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Predicting who will win the Big Ten this year is no easy task.
Between all of the losses suffered by Michigan State and Ohio State, winners of the past three Big Ten Championships, you could make a good argument for 3-5 different teams winning it this year. Most expect the winner to come from the Big Ten East, though there may not be a tougher division in any Power 5 conference to pick the winner of.
Over at Sports Illustrated, Rohan Nadkarni did his Big Ten projected order of finish, and he has Michigan State finishing in a tie with Ohio State for the Big Ten East crown. Those two, along with Michigan, finish with a 10-2 overall record, but it's the Buckeyes who Nadkarni has winning the division.
Here are the full Big Ten projections by SI:
|
East |
West |
||
|
TEAM |
RECORD |
TEAM |
RECORD |
|
10-2 (8-1) |
10-2 (7-2) |
||
|
10-2 (8-1) |
9-3 (7-2) |
||
|
10-2 (7-2) |
8-4 (6-3) |
||
|
7-5 (4-5) |
8-4 (5-4) |
||
|
6-6 (3-6) |
6-6 (3-6) |
||
|
4-8 (2-7) |
3-9 (2-7) |
||
|
3-9 (1-8) |
2-10 (0-9) |
||
Personally, I can't see Ohio State finishing the season with just one loss in conference play. They've really fallen back to the pack with all of their defections and graduations, and I won't be surprised if the finish third in the East.
But hey, it's hard to argue with a 10-2 record for Michigan State, given how difficult their 2016 schedule is while they also lost a ton this offseason.
If I told you Michigan State would win 10 games but not win their division, do you take it or leave it?