On this weeks edition of The Student Section college football roundtable, we focus in on the Big Ten Conference. TSS Associate Editors Bart Doan and Terry Johnson join staff writer Kevin Causey and special rotating guests in our weekly roundtable discussing all things college football.
To talk about Big Ten football as we are joined by Jason Long of The Buckeye Battle Cry and Kevin McGuire of Nittany Lions Den.
Question: Which team will be the most improved in the Big Ten?
Jason Long
On Twitter @ScriptOhio
It pains me to say it, but you’d have to think that Michigan will be the most improved team in the Big Ten. While he was terrible at developing it, Brady Hoke was able to attract talent to Ann Arbor.
One thing new head coach Jim Harbaugh excels at is getting the most out of his players. His teams at Stanford, though anchored by solid or exceptional quarterback play, weren’t filled with 4 and 5 star recruits. Michigan has a wealth of talent that Hoke simply could not get to perform on Saturdays.
I think we’ll see a disciplined and potentially dangerous team up north. The real test will be once they have some success and how they respond to it. Do they do what a lot of other UM teams with hots starts have done recently and let it go to their head or will they stay grounded and continue to play at a high level, especially as the season wears on and the games get tougher? If they start to truly believe in themselves and buy in to Harbaugh’s vision, November 28th against Ohio State could be a battle for the ages.
Kevin McGuire
On Twitter @KevinonCFB
Go ahead and call me a homer if you choose, but I believe Penn State has an excellent chance to be among the most improved teams in the Big Ten this season. As I have attempted to explain in detail before, it all comes down to the offensive line. Last year it was an absolute mess, so it almost has nowhere to go but up this season. I expect Herb Hand to tighten things up on the offensive line, which now is starting to see more depth through recruiting and the addition of a pair of transfers with some playing experience behind them. Penn State returns four likely starters on the offensive line and could add JUCO transfer Paris Palmer to the lone hole at left tackle. Stanford graduate transfer Kevin Reihner could be used at multiple positions as well, and if he was good enough to play on Stanford’s offensive line, that seems like a plus. If the offensive line improves just enough to prevent Christian Hackenberg to be sacked 40 times and gives the running game just a little bit of a push and some room to run, the entire offense should benefit.
Bart Doan:
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
This is probably the easiest conference to make this prediction for, and it’d almost be contrarian to go anywhere but Ann Arbor for the answer. There are a lot of reasons, but all of them in some way are about the serious upgrade in coaching acumen around those parts.
We’ve seen plenty of times that simply hiring a great coach doesn’t pay immediate dividends. Hell, Nick Saban lost to UL-Monroe during his early life in Tuscaloosa. But Michigan recruited very well under Brady Hoke’s regime. They just couldn’t do anything with all of those stars once they got to campus. That’s a coaching thing.
Harbaugh and staff inherit a veteran defense with exceptional depth at linebacker. The secondary should be one of the better in the Big 10, especially with Wayne Lyons coming by way of Stanford. The offense will be a work in progress, but you have to figure whoever is playing quarterback (likely Jake Rudock) will be the type of drop back passer Michigan has lacked in recent years, which helps the offensive line know where he is. The schedule is tough, but the bottom line is, Michigan should be vastly better.
Kevin Causey:
On Twitter @CFBZ
When I look at who will be the most improved team, I like to look at the schedules. If a team looks like they will be improved on paper but then they are playing Ohio State and Michigan State….it’s a lot tougher to make that improvement in the win column.
I’m looking at you Iowa. This is a team without superstars and seemingly without expectations (at least from college football prognosticators). They are also without Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State and Michigan on their schedule. Yep, they miss out on the four best teams from the Big Ten East. Yes, Iowa fell apart down the stretch in 2014 and got destroyed by Tennessee in the bowl game. But…they’ve also been stewing on that all off-season and four of their six losses from last year were by one score or less.
This Iowa team isn’t going to win any beauty pageants but double-digit wins isn’t out of the question.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
Michigan will be the most improved team in the Big Ten this fall.
Make no mistake about it: the Wolverines were much better than last year’s record would indicate. Sure, UM lost seven games, but two of losses were by a touchdown or less. With a couple of breaks, Big Blue could have finished the season with a winning record.
This year’s team won’t need good fortune to get to a bowl; it will do so on its own talent. The defense returns seven starters from a stellar unit that finished seventh nationally in yards per game, allowing just 311.3 per contest. This trend will continue under the leadership of new coordinator DJ Durkin, whose Florida squads finished in top 15 nationally in total defense in 2013 and 2014.
On the other side of the ball, Michigan’s offense will be one of the most improved units in the nation. While plenty of questions remain going into fall camp, there’s no question in my mind that Jim Harbaugh will turn things in Ann Arbor this season. There’s simply too much talent on that side of the ball for him not to be successful.
A stellar defense plus an improved offense will equal a nine-win season, which results in a net of four wins. There aren’t many teams in the country that will match that.
