Around the Big Ten

[WM Wolverine]

Like N Illinois QB. Huskies should do well in the MAC...

I felt Iowa's talent level was dropping but it might be even lower than I thought, giving up a ton of sacks isn't a typical Ferentz OL. No skill position talent. They are closer to Minnesota, Northwestern than Nebraska, Sparty & Michigan.

[lineygoblue]

Usually, the OL is the strength of the Hawkeyes.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Vandenberg is El Stinko

[Dr. Strangelove]

Wisconsin is now beating Northern Iowa only 26-21. That would be a much more embarrassing loss than the Iowa game

[lineygoblue]

I guess their new "QB Du Jour" isn't quite the guy they signed .. er... got.. last year....

[whodean]

The conference sucks...again

[Dr. Strangelove]

Geez Jason, you may have been right after all. Iowa on the verge of stealing this one

[Dr. Strangelove]

The conference sucks...again

Want a few more weeks before making judgment. A win's a win. Boise State, Southern Miss, and Syracuse are solid wins for Week 1. I thought we looked pretty good once we shook the dust off. Illinois and Purdue also exceeded my low expectations.

[JRB]

Iowa did this three years ago against Northern Iowa. They needed two blocked field goals in the last minute to win by one, and they ended up going 11-2 and winning the Orange Bowl that season. I never judge Iowa by an opener, no matter how bad they look. Sometimes, you can even throw out the entire month of September.

[iam416]

B10 opens up 3-6 ATS with Illinois inching to a cover on a Pick-6, Nebraska getting comfortably over the 20 and Ohio State covering easily. As for me, I told myself in January that Alabama should be a massive play. I told myself on Friday that Miami is el stinko and OSU is pretty decent and that should be a massive play. And what do I do? Play 'em both the same as I played 3 other losers. Idiot. Anywho, this week's B10 early lines:

Penn State +10 (@ Virginia)
Indiana -13' (@ UMass)
Michigan -21 (AFA)
Ohio State -17' (UCF)
Sparty -23' (CMU neutral?)
Purdue +14' (@ Notre Dame)
Wisconsin -7' (@ Oregon State)
Iowa -3' (Iowa State)
Nebraska -5 (@ UCLA)
Northwestern +3 (vs Vanderbilt)
Illinois +1' (@ Arizona State)

My initial take is that I love the Hoosiers and the Commies. I also think Notre Dame will rail Purdue and I think Penn State's woes will continue, but I'm just not sure enough about Virginia.

As for Ohio State, I'm far more cautious this weekend. Miami, as noted, is stink on ice. UCF, IMO, is a shade below a rebuilding Boise team for best "mid-major"/"BCS buster" team. And, TBH, a bigger test, IMO, than suckass Cal next week. I expect a much closer game with the number being about right.

As for M, I think they'll cover. AFA really doesn't have the defensive team speed to cope with a good offense. I'd expect M to rip off a ton of big plays. AFA may give M some trouble with 4 and 5 yard pops, but the thing is -- a negative play or a penalty or a mistake really puts them up against it. I can see this as a 45-17 or something along those lines. Maybe a few more points for each.

[Hannibal]

Like N Illinois QB. Huskies should do well in the MAC...

I felt Iowa's talent level was dropping but it might be even lower than I thought, giving up a ton of sacks isn't a typical Ferentz OL.

Actually, it kinda is. Iowa's OL play sucks pretty much every year. I find the enduring myth of Frerentz being a great O line coach to be one of the greatest mysteries of college football.

[Hannibal]

I didn't think that Miami was that bad. I was really impressed by their QB. IMHO he is the best passer that OSU will face this year. The guy is really good. Their shitty wide receivers left a ton of yards on the table by either dropping passes or letting OSU defenders rip them out of their hands at the last second. I don't know anything about their defense.

I like Indiana to cover. I think I like Michigan to cover against Air Force too. Al Borges has shown an unmatchable talent for coming up with good game plans against shitty teams. We'll pull out all the stops for that one like we did against Minnehaha last year.

[iam416]

Dysert is a really solid QB, but he was, as you noted, shit on by his WRs. Nice accuracy, though. It's really hard, though, when you rely on really short passes, to put together consistent drives when your WRs are so average. And their defense was an abomination. I rate them as a middling MAC team; they're not Akron bad, but they're not in the same class, IMO, as Ohio, Western or Northern.

I'm not sure what Borges will come up with, but if gets his speed in space, it's a gross mismatch.

[lineygoblue]

Air Force doesn't have anyone on defense that can stop Denard.

[Hannibal]

The loss for PSU to Ohio is really bad. Ohio might be really good for a MAC team, but this is an important year for PSU. The talent level is going to go downhill for at least a few years after this. Games against mid-majors are must-wins.