|
|
|
|
|
2003 College Football Preview Ranking the Big 10 August 1, 2003
Remember the one about the team that came out of nowhere and won a National Championship and returned a plethora of starters the following year only to be doubted by many to win their own conference? Of course you do, it was a local story that has gone national and will be remade in 2003, will this one be more successful than the last?
1. Ohio State 2. Michigan 3. Purdue 4. Wisconsin 5. Penn State 6. Illinois 7. Minnesota 8. Iowa 9. Northwestern 10. Indiana 11. Michigan State
Ohio State returns their entire offense from the group that was extremely methodical and effective throughout the season, especially against Miami in the title game. The downsides are that Maurice Clarett has had repeated injury problems and now academic problems are beginning to surface. We all saw a year ago that this offense lives and dies with Clarett.
The other downside being that the defense returns only six starters from a group that saved the offense repeatedly during the title run. They won seven games by a touchdown or less in 2002 including every one of the last four games. They could run the table again, but chances are they'll stumble much as Oklahoma did in 2001.
Michigan is the one team in the Big 10 that could unseat the Buckeyes with John Navarre returning from a breakout 2002 season and has four guys returning to protect him on the line. Chris Perry returns to be the running threat after an 1,110 yard, 14 touchdown season. The defense returns just six starters, but as Ohio State will do, they will be solid. Look for November 22 in Ann Arbor to be the Big 10 Championship game when the Buckeyes come to town.
Purdue is beginning to regroup in the post-Brees era and Kyle Orton seems to have finally taken with his quarterback position in Joe Tiller's offense. The Boilermakers will also have something in 2003 that they haven't had a lot of in Tiller's system, defense. Purdue returns nine starters from a defense that ranked first in the Big 10 in 2002. If not for having to travel to both Michigan and Ohio State in 2003, they would be a legit contender for the title.
The rest of the conference can be broken into two groups, the bowl hopefuls and the pitiful excuses for a football team. Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa are the bowl hopefuls and if you want an Iowa possibility for 2003 look no further than the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Northwestern, Indiana, and Michigan State are about equally bad and will sort out the cellar in their head-to-head matchups.
|
|
