Even though Michigan came up short in the College Football Playoff, Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines finally beating Ohio State to win the Big Ten was one of the biggest stories in college football last season.
Now the challenge is to do it again. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 in multiple preseason polls with Michigan State and Penn State also hoping to challenge in the Big Ten East. Meanwhile, the West looks wide open with Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue and maybe Nebraska having hopes of making the trip to Indianapolis for the conference title game.
Below, Yahoo Sports details the outlook for each team in the Big Ten entering the 2022 season before providing title picks for both divisions and the conference as a whole.
Other conference previews: ACC, Big 12, Group of Five
(All odds via BetMGM)
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Ohio State Buckeyes (-225 to win the Big Ten)
Last season, Ohio State lost to Michigan for the first time since 2011, did not win the Big Ten for the first time since 2016 and missed out on the College Football Playoff after appearances in 2019 and 2020. It was still an 11-win season with a Rose Bowl victory, but it fell below the standard that has been set in Columbus.
The main culprit for those setbacks was the defense. Ohio State led the nation in scoring at 45.7 points per game, but the defense was gashed over and over in losses to Oregon and Michigan. The loss to the rival Wolverines was especially ugly with OSU getting completely overpowered for four quarters. To address those deficiencies, Ryan Day brought in Jim Knowles, who had the Oklahoma State defense among the nation’s best.
Knowles worked with lesser talent at Oklahoma State and produced excellent results. He’s expected to make a big difference at OSU, even if the team may lack a dominant edge rusher in the mold of Chase Young or Nick Bosa. And if the defense improves, the sky’s the limit for this team. With QB C.J. Stroud, RB TreVeyon Henderson and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba back, the offense should again be among the nation’s elite.
This is a national championship-caliber roster.
Michigan Wolverines (+600)
On the heels of a disastrous 2020 season, Michigan broke through and won its first outright Big Ten title since 2003. What can the Wolverines do for an encore?
Based on returning personnel, Michigan’s…