The beautiful thing is predictions season is basically over. Northwestern and Nebraska got the Big Ten season officially booted off in Dublin, Ireland, with a week zero special.
Still, the final several set of preseason predictions for the Iowa Hawkeyes are rolling in. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach doesn’t have Iowa defending its Big Ten West crown. Instead, he likes the Wisconsin Badgers to finish 10-2 (7-2 Big Ten) and meet the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship game.
While others like Iowa to either win the West or represent Wisconsin’s chief competition, Schlabach likes Minnesota better. He has the Golden Gophers finishing 9-3 (6-3 Big Ten). Then, he has the Iowa Hawkeyes in third place, finishing with a respectable 8-4 (5-4 Big Ten) mark. Respectable, yes, but not what Hawkeye fans are ultimately hoping for.
The rest of Schlabach’s Big Ten West prediction looked like this: Purdue at 7-5 (4-5 Big Ten), Nebraska at 6-6 (3-6 Big Ten), Illinois at 5-7 (2-7 Big Ten) and Northwestern at 5-7 (2-7 Big Ten).
While Schlabach ultimately wasn’t bold enough to pick it, one of his three bold predictions was that Minnesota would win the West.
I went with Wisconsin, which seemed like the safer pick, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Gophers in the Big Ten championship game, either. Minnesota has to throw the ball more than it did last season — only Navy, Army and Air Force attempted fewer passes in 2021. Quarterback Tanner Morgan should be better under offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who was there when Minnesota won 11 games in 2019. Tailback Mohamed Ibrahim, the Big Ten running back of the year in 2020, is back after tearing his Achilles in last season’s opener. – Schlabach, ESPN.
As mentioned earlier, Ohio State is the representative for Schlabach from the Big Ten East. That’s no surprise. The Buckeyes are a trendy national championship pick.
After Ohio State’s 11-1 (8-1 Big Ten) finish, Schlabach’s Big Ten East pecking order was as follows: Michigan at 10-2 (7-2 Big Ten), Penn State at 9-3 (6-3 Big Ten), Michigan State at 8-4 (5-4 Big Ten), Maryland at 7-5 (4-5 Big Ten), Rutgers at 4-8 (2-7 Big Ten) and Indiana at 4-8 (2-7 Big Ten).
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