CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: LittlePig on August 26, 2024, 02:39:39 PM
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Well the first Big Ten game is coming up on Thursday. The knowledge that my pre-season rankings are always wrong actually gives me the freedom to just have fun with it. So let's just have some fun and see what everybody's Preseason Big Ten Power rankings are. Here I go.
1. Ohio St. - The old rule was OSU always gets the benefit of the doubt until they lose. That rule kinda fell apart recently when Mich won the Big Ten the last 3 years in a row, but old habits die hard.
2. Michigan - This is higher than most Preseason rankings because Mich has a new head coach, new QB, etc. But then again, they are still the 3-time defending Big Ten champions.
3. Penn St - A lot people think this could be the year that PSU puts it all together, but recent history suggests they won't get past OSU and Mich.
4. Oregon - my first Pac team. A lot of people have the Ducks ranked higher, but I am adopting a prove it to me first approach to all PAC teams. My bias opinion is that Big Ten defenses were underrated last year and that PAC offenses will struggle in their first year in the Big Ten.
5. Iowa - In terms of talent, Iowa is usually in the bottom half of the Big Ten, but Iowa always has a good defense and recently has found ways to always win about 2-3 games more than they should.
6. USC - USC defense should be better this year, just not good enough to win the conferencr
7. Illinois - This is my dark horse pick. Bret has had 4 years to get the team to the next level. It better happen now or he is on the hot seat.
8. Washington. - some are expecting a big drop off and I am too, just not as big of a drop as some are thinking.
9. Wisconsin - Many are expecting big improvement in Fickell's 2nd year. But I have a hunch it's going to take 3 years to put it all together.
10. Nebraska - copy what I said about Wisc and Fickell and paste the same thing in for Neb and Rhule. It's going to take 3 years under Rhule before Nebraska is good.
11. MD - I still consider Locksley the worse coach in the conference, but this year he should get a boost from offensive analyst Brian Ferentz
12. Rutgers - Another potential dark horse pick, but I just don't think Rutgers has the talent to pull it off.
13. NW. - let's see, NW was decent last year, so that must mean NW is going to suck this year. It will be interesting to see how they perform in it's temporary home stadiums this year.
14. Minnesota - not sure why I have Minn so low. Maybe because the coach was looking around for a new job
15. Mich St - could be a sleeper. I expect MSU to struggle early under their new coach but they might be good by the end.
16. UCLA. - when the head coach desperately jumps ship before he can get fired, it's not a good sign.
17. Purdue - the only guy who could save Purdue is now coaching Louisville.
18. Indiana. - team was awful last year and now they got a new coach.
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11. MD - I still consider Locksley the worse coach in the conference, but this year he should get a boost from offensive analyst Brian Ferentz
:043:
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11. MD - I still consider Locksley the worse coach in the conference, but this year he should get a boost from offensive analyst Brian Ferentz
love this :88:
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I have no bloody clue anymore. But, what the hell?
1. OSU
2. UO
3. UM
4. PSU
5. Iowa
6. UW
7. UDub
8. UNL
9. RU
10. USC
11. UI
12. MSU
13. NU
14. IU
15. PU
16. UMd
17. UMTC
18. UCLA
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What the hell?
1. OSU
2. UO
3. PSU
4. UM
5. UDub
6. UNL
7. RU
8. UW
9. USC
10. Iowa
11. NU
12. UMTC
13. UI
14. MSU
15. PU
16. IU
17. UMd
18. UCLA
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I know you've told me this before, but remind me again which one is UW and which one is UDub?
Edit: Nevermind. if you google UDub, it only lists one school, Washington.
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1. OSU
2. Ore
3. Mich
4. Wash
5. PSU
6. USC
7. MN
8. Wisc
9. Iowa
10. Nebr
11. MSU
12. Mary
13. Ill
14. NorthWest
15. Rutgers
16. UCLA
17. Purdue
18. Indiana
geez its getting harder to go top to bottom in this conference
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geez its getting harder to go top to bottom in this conference
I agree. I was tempted to just rank my top 10 teams and stop there. That may have to be an option if we decide we want to do weekly power rankings this year.
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after about 4 or 5 games last season, we had a top 4 and then just trash
hopefully, that doesn't happen again
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(https://i.imgur.com/3BwHm5y.png)
Taken from my post in the rankings thread, but I guess if I had to chain them out...
- OREGON - just wonder if travel starts to wear on them
- OHIO STATE - can they get back to elite QB play
- PENN STATE - James Franklin will probably make me regret this
- MICHIGAN - very curious to see what they get out of Orji
- USC - do or die time for Lincoln Riley
- WASHINGTON - still have plenty of pieces, but not enough to contend for a conference title
- WISCONSIN - depends on whether they can salvage anything from the mangled wreck of Tyler Van Dyke
- IOWA - same Iowa we see every year
- UCLA - I seem to be VASTLY higher on them than others here
- NEBRASKA - I would say it's putting a lot on the plate of a true freshman QB, but considering what they threw out there last year, the bar couldn't be lower
- RUTGERS - made their first legit bowl since 2014 last year, can they now get their first .500 conference record since 2012 in the Big East?
- MINNESOTA - starting to feel like the Fleck era has stagnated
- MARYLAND - at least neither of their bye weeks is in September
- ILLINOIS - Tyler Altmyer is the most underrated QB in the conference IMO
- PURDUE - small sample size, but not feeling like Ryan Walters is doing much with the late Brohm momentum
- NORTHWESTERN - the fact that David Braun took this roster, under those circumstances, to a bowl game is shocking
- MICHIGAN STATE - probably more top end talent than last year, but the depth is frighteningly thin
- INDIANA - felt like Cignetti would get a better job, then I heard him talk, and I can't imagine he's a good interviewer
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after about 4 or 5 games last season, we had a top 4 and then just trash
hopefully, that doesn't happen again
Yeah, really it was a top 3 and a new number 4 each week, until #4 finally defaulted to Iowa cause nobody else seemed to want to claim it.
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Tier 1: Elite Natty contender/favorites
1) Ohio St. - loaded with great mixture of talent and experience, got the two best players in the portal. should play for the natty.
then there's a gap
Tier 2: CCG/Playoff Contenders
2) Oregon - they are a clear cut #2 in the conference imo. not buying the hype of them being at OSU's level. because: they aren't. they don't have that kind of talent on defense or at RB. Dillon Gabriel is a really good college QB, but that's it. he was going to lose his job at Oklahoma and that's why he transferred. he's going to be really good for them- but it's not like they just got Peyton Manning to transfer over. top to bottom very good team, clear cut #2 and leader of the pack of tier 2 imo.
3) Michigan - Sherrone Moore will rebuild the OL and they'll have a top notch OL, they have high level RB & TE rooms, underrated at WRs, big ? mark at QB and a tough schedule, but that defense will be filthy and keep them in the race.
4) Penn State - should have really good defense again, they have a much easier schedule than Michigan and they have a returning starting QB, but I put them just a notch below Michigan because: I have major concerns/doubts about James Franklin. While QB Drew Allar has big talent he was very inconsistent and underwhelming in the big games and big moments last season, and honestly just not sure that James Franklin is the guy to develop that talent. They have high level RB & TE rooms, they are pretty awful at WR, and they basically never have had good offensive lines in Franklin's entire tenure and just lost the best OL to the 1st round of the NFL draft that James Franklin has ever had plus two other OL starters to the NFL draft.
Tier 3: Could Crash the Party
5) Wisconsin - they will take a big year 2 leap forward in Fickell's sophomore season. call it a hunch.
6) Iowa - they will have an excellent defense. can't get any worse on offense than they were last year. can they?
7) Nebraska - they will be sneaky good. that defense is going to be salty and Raiola will have his growing pains but the talent is there and even as a true freshman he's a huge improvement over what they had at QB last year.
8) USC - they will have a legit offense, but their defense is probably going to....suck.
9) Rutgers - schedule is super manageable and Schiano is actually building a program there. they are going to be a lot better than anyone even realizes.
10) Illinois - BERT will have a top 10 team four years in? Yay. Someone give that fat sloberring fuck a raise.
Tier 4: these teams are probably going to suck
11) Maryland - someone has to be ranked 11th, right?
12) Minnesota - meh.
13) Michigan State - defense will be atrocious but they could become a pleasant surprise on offense because: great new offensive mind head coach and big-time talent transfer QB.
14) Washington - lost everyone and everything.
15) Purdue - they have a really good safety, I guess?
16) Northwestern - at least they won't be the worst team in the league?
17) UCLA - may wound up vying for worst team in America.
18) Indiana - see UCLA.
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I don't see a lot of confidence yet in James Franklin taking PSU to the next level.
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hard to put them above #3 with past experience
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I don't see a lot of confidence yet in James Franklin taking PSU to the next level.
well in fairness he has been there 10 seasons and...never made a playoff, won the conference only once, and been largely owned by Ohio State and Michigan.
Franklin has to prove it before I'm buying whatever he's selling. This is a huge season for him imo. If he can't make the playoff in his 11th season after they expanded the thing to 12, then when is he going to?
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I am not going to do the whole thing because I didn’t see every team. But after one game my top would be:
Penn State
Oregon
Ohio State
Michigan
Iowa
Nebraska.
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I am not going to do the whole thing because I didn’t see every team. But after one game my top would be:
Penn State
Oregon
Ohio State
Michigan
Iowa
Nebraska.
Going to assume you didn’t see Oregon. Not sure how anyone could justify Oregon being above Ohio State.
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Going to assume you didn’t see Oregon. Not sure how anyone could justify Oregon being above Ohio State.
Yes- I was on the fence on that. Oregon built up a lot of yards on offense, but an odd mistake here and there ( like we saw in so many games) kept them from scoring more. But the did look explosive at times.
Really hard to tell with the weaker opponents. Ohio State O-Line looked questionable as you said and the other thread. They did very well on pass blocking, but they run fits were not great especially early in the game although they did get a little better as the game wore on. Very hard to understand the impact of having offensive lineman, Donovan, Jackson, not play due to injury.
The Buckeye defense look quite strong, but not nearly as good as Michigan’s defense in my opinion. The weakness was at linebacker, but again their best linebacker, Cody Simon, who calls the defenses did not play due to injury.
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This is weird to say, but if OSU was weak on the o-line, it’s not the worst spot because of Howard’s mobility. I believe Chip will adjust well. Judkins may not thrive due to that, but TreVeyon I can see flourishing if they need to keep the qb moving.