Next year, the Big Ten Conference will join the Pac 12 and Big 12 conferences with a nine game conference schedule. For now, year two of the B1G West and East divisions, each team will play an eight game conference schedule, with six division opponents and two cross-over games.- Ohio State Buckeyes (24-0 over last 3 years, reg. season)
- Michigan State Spartans (18-6)
- Wisconsin Badgers (17-7)
- Nebraska Cornhuskers (17-7)
- Michigan Wolverines (12-12)
- Penn State Nittany Lions (12-12)
- Maryland Terrapins (4-4, one year)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (11-13)
- Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-13)
- Rutgers Red Knights (3-5, one year)
- Northwestern Wildcats (9-15)
- Indiana Hoosiers (6-18)
- Illinois Fighting Illini (4-20)
- Purdue Boilermakers (4-20)
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| Penn State's QB Christian Hackenberg. |
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| New Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is back in Ann Arbor for 2015. |
Michigan welcomes a new head coach, with former Wolverine quarterback Jim Harbaugh, back in college football, after four seasons in the NFL. The Wolverines are 12-12 over the past three seasons in Big Ten play. It has been 11 seasons, since the Wolverines last won a Big Ten football title.
But, the conference has a different feel today, with seven programs in the East and seven other programs in the West. The path to the title is far different today. Ohio State is the defending National Champion, winner of the first College Football Playoff.
Since 2011, the Big Ten Championship Game has determined the sole football champion of the conference. The first three seasons, the winners of the Leaders vs. Legends battled for the title. Last year, the East vs. West unfolded with Ohio State winning for the first time, under head coach Urban Meyer.
- 2011 - #15 Wisconsin 42, #11 Michigan State 39
- 2012 - Unranked Wisconsin 70, #14 Nebraska 31
- 2013 - #10 Michigan State 34, #2 Ohio State 24
- 2014 - #6 Ohio State 59, #11 Wisconsin 0
Who takes care of business in 2015 in the Big Ten West?
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| Mike Riley was 58-63 in the Pac 12 over his 14 seasons as head coach. |
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| Paul Chryst (19-19, 3 years at Pitt) returns to his alma mater and hometown. |
Both Nebraska and Wisconsin welcome new head coaches for the 2015 season. Mike Riley arrives in Lincoln, after 14 seasons as head coach at Oregon State, under two stints, with a 4 year break in the NFL. Paul Chryst returns to his hometown of Madison, after three seasons as head coach at Pittsburgh.
October will be very interesting in Big Ten West play, as Wisconsin plays both Iowa, then at Nebraska to kickoff their 2015 Big Ten schedule. Nebraska travels to Illinois, before hosting the defending division champs in Lincoln. The 2015 contest will be the first meeting, since Wisconsin's 70-13 win in the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis.
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| The Iowa defense returns 7 starters from last year's group, here against Wisconsin. |
Iowa is lead by the dean of Big Ten football coaches, as Kirk Ferentz enters his 17th season as head coach. Iowa has finished 7-6, 4-8, 8-5 and 7-6 over the past four seasons and has not won a bowl game, since 2010.
The Hawkeyes actually were in the division race heading into the final two games at Kinnick Stadium last year, but lost 26-24 to Wisconsin, then lost 37-34 in OT to Nebraska to finish 4-4 in the Big Ten West.
Defense is often the key to success in the Big Ten. The top programs generally rank high in defense. Defense often fuels programs like Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Nebraska, the four programs that have played in the Big Ten title game over the past four seasons.
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| Junior QB Mitch Leidner is back leading the Golden Gophers in '15. |
One program that will likely build success off their defense in 2015 is the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Coach Jerry Kill enters his fifth season at Minnesota, coming off his first winning Big Ten
season at 5-3. However, the Golden Gophers have not beat Wisconsin, since 2003, falling 34-24 in Madison, last season.
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| The 2015 College Football TSN preview considers Minnesota the Big Ten's "underrated" program, while Northwestern's receives the "overrated" program tag. |
The Golden Gophers open the 2015 season on Thursday night in TCF Bank Stadium against a Top 4 team, with the TCU Horned Frogs coming to town. The Big Ten schedule will be a taxing as well, with a Big Ten game back to back on the road at Northwestern and Purdue, followed up with a Big Ten home opener vs. Nebraska. The out of division games are at home with Michigan, followed up with a game at Ohio State. The Golden Gophers travel to Iowa City, then finish of the Big Ten campaign with Illinois and Wisconsin at home.
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| Sophomore RB Justin Jackson is back to build on his 1k season. |
Six starters are back on offense in 2015, including their leading rusher on the ground. But, the Wildcats are the only Big Ten West program, who have a question on who the #1 quarterback will be in 2015?The offensive line has two new starters and was not highly regarded in 2014. The defense returns eight starters, but special teams are not highly regarded and the leader of the linebacker unit, Chi Chi Ariguzo has departed, leading questions in this unit for 2015.
The Wildcats open the 2015 season with Stanford coming to Ryan Field on Saturday of Week 1. Northwestern also travels to Duke in Week 3 of the 2015 College Football season.
Illinois is coming off their first bowl season, along with a win over Northwestern, under fourth year coach Mike Beckman. The Fighting Illini return junior QB Wes Lunt, along with seven other offensive starters. The offensive line will have to do a good job protecting their quarterback.
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| Junior QB Wes Lunt needs to remain healthy, after missing five games, due to injury in 2014. |
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| Senior RB Josh Ferguson is one of eight returning Illini offensive starters back. |
The Fighting Illini return seven starters on the defensive side and have brought in a new co-DC Mike Phair, from the NFL.
Special teams should be decent heading into 2015, as well. The Fighting Illini face a challenging Big Ten schedule with a trip to Penn State and a date again with Ohio State. The Illini have a road trip to Tobacco Road and a date with North Carolina in the non-conference.
Lunt is the only letter-winner back at quarterback in 2015. So, durability will be very important for the former Oklahoma State quarterback, who has yet to complete a full season. First year players back up the talented quarterback for the Illini.
Purdue enters their third season under coach Darrell Hazell. The Boilermakers are 1-15, with a 38-27 road win over Illinois last season. Otherwise, there continues to be a lot of work for the Boilermakers.
Eight starters return on offense, with seven starters back on defense. Special teams should be experienced, as well, for Hazell's third season.
The Boilermakers open the 2015 season on the road at Marshall on Sunday of the opening weekend. In Week 3, Virginia Tech comes to West Lafayette for another non-conference game. Indiana State and Bowling Green are the other two non-conference games in '15.
The Big Ten season opens with a road trip at Michigan State, then Minnesota comes to West Lafayette, followed by a road trip to Wisconsin. The Boilermakers will be battle tested in the first half of 2015.
