College Football Power Five Preview: Big Ten Edition… Can Ohio State return to the playoff?

College football season is finally upon us after months of wild changes, a transfer portal full of surprises, and a potential conference re-alignment nightmare ahead.

For now, we can finally end months of speculation and watch some kids hit each other on some of the biggest stages in America.

This is part one of DailyMail.com’s five part series dedicated to previewing all of the Power Five conferences in Division I FBS football.

Throughout the week, we will be grouping each of the teams in the biggest conferences into four categories: 

• 1.  College Football Playoff Contenders: the teams we expect to be in the national conversation all year long.
• 2. Cinderella Hopefuls: the teams that will be close to the top of the college football landscape, but will probably just miss out on glory. But if they do, they’ll be the biggest stories of the year.
• 3. Also-rans: the teams we expect to be in the bowl conversation, maybe even playing close to New Year’s Day, but will probably not shake the tree of the CFB elite.
• 4. Bottom feeders: be it a tough schedule, a new coach, or just a young team in complete transition, these are the squads that will probably not make any noise in college football this year

Today we will be taking a look at the 14 teams of the Big Ten.

College Football Playoff Contenders:

No. 2 Ohio State 

Despite a ‘down’ season last year at 11-2, the Buckeyes are the Big Ten’s best chance of having a playoff representative.

CJ Stroud returns to man an offense that was No. 1 in the nation last year, and the sophomore should only improve after tossing an impressive 4,435 yards and 44 touchdowns last year.

Stroud will surely miss targets Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, who both left for the NFL Draft. 

However, top pass catcher Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be back in Columbus for another season. He brings 1,606 receiving yards and nine touchdowns to help galvanize a Buckeyes offense in need of contributions from more players to push the envelope.

Playing your toughest games at home is always helpful for your record – and with Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Michigan all traveling to Ohio Stadium this fall, the Buckeyes will have that advantage. 

The defense will need to clean up its act for Ohio State to return to the playoff, but a program with four appearances there in eight years is always a decent bet to return.

No. 8 Michigan 

While Ohio State missed out on the playoff last season, Michigan made its CFP debut as the team finally got over the hump with Jim Harbaugh.

A blowout at the hands of Georgia in the semifinal should not diminish confidence in this group – but the loss of key defensive players perhaps should.

Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and safety Dax Hill – both first-round picks, were among key contributors to depart, along with fifth-year seniors Josh Ross and Brad Hawkins. 

Those four players led the team in total tackles, with Hutchinson leading in sacks, and Hill leading in interceptions.  

To make up for the lack of defense, more will be asked of senior quarterback Cade McNamera, who put up only 2,576 yards last season. The spotlight will be on him after RB Hassan Haskins – who amassed 1,327 rushing yards and 20 TDs last season – departed for the NFL. 

Compared to the other top contenders, Michigan has one of the easiest schedules in the conference. Featuring a non-conference schedule of Colorado State, Hawaii, and UConn and a Big 10 schedule with Penn State and Michigan State at home in Ann Arbor, they should be able to put together a tidy run of wins.

However, it remains to be seen if they’ll have enough to once again trump Ohio State in the Big Ten East – especially when they take on the Buckeyes in Columbus. 

No. 18 Wisconsin

This year’s Wisconsin team will likely be forced to answer a question almost all Wisconsin team’s face: can a strong running game and defense overcome a so-so passing attack?

Running back Braelon Allen was tremendous in his freshman year, but QB Graham Mertz has underwhelmed since taking over the starting job in 2020 and receivers Kendric Pryor and Danny Davis are no longer in Madison.

The Badgers are likely a notch below Michigan and Ohio State, but a trip to the playoff is not out of the question if they can get to the Big Ten title game (and win it). 

Cinderella Hopefuls

Iowa

After bringing a Big Ten West crown back to Kinnick Stadium last season, the Hawkeyes will face an uphill battle to repeat that feat.

Running back Tyler Goodson, who averaged 4.5 yards per attempt, is gone, and the team is in the midst of a QB battle for its starting spot.

Spencer Petras served at the team’s QB last season, but completed just 57.3 percent of his passes for 10 touchdowns in 12 games.

However, as Petras dealt with shoulder issues, backup Alex Padilla appeared in eight games and helped lead the team to wins vs. Northwestern, Minnesota and Illinois.

With just a 49.1 percent completion rate and two touchdowns for Padilla, though, neither of Iowa’s QB options look wholly inspiring. 

With the loss of star center Tyler Linderbaum, too, as well as trips to Ohio State, Purdue and Minnesota, a playoff trip looks like a tall task.

No. 15 Michigan State

The Spartans finished the season with an impressive 11-2 record last season, but need to improve their pass defense.

Michigan State allowed a league-high 324.8 passing yards per contest, though the addition of transfer Ameer Speed from Georgia should help in the secondary.

Coach Mel Tucker’s team will also see some new faces on offense, as transfers Jalen Berger and Jarek Broussard arrive from Wisconsin and Colorado respectively.

They’ll try to fill the void left by Kenneth Walker III, who posted 1,636 yards last year and was taken in the second round of the NFL draft by the Seahawks.

Following a No. 9 finish in the final AP poll, the boys from East Lansing may well have the playoff in its sights, though it may be a year too soon for Sparty. 

Penn State

The playoff looks like a longshot for Penn State after a 7-6 finish last season. 

The Nittany Lions were in the bottom half of the Big Ten for run defense (10th out of 14 in yards per game), and were bad running the ball in their own right, finishing 13th in the conference in YPG.

QB Sean Clifford, too, will need to sustain a high level of play for longer than last year if this team is to improve.

Clifford tossed 1,158 yards and completed over 70 percent of his passes in September, but failed to crack 1,000 again or even 60 percent in October or November.

If you squint hard enough, however, you may find reason to be optimistic about this team.

Despite all of the aforementioned shortcomings, Penn State still managed to post a winning record last season.

If the offensive line can improve, Penn State could be flirting with double-digit wins once again, making Happy Valley truly happy again.

Also-rans:

Minnesota 

Though a playoff berth feels a tad unlikely for Minnesota, they are probably the best team in this tier.

The Gophers finished second in the Big Ten in total defense last season, with their 25.5 points per game on offense (seventh in the conference) giving them a chance to win games as well.

The return of Kirk Ciarrocca to the Twin Cities as offensive coordinator, and a softer crossover schedule that sees them avoid Ohio State and Michigan means the Gophers could be in store for a nice year. 

Purdue

With Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State all missing from the schedule, Purdue have a chance of matching its 9-4 record from last season.

The Boilermakers passing attack should be strong again with QB Aidan O’Connell returning, and the defense was among the best in the conference last season.

Expect another winning season in West Lafayette, though Purdue’s rushing attack (last in yards per game last year) will have to improve for the Boilermakers to reach new heights. 

Nebraska 

The Cornhuskers went just 1-8 (3-9 overall) in conference play last season, but will be hoping to improve on the back of a couple significant changes.

Mark Whipple has been brought in as the new offensive coordinator, while QB Casey Thompson has joined as a transfer from Texas, where he threw 24 touchdowns last season.

A return to higher heights will involve a tough schedule featuring a trip to Michigan and inviting Wisconsin and rivals Oklahoma to Lincoln. 

For a team whose numbers looked far better than its record (second in conference in total offense, sixth in defense), it wouldn’t be surprising to see Nebraska bounce back to the middle of the conference.

Maryland

The Terrapins rode an Un-Big Ten like approach to a 7-6 record last year, finishing 12th in total defense but averaging 304.6 passing yards per game – just one of three teams in the league to top 300 on average.

Taulia Tagovailoa impressed in his first season as a starter, and all five offensive line starters return as well.

Visits to Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan, however  – as well as a home date vs. Ohio State, could threaten to damper the mood in College Park.

Bottom feeders:

Rutgers

Rutgers continued their gradual progress last season following Greg Schiano’s return to Piscataway, finishing 5-8 overall and getting invited (with the help of a COVID cancellation) to its first bowl game since 2014.

Still, the Scarlet Knights will have their work cut out for them to improve on last year, after finishing 12th in total offense and 11th in total defense.

With just five returning starters on the defensive side of the ball, as well as trips to Ohio State, Michigan State and Minnesota, the Scarlet Knights could be in for some regression. 

Northwestern

The Wildcats have seen higher highs than the other ‘bottom feeders’ but they’re uber-low lows means they should be placed in the cellar of the conference until they prove otherwise.

Northwestern has alternated between winning the Big Ten West and finishing 3-9 over the past four seasons, and last year was the latter as the team went just 1-8 in Big Ten play.

Never known for an explosive offense, the defense was not its usual stingy self last season, and they’ll have to do much better than allowing 213.9 rushing yards per game if the Wildcats of Evanston want to think about sniffing a bowl game.

Indiana

The Hoosiers were the worst team in the Big Ten last season, as they were the only team that failed to win a conference game and finished last in the conference in total offense (just 291.8 yards per contest).

There are perhaps some reasons for optimism in 2022, as Connor Bazelak (24 starts at Missouri) arrives in Bloomington with SEC experience and should bring competence to the QB position.

Fellow transfers Shaun Shivers and Josh Henderson should help the rushing attack, though trips to Michigan State, Ohio State as well as a nonconference game at Cincinnati present a stern challenge for this group. 

Illinois

The Fighting Illini had an up-and-down year last season, losing a buy game to UTSA and falling to Rutgers but earning upset wins at Penn State and Minnesota.

While the team finished a respectable seventh in total defense, the offense struggled to move the ball and will now likely be led by transfer Tommy DeVito, who made the trip to Urbana-Champaign after he lost his starting job at Syracuse last season.

Trips to Wisconsin and Michigan will be tough, but home dates vs. Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa and Minnesota will give them a chance of pulling some upsets if their defense can hold up.