Battling for Lucas Oil Stadium, Way Too Early Predictions

Getting to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Big Ten Championship game on December 2nd is the goal for every team in the conference. Four weeks into the 2023 season, there have been a lot of expected outcomes, but many that nobody saw coming.

Here is an early look at the two divisions, their records, and what to expect throughout the season as conference play starts to be in full swing.

Big Ten East

Over the past few years, the Big Ten east division has consistently been considered one of the best, if not the best, division on all of college football.

It starts with the big three of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines, and Penn State Nittany Lions. These teams have won the last seven conference championships, and eight of the last nine. 

The Spartans won two in 2013 and 2015, meaning every winner since 2013 has been from the Big Ten East. The Buckeyes won four straight times from 2017 to 2020, and look primed to compete against in Indy this year.

They are 4-0, 1-0 in conference play with a road win against the Indiana Hoosiers, and have been great on both sides of the ball. They play Penn State at home this year, and will face the Wolverines on the road.

Penn State is 4-0 including 2-0 in conference play after shutting out the 24th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes this past Saturday, and winning convincingly at Illinois. They have a bye and a non-conference game before resuming Big Ten play.

Michigan is 4-0 with one conference win after scoring 31 against Rutgers at home this weekend. They have two road conference games against the other division coming up,

The Big Ten east winner will almost certainly be one of these three teams, and will come down to their results against one another. 

Penn State has to travel to Columbus and host the Wolverines ahead of the biggest rivalry game in all of sports. Unless they win both those games, the winner of the division may come down to the Buckeyes vs Wolverines in Ann Arbor on November 25th.

With the Indiana Hoosiers and Michigan State Spartans dealing with coaching troubles, offensive struggles, and early home conference losses, that leaves two other teams in the East division.

The Maryland Terrapins are a very solid team who could make noise in the division and just walked all over the Spartans this weekend on the road. They received 20 AP votes to be ranked, and if they beat the Hoosiers this weekend, they may slide into the top 25 ahead of a trip to Columbus in two weeks.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights went up early on the road against the Wolverines but that’s as far as they got, dropping their first of the year. With wins over Northwestern, Temple  and Virginia Tech, they have an easy non-conference game before resuming conference play against Wisconsin.

Way too early prediction for the East division:

1. No. 2 Ohio State
2. No. 6 Penn State
3. No. 4 Michigan
4. Maryland
5. Rutgers
6. Michigan State
7. Indiana

 

Big Ten West

While this division only has two conference title wins, both from the Wisconsin Badgers in 2011 and 2012, there have been four different teams from the division to make it to the past four championship games.

Iowa was the only ranked team in the division last week, but a 31-0 defeat to Penn State leaves no ranked teams. Wisconsin was the only Big Ten west team to receive any love from the polls receiving six AP votes.

The Hawkeyes are still one of the favorites in the division with Michigan-transfer Senior Cade McNamara at quarterback and a great defense. They have six of their next seven games at home, including Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois.

Wisconsin has been the most successful team in the division since the divisions were realigned in 2014, with four appearances in the game. They are coming off of a solid 38-17 win on the road against Purdue, and have two games at home now including against Iowa.

Northwestern and Minnesota are the only other teams with a conference win, as Minnesota defeated Nebraska in the season opener, and Northwestern upset Minnesota at home this past weekend 37-34.

While Northwestern should still be projected to finish near the bottom, Minnesota is a team that likes to keep things close no matter the game.

Illinois, Nebraska and Purdue all are 0-1 to start the Big Ten season and all have at least two losses overall.

Whoever makes it out of this defensively minded division will have their hands full in Indianapolis, but it will be exciting to see how it all shakes up.

Way too early prediction for the West division:

1. Wisconsin
2. Iowa
3. Minnesota
4. Illinois
5. Nebraska
6. Purdue
7. Northwestern

Way Too Early Championship Game Prediction: Ohio State 31 Wisconsin 13