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When Urban Meyer arrived in Columbus in 2012, Ohio State Football was coming off its worst season in decades, a 6–7 season that began mired in controversy and ended with a loss to arch rival Michigan (Brady Hoke’s Michigan, fergodsakes). Meyer’s arrival, and tenure as a whole, made that 2011 season feel like it was an eternity ago. 82 wins to just 9 losses, an undefeated season, a national championship, a trio of Big Ten championships and a perfect record against Michigan would make Meyer’s time the stuff of legend.

It is, for the most part. But a coaching term born out of controversy has ended, partly at least, at the hands of more controversy.

Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season thanks to his nonchalance in the domestic abuse scandal involving former assistant Zach Smith. Many thought that the scandal should’ve ended Meyer’s career in Columbus (Jim Tressel lost his job over tattoos, let alone domestic violence negligence) but he returned after then-interim coach and now-coach-in-waiting Ryan Day guided the Buckeyes to a 3–0 record.

Meyer’s health has also been an issue. The stress of being head coach of the Ohio State Football program has led to migraines, headaches and memory loss. His health was consistently among the major talking points during OSU broadcasts, with FOX’s Gus Johnson painting the combined health and controversy issues as a redemption arc for Meyer.

Now, with OSU headed to Pasadena to play Washington in what must feel like a consolation game for the program, Meyer is reported to be stepping down after the Rose Bowl. Day will assume full coaching duties in the 2019 season.

Ohio State isn’t exactly a place where a rookie coach can get their feet wet. There will be pressure on Day to maintain Meyer’s level of success and contend for the Big Ten again. 2019 becomes even cloudier when the NFL Draft decision of Heisman-hopeful and record-breaking quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. comes into play.

Meyer’s impending departure will spark hope in the other contending Big Ten programs that the conference is up for grabs. Here’s a very early look at where each program in the division stands heading in the 2019 season.

Michigan

2018 was supposed to be Michigan’s year. Jim Harbaugh finally had a quarterback and the team brought back a ferocious defense — which looked like the best in the country until Meyer and Ohio State dropped 62 on them to put an exclamation point on Meyer’s tenure.

Meyer’s departure must feel like a tremendous weight off Harbaugh’s chest. The OSU coach had turned himself into a boogeyman for most programs, but like all things Michigan, his stature had conflated into being the one man Harbaugh couldn’t beat.

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2019, with or without Meyer at OSU, should mark another year of high hopes for the Michigan faithful. While the defense will lose playmakers like Chase Winovich, Rashan Gary and Tyree Kinnel, the unit should be just as good or close to it under Don Brown next season. Quarterback Shea Patterson should return for his senior year to lead an offense that improved over the course of 2018. Getting rivals OSU, Michigan State and Notre Dame at the Big House is a relief, given the drastic differences between the Wolverines’ dominant performances at home and their struggles on the road.

Coaches on either side of the UM-OSU rivalry are measured by their records in The Game. 2019 will mark the first time that Harbaugh will be the veteran coach in the rivalry.

Penn State

The Nittany Lions largely disappointed in 2018. Late game debacles against OSU and MSU, then an embarrassing blowout in Ann Arbor swept Penn State’s season right from under them.

Expectations will be cautious for 2019. While Penn State gets Michigan at home, trips to Columbus and East Lansing could be hazardous. Trace McSorley is graduating, leaving a noticeable lack of experience under center. James Franklin, who was briefly linked to USC, will have to find a passer that can match McSorley’s production.

Outside of McSorley, however, the offense will bring back playmakers. Runningback Miles Sanders should return, and KJ Hamler established himself as one of the premier offensive weapons in all of the country during his freshman year.

Franklin’s time at Penn State has been up and down. A conference championship in 2016 has been answered with back to back disappointing seasons. 2019 could mark a make-or-break year for Franklin in Happy Valley.

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Michigan State

The theme for the programs listed above so far has been disappointment. No team in the Big Ten East captured that theme more than the Michigan State Spartans.

Ranked 11th in the preseason polls, the Spartans finished with a 7–5 record, largely in part to an anemic offense. While the MSU defense was among the best in the country, keeping the Spartans in every game they played in, the offense consistently managed to subvert expectations.

Injuries to QB Brian Lewerke, RB LJ Scott and wide receiver Felton Davis III derailed any semblance of an offense for the Spartans. A shuffled offensive line, non-existent tight end production and confounding playcalling from offensive coordinator Dave Warner had the Spartans finish in the bottom-15 offensive units in the country. Being that bad on offense and that good on defense is rare, as detailed by The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy.

Still, the Spartans bring back a lot of talent on both sides of the ball for 2019, including Lewerke and Scott. Questionable playcalling aside, if the defense maintains a similar level of play, an average offense should see the Spartans contend for the division.

Mark Dantonio handed Meyer perhaps his two most devastating conference defeats, a 34–24 win in the 2013 Big Ten Championship and a 17–14 upset in Columbus in 2015. While those wins are feathers in Dantonio’s cap, wasting a roster this talented by not contending for the Big Ten in 2019 would be a major letdown for the program.

Maryland

Maryland’s 2018 can be tied to the tragic passing of student athlete Jordan McNair, who died after heat exhaustion during a Terrapin summer practice, where coaches and training staff badly mismanaged a health situation.

Former head coach DJ Durkin was dismissed, but only after being reinstated by the Maryland Board. The reinstatement led to a national outcry and then Durkin’s dismissal two days later. Interim coach and offensive coordinator Matt Canada steered the Terps to a 5–7 record, but that might not have been enough to land him the permanent role.

Now, Maryland should find a coach that can produce consistent bowl eligibility. That may not seem like a lofty goal, but considering where the program stands morally, as well as playing in the toughest division in college football, bowl eligibility would be a welcome recluse.

Maryland will bring back 12 starters in 2019. Even if they drop all games — as expected — to the Big 4 programs, the rest of the schedule looks favorable. Maryland has won big games in the past two seasons, beating Texas twice, so sweeping non-conference play and scraping three wins together in Big Ten play isn’t out of the question.

Indiana

Like Maryland, Indiana narrowly missed out on bowl eligibility in 2018. Losing to rival Purdue to miss out on a bowl game is tough, especially after seeing it happen for two consecutive seasons.

Indiana, like Maryland, more than likely has no shot at the top programs in the East. The rest of the conference schedule isn’t easy, as the Hoosiers will travel to Maryland, Purdue and Nebraska while getting Northwestern at home. Even if sweeping non-conference play and defeating Rutgers at home are granted, finding two more Big Ten wins won’t be a given.

Indiana should strive for the consistency that programs like Iowa and Northwestern have in the Big Ten West. That may not mean conference titles or New Year’s Six bowl games, but it generally means bowl eligibility and the occasional upset over a bigger program.

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Rutgers

There really isn’t much to say about Rutgers’ 2018 season, other than it was painfully bad. The Scarlet Knights finished 1–11, dropping 11 straight to close out the season and probably Chris Ash’s tenure as head coach.

Rutgers has been the butt of a lot of jokes since joining the Big Ten, understandably. 2019 doesn’t look like a year for marked improvement, either. Games against Liberty and UMass (who will be under a new head coach) may be winnable but the dearth of talent on the Scarlet Knights’ roster in comparison to the rest of the division will likely see them at the bottom of the standings again.

Whoever is coaching Rutgers in 2019 should shoot for respectability. The school won’t contend for championships any time soon, but the team should embrace the role of spoiler and try to win a Big Ten game.

Arpan Lobo is a graduate of Grand Valley State University’s Multimedia Journalism program. You can read more of his work here.