▶Iowa State, Notre Dame highlight the Associated Press football All-americans.
But Ohio St., Wisconsin picked as favorites in competitive conference
Tom Allen strung together four words not usually associated with his Indiana football program.
“A lot of expectations,” he said. Hoosier hype is well-founded this year, though it’s hard to imagine anyone dethroning preseason No. 4 Ohio State as king of the Big Ten. The Buckeyes have won four straight conference titles, played in the national championship game last season and are expected to keep rolling even with an inexperienced quarterback.
But if anyone is poised to challenge Ohio State in the Big Ten East, 17th-ranked Indiana is a trendy pick with the return of quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
The Hoosiers were a revelation last season, going 6-1 before their Outback Bowl loss to Mississippi and being ranked in the top 10 for six weeks. That one regular-season loss was at home to Ohio State, 42-35, after Indiana was down 35-7 in the third quarter.
Indiana brings back the core of a defense that led the Big Ten with 25 sacks and had 17 interceptions. The key for the offense is keeping the dynamic, injury prone Penix healthy. He missed the last two games with a torn ACL. He’s among eight returning offensive starters, a group that includes Big Ten receiver of the year Ty Fryfogle.
Allen said his hope is that success can breed success. Remember, this is a program that hasn’t had three straight winning seasons — overall or in conference play — since the mid-1940s.
“That’s been the challenge, to go from believing — and I believe we have a team that believes — to now expecting a certain outcome on game day,” he said.
The biggest question for Ohio State is at quarterback, where redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud has won the job to replace Justin Fields. Stroud, who has never thrown a pass in a college game, will be surrounded by best-inthe-nation talent at receiver and on the line. The defense will have new starters at linebacker but is experienced up front and in the secondary.
No. 19 Penn State and Michigan are looking to bounce back after disappointing seasons, Maryland and Rutgers appear to be teams on the rise and Michigan State is looking to find traction under second-year coach Mel Tucker.
Wisconsin is the favorite in the West after going 4-3 and finishing third in the division last year. The No. 12 Badgers had two games canceled because of COVID -19 issues and were plagued by injuries. They return quarterback Graham Mertz and plenty of experience at other positions.
No. 18 Iowa enters the season on a six-game win streak, has a second-year starting quarterback in Spencer Petras and should have another strong defense if it can restock its line.
Northwestern, which made a surprise run to the Big Ten championship game last year, had two players taken in the first round of the NFL draft and ranks near the bottom of the FBS in returning production.