If you don’t like the usual suspects, then the 2016 Big Ten football season might not be your favorite. With the dominating powers in the East Division the same old trio of Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan and Iowa looking strong coming off an undefeated regular season a year ago, it’s difficult to spot upstart party crashers to the Big Ten’s annual conference championship tilt in Indy. If there was to be a “surprise” team, it would look like Northwestern would have a shot at first glance. The Wildcats won 10 games last season, something they’re getting very little credit for doing, and return perhaps the league’s best running back in Justin Jackson, a reloaded defense that could again be among the country’s finest and a quarterback who is a year older and a year more experienced after struggling as a redshirt freshman. But a second glance at that same Northwestern team reveals a challenging mountain of a schedule that would require a mighty steep climb. The Cats play their toughest in-division opponent, Iowa, and two of the three big boys in the East Division, Michigan State and Ohio State, all on the road. That leaves no room for…
Continue Reading: Big Ten preview: A third straight College Football Playoff appearance for the Big Ten?
