Online Now 3338

Big Ten Board (Beta)

On this Board 79
Record: 1319 (5/2/2012)

Online now 3324
Record: 18710 (2/25/2012)

Boards ▾

The Blue Board

We aren't just committed to college football; we're early enrolling in it.

247Rumors

College football scuttlebutt and scoop- powered by Football Rumor Mill

The Green Board

Where the madness isn't just in March.

Big Ten Board (Beta)

Reply

Big Ten Chat: Thursday Sep 19, 10 a.m. ET (POST QUESTIONS HERE)

  • http://247sports.com/Article/Big-Ten-Chat-Thursday-10-am-ET-91625

    Steve Helwagen, the Big Ten senior writer for 247Sports.com, will host a Chat on the Big Ten message board beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern/9 a.m. Central on Thursday.

    Please post any questions for Thursday's Chat as replies here.

    This post was edited by SteveHelwagen on 9/19/2012 at 7:29 PM

    SteveHelwagen

  • Who will have the best 2014 class?

    If God dwells inside us, like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting

    Wolfie

  • Steve, there's no nice way to say it so I'll be frank: The Big Ten looks like dog excrement. I'm sort of glad we proved it in weeks two and three instead of waiting until the bowl season this year. With the daunting bowl schedule the Big Ten typically has (Rose bowl vs. Pac 12 champ, 3 New Years Day games against SEC teams, Insight Bowl vs. improved middle of the road Big 12 teams, etc.), plus the ineligibility of Ohio State and Penn State, plus Wisconsin looking like garbage without Bielema's former assistants, plus MSU starting a quarterback who folds under pressure like an accordian, do you think it's possible we finish the bowl season winless as a conference? Has that ever happened before?

    signature image signature image signature image

    "Avoid the clap." -Jimmy Dugan

    buckeye_mikey69

  • Any indication from anyone, that OSU corners, two of whom are pretty darn good, are going to start playing some bump and run? Until now, they've given receivers such a wide cushion! Or does anyone even consider that to be an issue?

    mklewis

  • Steve, Braxton Miller is starting to get a bit of early Heisman hype. So far, his numbers are pretty good, averaging just over 200 yards a game through the air and 125 yards a game on the ground. Is this just a product of bad competition? Do you think he'll continue to dazzle when the Big Ten schedule opens or will he fizzle out against tougher competition (like Denard Robinson the last few years)?

    signature image signature image signature image

    "Avoid the clap." -Jimmy Dugan

    buckeye_mikey69

  • Thanks for the first few questions. Keep them coming!!!

    SteveHelwagen

  • I don't understand why Northwestern is not in the Top 25 poll? They are undefeated and have played a tougher schedule than OSU and many other D-1 teams.

    rsd180

  • Steve, what's your diagnosis of what's going on at Wisconsin?

    Twitter: michaelbruntz :: E-mail: michael@huskersillustrated.com

    Michael Bruntz

  • How do you see Northwestern's season ending up from here on out?

    Twitter: michaelbruntz :: E-mail: michael@huskersillustrated.com

    Michael Bruntz

  • Who are you going with as conference MVP's now that you have seen the first few weeks of action?

    Bill Kurelic

  • Who shoulds start at Quarterback on Saturday for Wisconsin? Joel Stave or Danny O'Brien?

    FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @Evan_Flood https://twitter.com/#!/Evan_Flood Badger 247 Recruiting Analyst and Wisconsin beat writer.

    Evan Flood

  • After the way Notre Dame played at Michigan State last weekend, what do you see happening when the Irish welcome in Michigan on Saturday?

    Bill Kurelic

  • Alright Mr. Steve Helwagen, let's talk hoops (since you were so kind as to drop in on my chat as well).

    I'm quite interested in Ohio State, and you would be the man to talk to on that. Obviously a lot of production gone, with William Buford and Jared Sullinger out the door. So my question comes in a few parts:

    1) Is Aaron Craft capable of stepping up his scoring production without sacrificing other parts of his game, like his defense and his distribution? Also, can he be that efficient offensively that it would be worth it, or is he a guy who you'd rather have scoring less but focusing more on his strengths?

    2) Can Deshaun Thomas be THE guy, without being the guy who shoots too much or disrupts the offense? Obviously he's a great scorer and shot maker, but can he play in a role more central to his team's success than just scoring the ball, maybe with some of the same impact as William Buford, in being a guy who can score but isn't harmful in doing so most of the time?

    3) I guess the public perception of Ohio State is that they didn't really replace Sullinger/Buford with headliners like usual — Sullinger and Thomas followed Mullens and Buford, who followed Koufos and Turner, who followed Oden and Conley and Cook. But the 2011 recruiting class was deep, certainly, and it always seems like Thad Matta likes to keep his rotations short anyway, so there wasn't going to be much room for guys like LaQuinton Ross, Amir Williams, etc. Is that group ready to step into a bigger collective role, or do too many of those guys have proving to do before they can be counted on at this level.

    Phew. That was long, forgive me.

    Zach Osterman // IU Athletics beat reporter // Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZachOsterman

    Zach Osterman

  • Steve, do you think the Big Ten should stay at 12 teams now that Notre Dame has officially moved on? I've seen a lot of griping recently that "the Big Ten missed the boat in conference expansion" and stuff like that. I totally disagree. Were we supposed to add Missouri and Pitt and water-down the conference? I like it at 12. Now if we could just get those 12 teams to not suck, that would help the cause. But do you like 12, or do you agree with those who say Delany missed the boat?

    signature image

    I've found pimping to be easier than one might expect

    spongeworthy

  • If it's Northwestern-Purdue in the Big Ten championship game, predict the attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium.

    I've got 32,389. At least both fan bases won't have to drive very far!

    signature image

    I've found pimping to be easier than one might expect

    spongeworthy

  • And as an aside for the good folks at my website, might I glean from you a couple of pros and cons as to the argument for Indiana as a Final Four-capable team this season?

    Zach Osterman // IU Athletics beat reporter // Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZachOsterman

    Zach Osterman

  • Hello everybody, great to be here today!!! I hope to get into a weekly routine of doing this and may do one on a Thursday night as well at some point. I will go back to the beginnning and start from there. Please add any questions you may have as replies here.

    SteveHelwagen

  • Wolfie said...

    Who will have the best 2014 class?

    The current top 5 nationally for 2013 is USC, Alabama, Michigan, Florida and Ohio State. It appears Michigan and OSU are running away and hiding from the rest of the Big Ten.

    Regarding 2014, I think it's too early to say who might have a great class then. I know OSU will only have 15-18 available spots in that class. Should be a decent year in Ohio, although I know 247 only has one Midwest guy in its early top 20 for 2014. That tells me the usual ACC/SEC powers that recruit well will be the top five and it will be hard for a Midwest team to be ranked that highly.

    Again, until schools start getting verbals for 2014 it's impossible to predict. My guess is the trend we are seeing now (Michigan and Ohio State separating themselves) will only continue.

    SteveHelwagen

  • buckeye_mikey69 said...

    Steve, there's no nice way to say it so I'll be frank: The Big Ten looks like dog excrement. I'm sort of glad we proved it in weeks two and three instead of waiting until the bowl season this year. With the daunting bowl schedule the Big Ten typically has (Rose bowl vs. Pac 12 champ, 3 New Years Day games against SEC teams, Insight Bowl vs. improved middle of the road Big 12 teams, etc.), plus the ineligibility of Ohio State and Penn State, plus Wisconsin looking like garbage without Bielema's former assistants, plus MSU starting a quarterback who folds under pressure like an accordian, do you think it's possible we finish the bowl season winless as a conference? Has that ever happened before?

    I don't think winless has ever happened, at least in last 20 years. they went like 2-5 a year or 2 ago, which was terrible. You are spot on that not having OSU (or a real PSU) in the mix hurts because that moves everybody up a notch. It is looking like a one-BCS bid league ... unless, say, Michigan and Michigan State each end up around 10-2.

    That's actually a good thing (other than the lost revenue) because it won't move an undeserving, underwhelming team into one of those Jan. 1 games against what will be dynamite SEC opposition (take your pick from UGa, South Carolina, Florida, etc.).

    Agreed on even the Insight Bowl (or whatever it's called now) ... Big 12 will send a good team there too.

    MSU has to hope that Maxwell comes along. I think he will be fine in the long run.

    Somebody somewhere will win a bowl game. But they could be underdogs in nearly every match-up.

    SteveHelwagen

  • One of the sports analysts (I believe it was Farrell, but am not sure) indicated that the declining image of the B1G TEN could adversely impact recruiting in the conference. In addition, other analysts have suggested that the poor perception of the B1G TEN could also harm the chances of the conference champion being selected for the national championship playoffs when that starts.

    What are your thoughts on the declining conference image seriously impacting both recruiting and being selected for the national championship playoffs in the future.

    dominus

  • mklewis said...

    Any indication from anyone, that OSU corners, two of whom are pretty darn good, are going to start playing some bump and run? Until now, they've given receivers such a wide cushion! Or does anyone even consider that to be an issue?

    Meyer talked about that this week. He said they have good corners and bringing blitz pressure puts them more on an island.

    This is a case where one domino knocks down the next domino. Nate Williams has been slowed and Mike Bennett has been out. So the D-line has not been as effective as they need them to be, so they've had to bring blitzes. The blitzes worked well against Cal, so my guess is we will see more of them. (My guess is with superior talent they will be very vanilla against UAB and then try and unleash hell on Maxwell and Martinez the next 2 weeks.)

    It all has to fit together and make sense. You don't just play bump-and-run to be macho. It has to fit into the overall scheme. I think Fickell favors what has worked for them for years, playing it safe, giving up stuff underneath and stopping them in the red zone.

    SteveHelwagen

  • buckeye_mikey69 said...

    Steve, Braxton Miller is starting to get a bit of early Heisman hype. So far, his numbers are pretty good, averaging just over 200 yards a game through the air and 125 yards a game on the ground. Is this just a product of bad competition? Do you think he'll continue to dazzle when the Big Ten schedule opens or will he fizzle out against tougher competition (like Denard Robinson the last few years)?

    This is a great question. I think Miller will be as good as his OL and his improving WRs allow him to be. Devin Smith, Philly Brown and Jake Stoneburner give him every opp to succeed, but wll they still get open against Big Ten opposition? Probably better than they did last year.

    Let's look at who they've played:

    Miami, probably a 6-6 team in the MAC
    UCF, probably a 9-3 or 8-4 team in C-USA
    Cal, probably a 5-7 or 6-6 team in Pac-12 (they will have to hustle to win 5 because Pac-12 is looking tougher than it did on paper)

    Once they get past MSU and Nebraska, OSU should be cruising for a while. They get Illinois and Purdue at home and that helps.

    I think it's premature to tout Miller for the Heisman. I look at this as a developmental year for him. NEXT YEAR is when I think he could make a real push (although there will be no Stoney, no Jordan Hall). But that's going to be his year, IMO.

    SteveHelwagen

  • Who do you think will be the best Heisman candidate from the conference at the end of the year?

    Amazinglyblue78

  • 16_rsd180 said...

    I don't understand why Northwestern is not in the Top 25 poll? They are undefeated and have played a tougher schedule than OSU and many other D-1 teams.

    I agree, but I don't think media or coaches give their 3 BCS opponents so far (Syracuse, Vandy and BC) much credence. NW is 28 in AP and 30 in the coaches poll. That's not much respect for a team that is the only one with 3 wins over BCS conference opponents. (Notre Dame and some others could join them this week with wins.)

    They should be 4-0 after beating South Dakota and then possibly 5-0 after playing Indiana next week.

    What I like with Northwestern is they have outlasted these teams (which should all end up between 4 and 7 wins) while playing left handed. Colter has been in and out of the lineup. Siemian came in and led them to wins. I think I'd have more sets where they play together (like I've said for Minnesota and Gray/Shortell. Shortell is the future there, not Gray.)

    I'm going to say NW could end up 8-4 and possibly 9-3 if something falls their way (beating Iowa or Neb at home, for example). I like them and they always always seem to compete.

    SteveHelwagen

  • Now that we have 3 games under our belt, one quarter of the season being over, what w/l record do you predict for the Buckeyes?

    Beemerx5