an Ohio State or Michigan State homer, you have to like the chances of the returning talent and coaching staff to give things a good run. But that’s not the spicy prediction with an aftertaste kick we’re after. Nope. Michigan will lose at least three games. The schedule is tough as nails on the road with a game in Dallas against Alabama to open the season, and tilts at Notre Dame, at Nebraska, and in the ‘Shoe. That’s before we even factor in games at home with Sparty and Iowa. Factor that in with all of the breaks Denard and Co. got last year to win almost every close game, and it’s not hard to imagine a fall-off. Don’t get me wrong--the Wolverines are a talented team. It’s just hard to see them making it through the minefield of the 2012 season without a few missteps.

Bart Doan:

Bold? Call me crazy, but I don’t really think beating Alabama is a bold prediction. Michigan is a top 10 team at a neutral site against a club that lost a substantial amount off their defense. Actual bold prediction? B1G championship, 0-1 loss is where I’m going, (@ Nebraska is their toughest tilt) and depending on how everyone else does, perhaps even a national title berth. And oh yeah, Denard Robinson will win the Heisman. What, am I only allowed one?

Terry Johnson:

The Wolverines will make a return visit to a BCS bowl. They will not beat Alabama in the opener, but will win every game after that until the Big Ten Championship Game (sorry, Phil!). Despite a close loss to Wisconsin in the league title game, BCS bowls will salivate over the prospect of an 11-2 Michigan team with Heisman Trophy finalist Denard Robinson playing in his final college game.

Michigan State Bold Predictions-

Phil Harrison:

Sparty will lose at least five games this year. Before you scoff at that bold and even REdiculous notion, look at the schedule and then realize the reality that a new quarterback and skill position players will be getting their feet wet and finding their way early on. Defense can only take you so far (and no Sparty, you are not Alabama). In the first five games there are games against Boise State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State--with a tougher than it appears game at Central Michigan also mixed in. From there on out, things don’t get much easier as the fighting Dantonios must go to Michigan and Wisconsin, and also clash with Nebraska at home. The Spartans haven’t had a tougher campaign since Helen of Troy was a fan (or not). And that didn’t pan out so well with war breaking out.

Bart Doan:

Sparty better put his thick skin on. From B1G runner-up to barely making a bowl, Michigan State will lose 6 games this season. The schedule is a is a haunted house where they’re actually allowed to touch you with the chainsaw when they’re chasing you all over the maze (and blue). Early tilts against Boise State and Notre Dame will test a team that lost a ton of leadership and a ton of offensive skill. The remainder of the schedule sees a four game stretch vs Iowa, @ Michigan, @ Wisconsin, Nebraska. Losses will be as abundant as bad Katy Perry songs there. The Only difference is there’s no movie to torture everyone at the end of this rainbow. Sparty comes back down to earth in 2012.

Terry Johnson:

I agree with Bart and Phil - Michigan State will take a step back this year. However, the Spartans will still manage to field the nation’s best defense despite playing a brutal schedule. The defense returns eight starters from a unit that yielded a mere 2.8 yards per carry last season. Opposing teams will not have much more success in the passing game as the back seven returns virtually intact from a year ago. Unfortunately, MSU will break in a new starter at QB, which usually results in shorter fields for opposing offenses.

Minnesota Bold Predictions-

Phil Harrison:

The Golden Gophers will start the season 5-1. That’s right--it’s a downright resurgence in the Twin Cities. Jerry Kill will have had a year for his system to sink in, and will take advantage of an easy first part of the schedule to get things lifted off the ground and rolling. But wait--they won’t be feeling Minnesota for long. As is customary, the wheels will fall off faster than a Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes split once conference play really heats up. Still, even sniffing a bowl would be a legitimate program changer in TCF Bank Stadium.


Bart Doan:

The Gophers have a bowl team on their hands, and MarQueis Gray will explode. I got a chance to see him play at Ben Davis in Indianapolis once upon a time and was astounded. A bumpy path has him one last shot. Minny has a tough slate for a team that Jerry Kill admitted wasn’t much when he inherited, then laid to waste after they lost by 58 to Michigan. It will come down to the final game against Sparty up north, where Minnesota has taken 4 of the last 5 and nearly shocked MSU last year with a “developing” team. Buy your bowl tickets, Gopher faithful.

Terry Johnson:
Okay, I’m in too. The Golden Gophers will earn a bowl bid this season. The Jerry Kill era didn’t start well, but the team began to pick up the new system in the second half of the year, winning two of its final three home games. As Phil points out, Minnesota has very manageable early season schedule. All the Gophers would need to go bowling is to pull a late-season upset, something they have done in each of the past two seasons. Who’s coming with me?

Nebraska Bold Predictions-

Phil Harrison:

Nebraska will win the Legends Division a year removed from pulling an Axl Rose in 2011 and not showing up on stage. The defense loses some key personnel, but there’s still plenty of talent in the cupboard for a defense that is full of potential and will be hungrier than last year’s attitude of entitlement version. On top of that, Martinez is a year older (and supposedly more polished), the wide-receiving corps more seasoned, and Rex Burkhead back to lay the anvil on opposing road-runner defenses. Most importantly, the Huskers get a comparatively favorable schedule with Michigan, Wisconsin, and Penn State at home.

Bart Doan:

In an effort to not be overly positive (I did these out of order, just finishing Minnesota and Northwestern) I will try to go a little college football emo for a moment and tell you that chick pick Nebraska will finish third in the Legends division. Road games at Ohio State and Iowa will nip them, and they’ll drop at least one to Michigan or Wisconsin at home. Taylor Martinez will improve, but the defense lost a lot and looked sieve-like anyways last year. On top of that, the jury is still deliberating on how well the Huskers can get acclimated to the Large 10 Legends, bereft of Iowa States or Kansas’s.

Terry Johnson:

Here’s a very bold prediction: the Cornhuskers will hand Wisconsin its only loss of the year on September 29. Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez had one of the worst performances of his career in Madison last year, tossing three costly interceptions. After some confidence building games early, Martinez will post his best game of the season against a suspect Badger secondary. An experienced front seven will slow down Montee Ball just enough to win the game.

Northwestern Bold Predictions-

Phil Harrison:

For a team that seems to be a clone of itself year after year, it’s a formidable task to try and dump some hot sauce out there . Still, we’re about going all out, so I’ll say that Northwestern will not go bowling this year. I know, it seems like every year the purple and white take the definition of average to a whole new level and do just enough to make a bowl, but things look a little more smokey this year. Kain Colter will be solid enough to replace Dan Persa (don’t buy the so-called heat he is getting from Trevor Siemian)--but he’s NOT Dan Persa. No matter who the starting QB is, the ‘Cats will start out just fine with the schedule, but it’s hard to find wins in there once conference play starts. Youth plus a tough conference might just be enough for Pat Fitzgerald to lose his “van down by the river” positivity this year.

Bart Doan:

As the Guinness commercials opine, “Fortune favors the bold.” Being as my current pay situation is, for me, PBR favors the bold. So I’ll dip back to 1948 and say that the Cats will win their first bowl game since that year. Eight wins are smattered about the schedule in spite of heavy losses, but Pat Fitzgerald gets the most out of his teams, and at long last, he’ll get the most out of them in late December, early January, February, or whenever the heck they decide to stop playing bowl games these days.

Terry Johnson:

I hate to agree with Bart again, but the Wildcats will earn their first bowl win since the 1949 Rose Bowl. The only positive about Dan Persa’s recurring injury problems last season was that it gave Kain Colter some valuable game experience. Since he was able to spark Northwestern to its first win over Nebraska since 1931, there is no reason to believe that Colter cannot end another streak of futility this season.

That is, unless he fails to win the starting job from Trevor Siemian, who had an excellent spring. Then the more pressing question becomes: “If Siemian pulled the upset to win the job, why can’t he lead the Wildcats to the Promised Land?”

Either way, there will be joy in Evanston.

Follow Phil on Twitter @PhilHarrisonCFN, Bart @Bart_CFN, and Terry @TPJCollFootball