Big Ten had an outstanding 2016 campaign. Perhaps a bit overrated based on bowl performances, but considering where they have been the last decade it was a win for this historic conference. This year we think you will still have 4 very good teams that are there at the end of the year, but we think the middle and bottom of the conference will be worse. Big Ten has sent a team to the playoffs every year. We don’t think this year will be any different with much of the same cast as last year competing for that spot. Michigan loses a lot but has recruited very well under Harbaugh. Penn St, Wisconsin, and Ohio St return a LOT of players from last years successful teams.
For each Conference we will have the Simplified Football predictions (record) with the Projected Win-Shares and rating of each team next to it. We will also have Bowl Projections for each conference.
Big Ten Predictions:
East
Team – Record (Conf) / Win-Shares (Conf) / Rating
- Ohio St – 11-1 (8-1) / 10.06 (7.36) / 4.93
- Penn St – 11-1 (8-1) / 9.16 (6.49) / 4.76
- Michigan – 10-2 (7-2) / 8.43 (5.95) / 4.45
- Maryland – 6-6 (4-5) / 6.02 (4.17) / 3.90
- Michigan St – 5-7 (3-6) / 4.88 (3.18) / 3.58
- Indiana – 4-8 (1-8) / 4.91 (3.06) / 3.78
- Rutgers – 3-9 (1-8) / 4.47 (2.29) / 3.06
West
Team – Record (Conf) / Win-Shares (Conf) / Rating
- Wisconsin – 10-2 (7-2) / 8.38 (6.03) / 4.59
- Northwestern – 9-3 (6-3) / 7.33 (5.08) / 4.20
- Nebraska – 7-5 (5-4) / 6.44 (4.4) / 3.87
- Iowa – 6-6 (4-5) / 6.1 (4.02) / 3.99
- Minnesota – 6-6 (4-5) / 6.72 (4.5) / 4.04
- Illinois – 5-7 (3-6) / 4.95 (3.27) / 3.36
- Purdue – 3-9 (2-7) / 3.97 (2.97) / 3.21
Wisconsin wins the West out-right and Ohio St gets revenge on Penn St winning the head to head and the tie-breaker.
Championship game – Ohio St beats Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. It will beat Wisconsin’s 5th Championship game in 7 years. Ohio St’s 3rd.
That makes 9 bowl teams for the Big Ten
Rose Bowl – Ohio St (Playoff)
Fiesta Bowl – Penn St
Peach Bowl – Michigan
Citrus Bowl – Wisconsin
Outback Bowl – Northwestern
Holiday Bowl – Nebraska
Pinstripe Bowl – Minnesota
Armed Forces Bowl – Maryland
Foster Farms – Iowa
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