1. Ohio State: Have you ever gone to a bar with a group of your buddies in some small town hunting for chicks and the best looking one is like a 6? You know she has crooked teeth and a funny accent but a great body? A little bit of a butterface, yet everyone is hitting on her because that’s the only thing available? That’s kind of Ohio State, they’re not the most talented or sexy team, but in a dog ugly B1G that’s all your left with.
2. Nebraska: The Huskers offense is going to pose matchup problems for a lot of B1G defenses with their ability to throw and run the ball. This is easily Bo Pelini’s best offense. If they can fix their defense the Huskers could become a heavy favorite to win the B1G.
3. Michigan: Let’s be honest would any other B1G team have beaten Alabama or Notre Dame? I didn’t think so. The Wolverines are far from perfect, but they are still one of the B1G’s best. The Wolverines need another playmaker to emerge to take some pressure off of Denard Robinson, who is trying to do everything on his own right now.
4. Michigan State: If nothing else the Legends Division race should be very exciting this year with Michigan, MSU, Nebraska, and maybe even Northwestern all with a legitimate shot of winning an all-expenses paid trip to Indianapolis the first weekend of December. Speaking of Sparty they have major offensive issues, which I saw coming. They lost way too much last year and they can’t continue to depend on Le’Veon Bell to bail them out week after week. Bell is also going to lose considerable tread off his tires if he continues to tote the rock 35-40 times a game. Eventually Andrew Maxwell is going to need to make plays down the field if the Spartans want to play in a BCS bowl this year.
5. Northwestern: The Cats deserve credit for scheduling 3 games against teams from BCS conferences. They also deserve credit for winning all of them. Everyone should schedule like Northwestern, that is schedule winnable BCS non-conference games. Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and Boston College aren’t world beaters, but winning those games and putting 3 non-conference BCS wins on your resume isn’t a bad thing.
6. Wisconsin: Joel Stave hit most of his throws on play action. The running game got back on track, which was long overdue. Even if Montee Ball misses an extended amount of time with a concussion the Badgers may have found their next great back in Melvin Gordon who looks like an absolute creature. The Badgers will continue to get better as the season progresses and I still think they are a lock for the Leaders Division despite their early season issues.
7. Minnesota: The Gophers defense is legit! At the beginning of the season the Gophers defensive line was considered the worst unit in the conference by most pundits. Now it’s among the top 2-3 in the league along with Michigan State and Purdue. Now, they have some offensive consistency and special teams issues to sort out before we can consider the Gophers a complete team.
8. Purdue: The Boilermakers played Notre Dame really tough and beat a couple directional schools before their bye week and now they play Marshall so we really aren’t going to know anything about Purdue until they play Michigan in their B1G opener. I still think they have some major offensive issues to sort out before we can consider them a complete team. They are similar to Minnesota, but Minnesota has a better idea of what they are doing offensively.
9. Penn State: The Nittany Lions are fighting and making their fans proud. They aren’t deep, they aren’t talented, but they fight and scrap and don’t feel sorry for themselves after all the offseason stuff and two tough losses to begin the season. They are starting to take after their coach and forge an identity. Matt McGloin looks like a real quarterback after looking like a stiff his first two years in NOT so Happy Valley.
10. Iowa: The Hawkeyes have been a huge disappointment, and most notably quarterback James Vandenberg. The defense is okay although they looked horrible in an upset loss the Central Michigan. Mark Weisman looks like a poor man’s Mike Alstott. The Hawkeyes will be fired up to open B1G play against a Minnesota team that has beaten them two years in a row. Expect a great battle next weekend in Iowa City.
11. Indiana: The Hoosiers can’t stop anyone, but unlike the rest of the teams in the conference at least they can generate a little offense.
12. Illinois: Anyone that thought the Illini had one of the best defenses in the B1G should be outlawed from ever having an opinion on college football ever again.
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