B1G Leaders look to be losers next year
The Leaders Division next year looks to be especially weak. Indiana will continue to struggle. Purdue is a bit better, but still no where near a powerhouse. Illinois got clobbered this year in the B1G and will suffer through a coaching change, and Penn State, who knows how they will end up, but unless they pull out a miracle in landing a top notch coaching staff, they look to struggle next year, and possibly for several years, as well. That leaves Wisconsin and Ohio. Wisconsin has 6 senior starters on offense, including QB Wilson and WR Toon, and 5 senior starters on defense. Several of the second stringers are freshman this year. Wisconsin will likely have a steep dropoff next year. That leaves Ohio, who should be a shoe-in for tops in the Leaders Division next year. There certainly looks like there will be an imbalance in power between the two divisions. Minnesota was the weak sister in the Legends Division this year, but they have already made great strides. Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern all look to have decent teams next year, and will possibly be as good or better than every team in the Leaders Division except for Ohio. Michigan will be the best team among the Legends. Looks like the Michigan- Ohio game next year might just get repeated in the championship game as well.
What do you think about next year in the B1G?
November 29th, 2011 at 8:10 AM ^
He got pulled I think. Hendrix played OK in my opinion. He was good running (he's a true dual threat), but throwing wasn't great. ND may actually have a QB controversy this off season. They may well end up with another starting QB before we play them next season.
November 29th, 2011 at 8:23 AM ^
I figured Holtz was exaggerating Hendrix's play, but was surprised to hear that supposed "can do no wrong" Tommy Rees finally found his way into Kelly's doghouse. No doubt Dayne Crist was keeping him a warm seat.
The way Holtz sung his praises made it sound like Hendrix was the next Montana, to which Mark May exclaimed, "You saw all that in a half of football?!" Even I had to laugh.
November 29th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^
I didn't see the entire 2nd half, but Hendrix does have some zing on his passes. He had a nice 20-ish yarder that was right on a rope that Eifert caught in stride. The guy can sort-of run the zone read as well. I didn't see the pick, but I expect his decision making is typical of a guy that hasn't played much.
He has a higher ceiling than Rees, but that's not really saying much. The ND boards that I've been reading are pretty furious that he was on the bench the whole year and don't understand why he didn't get mop-up duty in the Air Force/Navy/Purdue blowouts.
November 29th, 2011 at 2:23 AM ^
I think the graduation of Kirk Cousins is really going to hurt MSU. I'm sure they have people on the roster who are equally or more athletic, but I really can't recall State ever having a QB who came close to Cousins in terms of leadership and maturity. I expect that Cousin's absence will means the "Sparty No!" factor comes back in force next year.
November 29th, 2011 at 11:33 AM ^
Believe it or not, there are a lot of Spartan fans that are ready to see Cousins go...myself included. He is an incredible leader and comands universal respect in the locker room. My issue with him is tha the plays a lot like Brett Favre. The highs are incredible (UW game, UM game), but the lows are 10X worse (NU, ND, Iowa, Alabama though that was a team issue as well, etc.). He won a lot of games over the course of his 3 years starting, but he was also the chief factor in losing games as well (2X to ND with picks at the 10). Maxwell was a HUGE get for MSU and he will do just fine. The O-line will be better, Worthy will stick around, and MSU has 3 really good RB's (if only Baker can hang onto the ball). From a Sparty "Homer" I honestly expect 8-10 wins next year.
November 29th, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
The recruiting services are kind of all over the place on him (Rivals 4*, meh 3* to Scout, #20 QB to ESPN) but the common theme I did see was that he only had a listed offer from MSU. Is that accurate?
November 29th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
Maxwell committed to MSU right after his junior year, then he went to the camps and blew up. Most schools never bothered to offer him as a result. By most accounts, Maxwell has more tools than Cousins.
November 29th, 2011 at 2:43 AM ^
Big Ten is going to be stronger next year top-down:
Better in 2012 (not necessarily great, just better):
Michigan
Nebraska
Iowa
Ohio State
Purdue
Minnesota
Indiana
Worse in 2012 (not necessarily awful, just not as good as 2011):
Wisconsin
MSU
Northwestern
Illinois
November 29th, 2011 at 8:56 AM ^
I'm not sure that Michigan or Nebraska will be better next season.
Michigan will lose Molk (Center, best OL) and Hemingway (best WR) on offense along with Martin and VanBergen (best DL) on defense. The run defense was "meh" (4.1 YPC) this year with Martin and RVB manning the middle of the line, I shudder to think what it might look like in 2012.
Nebraska loses Caputo (Center, best OL) and Kinnie (best WR) on offense along with Crick (best DL), David (all world LB) and Dennard (best DB) on defense from a unit that was merely average. Their defense could be very un-Nebraska-like next year.
The Legends division will probably be another dogfight between MSU, UM and UNL in 2012, while the Leaders will likely come down to Wisco and OSU. Way too early B1G title game prediction: Nebraska vs. Wisconsin.
November 29th, 2011 at 9:02 AM ^
I think Michigan might be a better overall team next year, but they might end up with a worse record. The Alabama game to open the year might drop them into single digits in wins.
November 29th, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^
This is one reason I am glad we'll have a senior QB next season. We will probably be in a lot of close 4th-quarter games and will need that veteran leadership.
November 29th, 2011 at 6:51 AM ^
....sort of make Ohio a sleeper favorite in the Leaders division (fitting, because it will be a yawner division in many respects just based on a surface examination of the state of affairs there), in my opinion, just looking at it right now, but ask me this question around the end of October next year and we'll see if the answer changes, right?
I would have to think that, despite its own misery, Penn State could go 8-4 and somehow stumble into the B1G championship too. I don't foresee too many impressive records in the Leaders right now for next years. Again, ask again about six games into the 2012 sechedule.
November 29th, 2011 at 7:31 AM ^
State's biggest loss next year may be Narduzzi. He's getting a lot of sniffs for head coaching positions. State's offense took a step back this year with the loss of Treadwell. If Narduzzi leaves, their defense could regress as well.
November 29th, 2011 at 8:44 AM ^
Wisconsin's new recruiting and development plan is to peel off seniors from their teams around the country. They may never have to rebuild if they keep finding players willing to abandon their teams.
November 29th, 2011 at 11:01 AM ^
PSU is going to be bad for awhile and Wisconsin is too up and down. Everything is tailor made for Urban and co. and it makes me nauseous.
November 29th, 2011 at 11:48 AM ^
I'm not sure that the Legends aren't head and shoulders over the Leaders THIS year. Even if you put Wisconsin as the best team (still to be determined, and hardly a sure thing the way they've been playing lately) the next 3 best teams are all in the Legends (MSU, Michigan, Nebraska)...and Iowa may slot in there after Penn State, conceivably. And I'd take Northwestern and Minnesota over Purdue and Indiana. (Heck, Illinois just got ran by the Gophers). The top 4 teams in the Legends have one loss to the Leaders (Iowa to PSU), half was many as just the top 2 in the Leaders vs. the Legends. I mean, Purdue is the #3 team in the Leaders. It's Nebraska in the Legends. Nuff said. The Leaders suck right now.
November 29th, 2011 at 3:06 PM ^
Top 2 teams, both from Michigan, were 3-0 against the East
Next 2 teams were 2-1 against the East
Bottom 2 teams each got 1 win against the East
Overall record: 27-21, advantage West, home of the Leaders and the Best.
Neither Indiana nor Ohio could pick up a win in the West.
Only Wisconsin and Penn State had winning records, 2-1, against the West.
The others were 1-2.