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 Tuesday, August 7, 2001
Don't be surprised by a deep Big Ten
By Terry Bowden
Special to ABC Sports Online
Bowden's Weekly Chat Show
The BIG TEN doesn't look so BIG going into the football season. ESPN.com did a consensus from all the preseason polls and not one BIG TEN team ranked in the top TEN.
|  | | Drew Brees led Purdue to the Rose Bowl last year, but there is no clear favorite who will win the Big Ten this season. |
That may be the way it looks, but I'm not so sure that's the way it really is. There are so many unknowns on so many teams in the conference that almost all of them are being underrated. Almost all 11 teams have a chance to win the conference championship, too.
Michigan lost its star quarterback, running back, wide receiver and not one, but three of its offensive linemen, so the Wolverines must have problems on offense. Why? Since when has Michigan had a shortage of talent?
Ohio State has a new head coach -- from Division I-AA no less -- so the Buckeyes are going to struggle for a while. Why? I went from I-AA to Auburn and we only won our first 20 games (Thank you, Thank you). And, I lost to Jim Tressel in the I-AA playoffs while he was on the way to one of four national championships. He'll be just fine.
Penn State is coming off its first losing season in 12 years and it will be a long rebuilding job for the Nittany Lions. Why? Do you know how long it's been since Penn State had back-to-back losing seasons? Not since 1931-32. There's an excellent reason for that. They are much more experienced at being good than they are being bad. Then there is that other little factor that must be considered. At some point during the season, and I will venture to guess sooner, rather than later, they will be playing for the winningest coach in Division I-A history. Enough said.
Northwestern doesn't play defense, Drew Brees is irreplaceable at Purdue, Glen Mason lost too many assistant coaches at Minnesota, Wisconsin doesn't have a tailback, Illinois is all Kurt Kittner, Michigan State hasn't recovered since Nick Saban left, Iowa is still building its program and Indiana ? well, Indiana is just Indiana.
Excuse my French, but bull hockey.
Just because there is not a team in the conference that could be legitimately picked as a preseason contender for the national championship doesn't mean there won't be a couple of postseason contenders vying for a spot in the title game. In fact, you can count on it.
Terry Bowden was the head coach at Salem College, Samford University and Auburn University. He is ABC's college football studio analyst and contributes regularly for ABC Sports Online.
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