Ohio State
The 2006 college football season will be the 111th for the Big Ten and this year the conference may feature the most balance from top to bottom of any. Here is a look at a couple of factor you might want to consider as you determine where to put you money this College Football season.
Coaches
The Big Ten has old faces such as Joe Paterno and a couple of first year coaches in Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern and Bret Bielema at Wisconsin. These two enter their first seasons under completely different circumstances. Fitzgerald is replacing Randy Walker who died suddenly this summer, while Bielema takes over for the legendary Barry Alvarez. Not a lot is expected from either team early on but the youthful energy both will bring may come into play as the season wears on.
Quarterbacks
Experienced quarterback play is essential for success in college football and the Big Ten might be King in that department this year. For the first time in more than twenty years, nine of the eleven teams in the conference will return starting quarterbacks. This isnÂ’t a one hit wonder number either as six of the nine teams have signal callers with at least two years of starting experience. This includes pre-season conference offensive player of the year selection Troy Smith of Ohio State. The two teams breaking in new starters are Northwestern and Penn State who have to replace co-Big Ten Players of the Year in Brett Basanez and Michael Robinson respectively.
Injuries
Keeping and/or getting your best players on the field due to injuries often becomes one of the biggest challenges for teams. Going into the season there are a couple of personnel situations you will want to watch. Wisconsin senior quarterback John Stocco is recovering from knee surgery he had only a couple of weeks ago. The extent of the injury is not known but Stocco has already resumed practice and should be ready to go in week one. Purdue senior defensive end Anthony Spencer has been nursing a hamstring injury that has kept him out of contact drills for the past week. Apparently not serious, the hamstring could continue to hamper his pass rushing effectiveness. Fifth year senior offensive tackle Mike KolodziejÂ’s career at Michigan is over as he continues to suffer reoccurrences of medical symptoms that have caused slurred speech and numbness. Kolodziej was competing for the starting spot at right tackle and his loss will know doubt affect the Wolverines depth on the line.
Schedule
The rigors of a tough schedule can take its toll on teams throughout the season and the Big Ten has a few teams that have schedules that could make or break them. This year nine of the eleven teams will play non-conference opponents that played in bowl games last season. Of those nine teams, Penn State will see two of those teams as they face both Notre Dame and Akron. Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa were the preseason top three selections in the conference. Of the three Iowa looks to have the easiest road as they get Ohio State at home and their only road test will come at Michigan. One team that might just fly under the radar this year is Purdue. Talk about a schedule break. The Boilermakers will not play Michigan or Ohio State this year.
Best of luck with your profit pursuits in the heartland and hopefully these Point Spread Pointers will help you along the way.
Scott Rickenbach is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at [http://www.procappers.com/Scott_Rickenbach.htm]
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