2009 Big Ten Preseason Countdown

Yes, its that special time of year when all sane and seemingly normal folk turn into raving lunatics in fanatic support of their favorite Big Ten school. I am no exception to this phenomenon and I am here to run down from the bottom to the top, my humble opinions on the who and what and how they get there of the upcoming football season, so here we go-





10.(tie)

In a tie at a dismal 2-10 record. The Hoosiers and The Great Satan (Purdue).

Indiana has a TON and I mean a TON of freshman, including all the QB's I saw listed on the team roster. This automatically means failure. The mistakes that freshman make are difficult enough to deal with let alone freshman on a team of freshman. Bill Lynch has some serious holes to fill with graduation and the demise of Kellen Lewis.Although the lineman on both sides of the ball seem to be catching up size wise with the rest of the Big Ten, it wont be enough to salvage any joy for the Hoosier faithful this year.The schedule includes predicted losses to Eastern Kentucky,Akron,UM,OSU,Virginia,Illinois,Nothwestern,Iowa,Wisconsin,PennState with the only wins coming against hapless Western Michigan and The Great Satan in the season finale. If fortune were to smile on IU, I could see maybe Eastern Kentucky(not likely as EKU had a pretty good year by IU standards) and Akron(5-7,very inconsistent) being victories, but the Big Ten schedule will chew up, spit out, step on and so forth the Hoosiers.

The Great Satan has no easy row to hoe either. With the retirement and departure of the venerable Joe Tiller, the cupboard is pretty much bare at PU( how fitting , PU, as in "whats that smell?"). As with Indiana, the roster is chok full of freshman, just waiting to make mistakes and forget all that the coaching staff struggled to pound into their heads during the spring and summer camps. With a respectable share of 300 pounders on the offensive line, the Purdue O will no doubt have some time to get run over,instead of steady retreat down after down. One thing that looks interesting , is the defensive end position. With a bevy of lighter 240,250 somethings all at 6'4" and taller, the Purdont outside pass rush and blitz combos could present some issues if your tailbacks are asleep or decide they dont want to block. That being said, any decent jumbo package or a well rehearsed "Packer Sweep left", "Packer Sweep right" will probably mince these light weights into chum.Predicted losses will come from a trip to Oregon,Northern Illinois, Notre Dame,Northwestern,Minnesota,OSU, Wisconsin,UM,MSU and a bitter pill in the season loss to rival Indiana. Wins shall come from the mighty Toledo and , you heard it here first, ILLINOIS at Ross-Aide. Dont ask me why, but I just feel Purdue will spoil Illinois' trip to West Lafayette. One travel note. I loved my trip to Boilerland, and the hospitality was impressive, even if the hotel manager charged me twice and then took 4 months to credit my money back, dont make the mistake of driving over the river to Lafayette. Its like driving from your average upper middle class suburb into a third world country with narrow one way streets and LOTS of scary people loitering in front of burned out cars and houses.

Stay tuned football fans, next is number nine..see ya tomorrow!