The 2020 Big Ten Preview with the top players, biggest games, most important transfers, and thoughts on each team.
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5. Big Ten 2020 Preview
The Big Ten Preview is being rushed up to the podium … just in case.
Out of all of the major conferences, the Big Ten is the one that has the resources, the will, and the schools to be the first – if any – to close it all down if they think they don’t have it in the battle to keep everyone healthy during a pandemic.
The SEC might be the best football conference, and the other Power Five conferences are important, but the Big Ten is the leader with its gigantic alumni base and sheer geographic reach.
On the field, the Big Ten-only schedule should be a blast for one year – at least as long as Ohio State doesn’t run away and hide with the conference title again.
CFN Big Ten Preview
Teams: Surprise, Disappointments | Top Games
Players To Watch | One Thought On Each Team
– CFN Preview 2020: All 130 Team Previews
Wisconsin is great again. Penn State is really great again. Michigan is great, too.
Michigan State might be rebuilding, but Northwestern should be a whole lot stronger than last season’s aberration. Purdue is fun, Nebraska needs to be fun, and Illinois is at least interesting with a good group of transfers to go along with a decent base.
Iowa is Iowa – even after all of the offseason issues – and Indiana is improved, but Maryland is iffy and Rutgers is total overhaul mode with new head coach Greg Schiano and with a COVID outbreak on campus.
And then there’s Ohio State, who either has the best team in college football, or is in top four and good enough to win the national title.
Let’s just hope they all safely have a shot to play what would be one of the most fun Big Ten seasons ever.
NEXT: Big Ten Teams That Will Surprise, Disappoint
4. Big Ten Surprise, Disappointment
Big Ten Team That Will Surprise
Indiana Hoosiers
It’s not time to start making plan to go up the road for the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis, but the Hoosiers have their best team year under head coach Tom Allen.
QB Michael Penix is healthy and in place to be one of the Big Ten’s newest stars, the rest of the skill players are terrific, and the lines are solid enough to hold up in the biggest battles.
IU is still in the Big Ten East, so the expectations have a bit of a cap, but it’ll be good enough to pull off at least one massive upset.
2020 Big Ten Team Previews, 5 Things To Know
East Indiana | Maryland | Michigan
Michigan State | Ohio State | Penn State | Rutgers
West Illinois | Iowa | Minnesota
Nebraska | Northwestern | Purdue | Wisconsin
CFN Preview 2020: All 130 Team Previews
Big Ten Team That Will Disappoint
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Disappointment is relative with Husker fans more than ready for the program to be a big national thing again. It’s not a bad team, and it’ll likely go bowling, but it’s not that much better than last season’s version that went 5-7 in a season when everything was supposed to kick in.
The hope is for the offense to finally kick in with QB Adrian Martinez in his third year at the helm under Scott Frost, but the defensive front is just okay, the all-around talent is just okay, and other parts of the West – like Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and an improved Northwestern – are a whole lot better than okay.
NEXT: Big Ten Game of the Year, Hot Seat Coaches
3. Big Ten Games, Hot Seat Coaches
Big Ten Game Of The Year
Michigan at Ohio State
2011. That was the last time Michigan was able to pull off a win over Ohio State, and that was in the transition season to the Urban Meyer era.
15 of the last 16 years and 17 of the last 19 – not to go cliché, but can you really call this a rivalry that’s been this one-sided? Of course you can, but the entire Big Ten season will revolve around whether or not Michigan and Jim Harbaugh can finally pull this off.
At least, the Wolverines have to show up defensively after allowing more than 44 points per game vs. the Buckeyes in the Harbaugh era.
5 Other Interesting Big Ten Games
This is all very, very fluid, but at the moment if the Big Ten slate stays relatively close to the original version (all dates are for what’s currently scheduled before any changes) …
1. Ohio State at Penn State, Oct. 24
2. Penn State at Michigan, Oct. 3
3. Wisconsin at Michigan, Sept. 26
4. Wisconsin at Iowa, Nov. 28
5. Minnesota at Wisconsin, Oct. 10
– 2020 CFN Big Ten 5-Year Program Rankings
5 Big Ten Coaches On The Hot Seat
It’s not necessarily about who’s about to get fired – especially this year.
Think of it this way. Who has the most pressure to win, either because of way-high expectations, or to possibly move on to something bigger, or for some, to keep the gig?
1. Scott Frost, Nebraska
2. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
3. Mike Locksley, Maryland
4. Lovie Smith, Illinois
5. Ryan Day, Ohio State
NEXT: Big Ten Key Players To Know
2. Big Ten Key Players To Know
5 Big Ten Transfers Who Will Matter
Five players who deserve to be known and loved on a national level, but should rise up and be among the season’s best players.
1. RB Trey Sermon to Ohio State from Oklahoma
2. QB Taulia Tagovailoa to Maryland from Alabama (if eligible)
3. DE Jack Heflin to Iowa from Northern Illinois
4. WR Brian Hightower to Illinois from Miami
5. QB Peyton Ramsey to Indiana from Northwestern
5 Big-Time Big Ten Players Who Deserve A Bigger Spotlight
Five players who deserve to be known and loved on a national level, but should rise up and be among the season’s best players.
1. WR Josh Imatorbhebhe, Sr. Illinois
2. LB Paddy Fisher, Sr. Northwestern
3. LB Jack Sanborn, Jr. Wisconsin
4. LB Tyshon Fogg, Sr. Rutgers
5. LB Antjuan Simmons, Sr. Michigan State
5 Best Pro Prospects From The Big Ten
1. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State*
2. CB Shaun Wade, Ohio State*
3. WR Rondale Moore, Purdue*
4. OT Alaric Jackson, Iowa
5. TE Pat Freiermuth, Penn State
*underclassman
– 2020 CFN Preseason All-Big Ten Team
5 Biggest Big Ten Shoes To Fill
1. DE Jonathan Cooper for Chase Young, Ohio State
2. RB Jalen Berger or Garrett Groshek for Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
3. RB Trey Sermon for JK Dobbins, Ohio State
4. WR Chris Autman-Bell for Rashod Bateman, Minnesota
5. LB Noah Burks for Zack Baun, Wisconsin
NEXT: One Honest Thought On Each Big Ten Team
1. One Honest Thought On Each Big Ten Team
Click on each team for the preview, 5 things to know
Big Ten East
Indiana – This is a potentially fun team with a whole lot of terrific parts. The defensive back seven is going to let the team down from time to time, but the offense should be good enough to make up for it.
Maryland – There’s talent in place, but the lines have to be a whole lot better in a big, big hurry. Outside of Rutgers, where’s the almost-certain win going to come from?
Michigan – Get good quarterback play already, Michigan. Shea Patterson wasn’t awful, but part of the reason Jim Harbaugh can’t win the really, really big games because he doesn’t have the really, really big-time talent at quarterback.
Michigan State – There could be a whole lot of ugly Spartan games this season. Mel Tucker has the defense to be among the best in the Big Ten, and his team will have to grind it out against the stars in the East.
Ohio State – Focus. That’s it. Ryan Day was beyond brilliant last season at getting his team to be 100% in the moment in each and every step of the way, but this time around the distractions will be enormous. Focus, and the Big Ten race might be over.
Penn State – The loss of Micah Parsons is painful, but the defense is still going to be fantastic. The offensive line should become a force as the year goes on what should be a quietly efficient attack.
Rutgers – If everyone can get and stay healthy, the Scarlet Knights have a few extremely nice parts to build around, and they even have a little bit of offensive explosion. In the Big Ten-only schedule, though, set the bar at not losing every game by double-digits.
Big Ten West
Illinois – The transfers are going to make things interesting. Lovie Smith has always gone hard after some of the best prospects in the portal, but this time around he’s getting them, especially for the passing game and defensive tackle.
Iowa – Even through all of the issues and all of the problems this off-season, this is yet another rock-solid Hawkeye team with more offensive pop and explosion than last season.
Minnesota – Even without Rashod Bateman, the Minnesota passing game will be fine because the running game will help take the pressure off. This Gopher team is for real. It might not be as strong as the 2019 version, but it’ll be a factor again.
Nebraska – Just make the offense explosive. It’s okay if – in this strange year – the Huskers aren’t back to being a national championship program, but at least the Scott Frost era has to look like it’s on the verge of becoming a thing.
Northwestern – That’s not going to happen again. The 2019 debacle isn’t going to happen again, the miserable offense isn’t going to happen again, and being that bad isn’t going to happen again. The Wildcats have too much defensively to be awful.
Purdue – There won’t be a lot of wins, but there will be at least one over someone great. The Boilermaker offense will be devastating, and the D line isn’t bad – expect a ton of 41-37-like games.
Wisconsin – If you’re Wisconsin and your biggest concern is running back, you’re okay. The receivers could use a little help, too, but the makings are there to be one of Paul Chryst’s best teams as long as the O can piece together a group to replace Jonathan Taylor.
