It’s almost that time again. The stadiums are being cleaned, tickets purchased, schedules finalized, and hotels booked. It’s almost Fake College Football Season 3. Who will win? I don’t know, but 16 people did make a prediction on how the Big Ten will shake out this year.

East Division Predictions

Penn State (T1)

Average: 2.6875

High: 1

Low: 6

First Place Votes: 7

I can definitely see the hype behind Penn State with all of the first place votes. They made the playoffs season one and made their CCG last season. I think they will be a good team, but the Big Ten East is a harder division then the Mountain West West division.

Michigan State (T1)

Average: 2.6875

High: 1

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 5

Michigan State does what Michigan State does. This is losing to start the season, getting hot in the middle, but then in the Rose Bowl last year and towards the last two weeks of season two, they flamed out. I believe that they will get a stronger start this year and be competitive in the division up until the end.

Ohio State (T1)

Average: 2.6875

High: 1

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 1

Looking at all of the “State” programs in the east, it’s interesting to see how the three teams tied. Every team tied here has won their division before.

Penn State had the most first place, but had a large middle tier. People either expect them to win the division or be in the middle.

Michigan State had a large upper tier, but had a few fourth plus votes as well. Most people expect them to finish near top of the division except for a few doubters who see them falling.

Ohio State on the other hand, aside from one seventh place vote, is expected to finish top three by everyone, but almost no one expects them to win the division.

Indiana (4)

Average: 3

High: 1

Low: 5

First Place Votes: 3

After Indiana there is a steep drop off, no one expects any of the teams 5-7 on this list to win the division. There is hope for #9windiana this season, but most have them in the upper-middle of the division.

Michigan (5)

Average: 5.375

High: 2

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 0

Michigan is this low purely for the reason that the division as a whole is pretty strong. They have improved slightly from year one to two, but the depth at the top looks to be pretty hard to overcome.

Maryland (6)

Average: 5.5

High: 4

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 0

Like Michigan, Maryland has to deal with a strong upper tier of the division, but unlike Michigan, Maryland regressed from season one to two. We will soon see whether it was a fluke, and if they have a shot to get back into the upper half.

Rutgers (7)

Average: 5.8125

High: 2

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 0

Rutgers is a relatively unknown quantity as they have a new coach from the FCS. This has flown a bit under the radar and I think them being put at seven in this ranking was more a product of trusting the known FBS coaches. I want to say that they don’t finish seventh, but I don’t know who I would put behind them.

West Division Predictions

Purdue (1)

Average: 2.375

High: 1

Low: 6

First Place Votes: 9

It’s easy to see why Purdue is the favorite, one of the worst rated divisions in FCFB has a top 25 coach coming in. I think they should be a favorite to win the division, but I don’t think they will run away with it.

Iowa (2)

Average: 3.3125

High: 1

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 2

One reason why Purdue won’t run away with the division is Iowa. I almost forgot that Iowa’s current coach won 10 games at Tulane a few years ago. Last season’s slump is worrying, but they could very well be due for a bounce-back season.

Nebraska (3)

Average: 3.75

High: 1

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 3

As you can see, the voters didn’t really know what to make of Nebraska, which is a little strange if you ask me. They won the conference and Rose Bowl last year while beating up on the division. They will be Purdue’s main threat this year, and it’s a shame that they meet in week five of the season.

Minnesota (4)

Average: 4

High: 2

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 0

Another unknown quantity in the Big Ten West. The Former McNeese State coach their work cut out for them. They could go anywhere from second to sixth. I think the goal for the season would be 7-5 (4-4) while winning a bowl game.

Northwestern (5)

Average: 4.3125

High: 1

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 0

I personally think Northwestern is too high. They struggled last season against the contenders of the West. I think that unless they show significant improvement to keep up with the increasing strength of the division, they will miss a bowl game.

Wisconsin (6)

Average: 4.375

High: 2

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 0

Personally, barring an unexpected regression, Wisconsin should finish in the top half of the division. Their MO over the past two seasons has been to play slow, and win eight games. I don’t believe that they fall below four worst case.

Illinois (7)

Average: 5.75

High: 2

Low: 7

First Place Votes: 0

Oh Illinois. The only reason that they didn’t finish dead last in the division last year was due to Purdue. This year Purdue should be much improved. Barring a miracle, I don’t see any way that Illinois improves enough to get out of the cellar.

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Who knows how the season will turn out, but I will leave you with some of the bold predictions from the poll.

Indiana playoffs The B1G sends a team to the playoffs Minnesota will be greatly improved with their new HC. 2 playoff teams from the east The championship game score will be 89-10 in an utter blowout as Penn State brings 20 mountain lions as live mascots, intimidating Northwestern into submission and resulting in a ban of live animal mascots. Michigan State racks up the RESPECT before getting PUMMELED in the B1G CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Penn St. goes undefeated in conference, proving the superiority of the Mountain Best B1G does not make the playoffs. Oh wait, you asked for BOLD predictions…