2020 Previews: Athlon - Early Big Ten Football Predictions

Looking at the previous few seasons, 4 is probably being gracious.  New DL, untested receivers (save Wan'dale and JD), one proven RB, replacing DB's, no ST coach, abysmal TE play, LB play  etc..........Games are won in the trenches.  Until we start to win the LOS battles, we are going to continually struggle............

We have a lot of potential.  But that's just guys who haven't done anything yet.  Gotta earn it.  Frost and Co have their hands full with this seasons schedule.   

 
I agree the Big ten is better by a good margin than a decade ago - Nebraska addition started this process ino.


lol, no. 

The Big 10, insofar as national prominence, is a one team league IMHO with that being Ohio State.

Penn State quite a bit behind the Bucks with Michigan third and fill in the rest however you like there in the east.


On what planet does Michigan land ahead of Wisconsin? Win totals, final rankings, big bowl appearances/wins, conference championship games, Wisconsin outperforms them in all of these in the last 15+ years. 

 
Landlord - you’re mistsken if you

think Neb joining Big Ten didnt impact its stature and provide the impetus for its rise from the bottom of P4 conferences to a strong #2 currently.  

We left the Big 12 and it began to fall.  MO and CU and AM leaving also hurt Big12 but without Big Red of the North - OU was left with only UT.   A few others came fwd but the lustre was off.  

Now the Big Ten could market the Huskers brandname etc.  

That is not the same as saying Neb is the old Big Red machine cause irs not by any means but we are still Nebraska football with all that national renown etc 

 
Landlord - you’re mistsken if you

think Neb joining Big Ten didnt impact its stature and provide the impetus for its rise from the bottom of P4 conferences to a strong #2 currently.  

We left the Big 12 and it began to fall.  MO and CU and AM leaving also hurt Big12 but without Big Red of the North - OU was left with only UT.   A few others came fwd but the lustre was off.  

Now the Big Ten could market the Huskers brandname etc.  

That is not the same as saying Neb is the old Big Red machine cause irs not by any means but we are still Nebraska football with all that national renown etc 


It was by mere coincidence that the Big Ten has gotten better since Nebraska joined. Nebraska has done nothing to contribute to the rise of the Big Ten... unless you count programs like Purdue and Indiana being able to claim they've beaten a blue blood program. 

 
Isn't 315 lbs pretty big for a DE?  If he were going to play DE, I would think they would try to have him below 300.


It's on the hefty side, but not too hefty for a 3-4 DE. (4-3 DE is another matter.) This article from 2014 puts the average NFL 3-4 DE's weight at 306: https://www.thefalcoholic.com/2014/3/17/5509510/nfl-34-defenses-atlanta-falcons-mike-nolan


For comparison, I looked up the average weight of 4-3 DEs in the NFL. This article puts the average at 269 lbs, so 3-4 DEs average about 37 lbs heavier than their 4-3 counterparts. Really, in a lot of ways a 3-4 DE is more like a 4-3 DT than a 4-3 DE.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2015/8/12/9129785/ranking-nfl-4-3-defensive-lines-by-weight-giants-heaviest-cowboys-lightest

 
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It was by mere coincidence that the Big Ten has gotten better since Nebraska joined. Nebraska has done nothing to contribute to the rise of the Big Ten... unless you count programs like Purdue and Indiana being able to claim they've beaten a blue blood program. 
2011: We effectively added to the chaos of no clear cut top teams in the Big Ten by beating Michigan State and allowing the national title to be a repeat game from the regular season.

2012: We held the conference flag for the year (poorly) as the two best teams in the conference were banned from postseason play.

2015: We potentially ruined Michigan State's chance at the overall No. 1 seed and match up with Oklahoma in the first round which likely would have avoided an embarrassment to Alabama that likely hurt the Big 10 due to perceived weakness in 2016.

We have ruined more than just ourselves here.  :lol:

 
2011: We effectively added to the chaos of no clear cut top teams in the Big Ten by beating Michigan State and allowing the national title to be a repeat game from the regular season.

2012: We held the conference flag for the year (poorly) as the two best teams in the conference were banned from postseason play.

2015: We potentially ruined Michigan State's chance at the overall No. 1 seed and match up with Oklahoma in the first round which likely would have avoided an embarrassment to Alabama that likely hurt the Big 10 due to perceived weakness in 2016.

We have ruined more than just ourselves here.  :lol:
Poppyc$%k.   

 
Apparently the guy who was coaching there a couple years before Urban did nothing to advance the Big Ten?

 
Landlord - you’re mistsken if you

think Neb joining Big Ten didnt impact its stature and provide the impetus for its rise from the bottom of P4 conferences to a strong #2 currently.  

We left the Big 12 and it began to fall.  MO and CU and AM leaving also hurt Big12 but without Big Red of the North - OU was left with only UT.   A few others came fwd but the lustre was off.  

Now the Big Ten could market the Huskers brandname etc.  

That is not the same as saying Neb is the old Big Red machine cause irs not by any means but we are still Nebraska football with all that national renown etc 




I think you're more mistaken.

The Big 12 fell when we left? The immediate years after we left Oklahoma State nearly played in the national championship, Kansas State became a top 15 team for a few years, Baylor became a top 15 team for even more few years, TCU got added with occasional top 10 seasons, and so on. 

The only way we impacted the Big Ten was giving them another program with lots of viewership to get bigger TV deals. Our level of play didn't do jack to help with the rise. The conference rised when Ohio State hired Urban, Michigan got better, Michigan State had a 5 year elite stretch, PSU got back in the top 15 and Wisconsin started consistently being top 10, along with Purdue/Northwestern/Iowa starting to spend big boy dollars, get new facilities and playing consistently better.

 
I think you're more mistaken.

The Big 12 fell when we left? The immediate years after we left Oklahoma State nearly played in the national championship, Kansas State became a top 15 team for a few years, Baylor became a top 15 team for even more few years, TCU got added with occasional top 10 seasons, and so on. 

The only way we impacted the Big Ten was giving them another program with lots of viewership to get bigger TV deals. Our level of play didn't do jack to help with the rise. The conference rised when Ohio State hired Urban, Michigan got better, Michigan State had a 5 year elite stretch, PSU got back in the top 15 and Wisconsin started consistently being top 10, along with Purdue/Northwestern/Iowa starting to spend big boy dollars, get new facilities and playing consistently better.
These are the indicators of the conference getting stronger . yes.  Thats my point.  Did NU get stronger relatively speaking - No.  We comparing conferences.  KState and Baylor had better seasons but the Big 12 dropped - not even seriously debated.  

Big 12 has a couple top 15 programs (OU and somebody?) but no team really stands up. And OU seems to be the 4th place holder in the 4 teams playoffs at best.  

 
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