Not that I know a great deal about the conference, but, what the hell.
Ohio State - Everyone was saying that this would be the year that OSU made the national title game. Little did they know OSU was a year ahead of schedule. For all the crap they get about being beaten the last two years by SEC teams, this team is good. REALLY good. Lots of experience back on offense. Boekman has another year under his belt. Chris Wells is a monster at RB, and then there's the Terrelle Pryor factor. He'll have a package or two designed just for him. The nations best defense last year loses only two starters. The LB unit may be the best in the nation, led by the man, James Laurinitis. The schedule is highly favorable, w/the only games that look losable are @ USC, @ Illinois and @ Wisconsin. The latter could be the more important of the 3, as it may determine the conference.
Wisconsin - I keep hearing about a QB situation at Wisconsin. Since when did the Badgers ever throw the ball? Yes Tyler Donovan is gone, but Allan Everidge should step in and do well. Badger fans would do well to enjot PJ hill after this season, as it will probably be his last. Kid is a beast. Almost 3,000 career rushing yards in only 2 seasons. He will punish defenses. Nine Starters return to help the Badgers pursue the Big Ten title. Big games are @ Fresno State early (yes, that's gonna be close) @ Michigan the next week, followed the next week with visiting Ohio State, and they host PSU the next week. @ Indiana will be tougher than the experts think. A tough schedule will make competing for the title tough.
Penn State - The Nittany Lions lose a lot of on offense. Yes they return eight starters, but both starting QB and RB are gone. PSU fans hope Daryll Clarke will show a litlle more consistancy at the QB spot than Anthony Morrelli did. New RB Evan Royster had a 6.3 yard per carry average last year, on 82 carries. Sean Lee, who was looking to lead the defense after having 138 tackles last season, is gone for the year w/an injury. The defense may struggle, but the schedule may help. The toughest games are @ Wisconsin and @ OSU. The rest of their "tough" games (Illinois, Michigan, Indiana) are at home.
Illinois - Can this be true? Is Ron Zook actually turning this team into a contender? If QB Juice Williams can keep up w/the workload, this team will cause defenses to have fits. Rashard Mendenhall is gone, and replacing him will be extremely tough. But Zook knows how to recruit, and freshman Mikel LeShoure could open some eyes. Vontae Davis will be playing CB at the next level. A ball hawk with great speed. The D must replace LB J leman, but are hoping to be able to put pressure on the QB w/a very good front 4. The schedule is brutal. Missourri the first week of the season in a "neutral site" (the game is in St Louis) game, @ PSU, @ Michigan, @ Wisconsin, and OSU at home. *sheesh*
Indiana - There was speculation when IU suspended QB Kellen Lewis several months ago, w/no explanation as to why he was suspended. But shocker, he was reinstated before summer practices. Lewis gives IU a shot to make their second bowl appearence in two years, after not getting a whiff for 14 years. Losing WR James Hardy will cause problems. The defense returns monster DE (and NCAA sack leader) Greg Middleton, but his production may drop this season as defenses start keying on him and doubling him up. The somehow miss playing both Ohio State and Michigan, And they get Wisconsin at home. But they play Illinois and Penn State on the road. Other than that, the rest of their tough games are at home. They could improve on their 7-6 record from last year.
Michigan - The Rich Rodriguez era begins in Mee-chigan. But it's really not starting the way Wolverine fans thought it would. Terrelle Pryor, the for sure bet to sign when Rodriguez became HC, decided he'd rather be a buckeye. Returning part time starter Ryan Mallet, as well as what seemed like half the team, transferred after R-Rod signed his contract. Could it be possible the Wolverines don't even make a bowl appearence? Offensive weapons Mike Hart and Mario Manningheim are gone. Ga Tech transfer Stephen Threet will probably start at QB. JR. Brandon Minor will probably start at TB. Neither one inspires visions of past greatness. The Team will rely heavilly on the defense, who will start 6 SRs. The schedule isn't bad, but it isn't great either. A road trip to Notre Dame will be big, then they host Wisconsin and Illinois in back to back weeks. They will probably drop two road games to Illinois and OSU.
Michigan State - Mike Dantonio did a good job w/this team last year. The Spartans could be this years dark horse. QB Brian Hoyer and RB Javon Ringer lead a potent MSU offense. But the defense must get better this year. They gave up 27 PPG last season, and that won't cut it in the Big Ten this year. The bright spot, DE Greg Jones, will need some help. A test extremely early, as the first game is a road trip to Cal. If they somehow, miraculously, pull that game out, they could possible start out 7-0 before a road trip to OSU. Of course, they could just as well start out 2-5, w/a home game vs. Notre Dame and Iowa, w/a road game vs Indiana. After OSU it gets ugly. @ Michigan, Wisconsin at home and @ PSU.
Iowa - Yes they return 13 starters this year. But those starters were responsible for the 2 ndworst record in the conference last season. QB Jake Christensen is better than he showed last year. The only problem w/that is that he may have to rely on a walk on RB. That's not good. What is good is the defense. The defense is the sole reason this team won last season. A lot of players are gone, but Ferenz has had a knack fro drafting good D. The schedule is bad. They start out w/some winnable non-conference games, the toughest one being @ Pitt. But don't be fooled when they start out strong. Then they go to Michigan State and Indiana, host Wisconsin, go to Illinois, and then come back home for Penn State.
Minnesota - 1-11. That's what the Golden Gophers were last year. That's putrid. Tim Brewster did bring in a pretty good recruiting class, but this team is still a couple of years away from having any kind of impact. 15 starters return, and Soph. QB Adam Webber should be improved after a season under Brewster. They got some JUCO transfers that should help shore up the defense, most notably FS Tramaine Brock. And as bad as the Gophers were last season, they could possible start out 4-0, the schedule is that weak (of course, they did lose to North Dakota State last season.) To bad they go to OSU week 5. Indiana at home, @ Illinois, Michigan, and @ Wisconsin are their toughest games.
Northwestern - Northwestern was a little bit of a surprise last season going 6-6. They return 8 starters on offense and 7 on defense. QB CJ Bacher and RB Tyrell Sutton will make waves this season. Bacher threw for almost 3700 yards last year, and Sutton averaged almost 5 YPC. The offense will score points. The defense is solid, but the secondary may be a little shaky. It's time for DE Corey Wooten to live up to his potential. The tough games this year are @ Indiana, Ohio State, @ Michigan, and Illinois. Those are 4 of their last 5 games.
Purdue - QB Curtis Painter is really good, and everyone in the Big Ten is going to continue to see just how good this season, as Joe Tiller will continue to let his SR QB air it out. 29 TDs and only 11 picks, and he may improve on those numbers this year. The RBs will once again be a platoon system with Jaycen Taylor and Kory Sheets. Sheets is speedy and had over 5 YPC last season w/11 TDs. Alex Magee and Ryan Baker are a great DT tandem, and Anthony Heygood is a solid LB. The schedule is tough. Oregon the second week of the season, @ Notre Dame, Penn State, @ OSU, and Michigan are their toughest games.
This is not your father's Big Ten. Not many teams are running the "3 yards and a cloud of dust" offense. Six teams will run either some sort of the spread offense or a pass happy offense. W/Michigan State and Iowa running more of a pro style offense, that cuts the number down even more. The conference has a lot of good teams, but they will probably beat each other up. OSU should still easilly win the conference though, but I look for Wisconsin, Illinois and Penn State all to battle for 2nd.
And that's it. Once again, gleaned a lot of stuff from different magazines and internet sites. Hope this'll give you Big Ten guys something to talk about. 
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