So after about a 4 month hiatus, I’ve decided it was time to dust off the old keyboard and get back to work since starting the Sunday we will have football every weekend from now until February 8, 2015 (or as I like to call it a day that will live in infamy ((my wedding day))).

Leaders and Legends are no more; welcome the new and improved, highly original, East and West conferences names for the BIG10. Unlike years past, the goal for one of these teams is not just to do whatever they can to be undefeated so they can get smushed in the championship by an SEC team. Now, they must do whatever they can to get in the top 4, only to be smushed by an SEC team that eventually leads to an all-SEC championship game. Without further ado, let’s take a look at how the teams in the East and West will finish, along with a few of my favorite prop bets…

East

How They’ll Finish

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan State
3. Michigan
4. Rutgers
5. Indiana
6. Penn State
7. Maryland

Arguably the toughest division in college football (not conference, calm down SEC groupies)these teams are historically good and historically beat up on each other. Ohio State may be the best coached team in the BIG10 (despite how much I hate that cheater Urban Meyer and the entire OSU program).They score a lot of points, and don’t really play a lot of defense, but besides the SEC, no one really plays defense anymore. They’re experience in the coaching department along with a healthy Braxton Miller should bring the Buckeyes to an East Division title. Don’t sleep on Michigan State or Michigan though, because these rivalries run deep, and they could make OSU sweat a little bit.

Teams 4-6 is a crap shoot. Penn State could actually get as high as 2, but with the coaching change and the uncertainty that is Penn State, you never really know. Rutgers and Indiana traditionally aren’t powerhouse football schools and don’t really belong here, and Maryland should have just had their football program fold.

Prop Bets

Ohio State to win the division: 2/5

Ohio State over 10.5 wins: -135

West

How they’ll finish

1. Wisconsin
2. Nebraska
3. Iowa
4. Purdue
5. Northwestern
6. Minnesota
7. Illinois

It should be a two horse race in the Western division. The Badgers are perennially at the top before choking in their bowl game, or in the case expected for this year; BIG10 Championship game. The West division features the more trench-minded part of the conference with Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, and Purdue producing numerous big ole farm boy linemen that like to get after it. ultimately this division will come down to the Nebraska @ Wisconsin game on 11/15. Northwestern turned some heads a couple years ago, but ultimately fizzled out. Minnesota used to be a formidable opponent, but they also fell off the face of the Earth. Illinois should stick to basketball.

Prop Bets

Wisconsin to win the division: 6/5

 

Prediction

Too much Ohio State, they win the Big10 Championship going away, and secure a berth in the Final Four.

 

Ohio State 10/11 to win the Big10 Championship

 

 

ap3

Sunday, August 3, 2014