Guest Post: 2012 Big Ten College Football Preview

2011 was an interesting year for Big Ten football, to say the least.

The first season under the Legends and Leaders divisions ended with #15 Wisconsin beating #13 Michigan State in a 42-39 victory that was full of offense. Surprisingly, that championship game wasn’t even the biggest storyline of the season. A number of those 2011 storylines, from the Penn State scandal to Montee Ball’s emergence as a terrific offensive threat for the Badgers, will carry over to 2012.

On a national level, all eyes will be on Penn State. A season that started like any other ultimately ended up with the removal of Joe Paterno after more than 60 years on the Penn State sideline. Despite the distractions, the Nittany Lions still managed to finish with a 9-4 record. Although he’s yet to coach a game, many agree that the team did well in finding Paterno’s replacement by hiring former Patriots coordinator Bill O’Brien. Still, the team experienced a lot of turnover on the offensive side of the ball, so it will be interesting to see whether the team can move forward from the scandals and improve in 2012.

National media aside, many Big Ten fans have Michigan pegged as the team to beat. This is a pretty fair assessment: They’re still led by Brady Hoke, the Big Ten’s Coach of the Year. Perhaps more importantly, they also have Denard Robinson at quarterback. Robinson had a strong 2011, completing 55 percent of his passes for more than 2,100 yards with 20 touchdowns. He also rushed for an impressive 1,176 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry and scoring 16 touchdowns.

A number of observers have pegged Robinson as being the eventual winner of the 2012 Heisman, but it’s much too early to tell. The team also has to prove that it’s successfully replaced its defensive line, which lost three starters. If they can do that, though, they should be the favorite.

It wouldn’t be possible to do a Big Ten preview without discussing Wisconsin and Michigan State, last year’s participants in the first Big Ten Football Championship. The Badgers shouldn’t have much trouble locking up the Leaders division. Penn State was the only school on their heels in 2011, and the amount of turnover in that program should keep enough distance between the two programs. Other programs in the division, such as Purdue and Indiana, are simply too far away. Despite losing quarterback Russell Wilson and receiver Nick Toon, the defense is still in terrific shape with Mike Taylor and Chris Borland returning.

Michigan State’s path to repeating as the winner of the Legends division is a little murkier. The team retained a number of important defensive personnel, but lost a few weapons on offense. Most notably, the Spartans will be trying to fill the shoes of quarterback Kirk Cousins and receiver B.J. Cunningham, the respective all-time leaders in touchdowns and receiving.

Ultimately, the combination of turnover in the offense and Michigan’s improvement might prove to be too much for the Spartans to overcome. This year’s championship game is to be played on December 1, and for now it looks like it will be Michigan and Wisconsin facing off. Anything can happen between now and then, though. Couple that with other areas of intrigue, such as the pairing of Urban Meyer and Braxton Miller at Ohio State, and 2012 is going to be a fun season for Big Ten fans.
By Don Phan - Just another sports enthusiast.