The Indiana Hoosiers kick off the tier of teams that could actually be quite a bit better if they played in another conference. The top teams in the Big Ten are just too good for the likes of Indiana.
The Hoosiers have a potent offense thanks to Morgan Ellison who rushed for 704 yards last year and Luke Timian who caught 68 passes. The problem on offense is they don’t have another returning starter in the receiver corps.
Defense is the real problem, as they return only three starters for a shockingly good 27th ranked “D.” If they can patch the holes there, this could be a team moving up the rankings quickly.
Speaking of teams that are hampered by the conference they play in, Purdue could be scary good and still in the lower tier of the Big Ten conference. The team made it’s first bowl in years.
This season could be even better than last year. Purdue opens the season against Northwestern and if they win that game, the 2018 season could be better than even the more die hard Purdue fans expected.
If they do win that game, their contest against the Nebraska football team is going to be a big judge of how the rest of the season is going to go. The big drawback is that for what seems like the 100th straight season since Drew Brees left, Purdue can’t quite settle on a starting quarterback.
The Nebraska football team and it’s fans should be fairly happy with this ranking, considering they finished 4-8 a year ago. The Huskers have a lot to prove.
Can Scott Frost lead the team back to prominence? Starting out in the middle of the pack isn’t a bad thing.
If the Huskers do better than expected, they can move up quickly. If they struggle a bit out of the chute, they can still stay out of the cellar thanks to the teams below them being pretty bad.
The one thing you can always say about the Iowa Hawkeyes is that they are consistent. They finished 8-5 in 2017.
They’ll probably finish right around there this year. They’ll probably do that next year.
The question for Iowa is always will they be able to take the next step. Fans thought they were doing that last year when they blew out Ohio State.
Then Iowa lost two straight games. Nebraska football fans are going to be looking for revenge in last year’s loss. Can the Hawkeyes hold off the Huskers for second place in the West?