Big Ten football preview: Ohio State the team to beat

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO The hiring of former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has given Michigan a boost. The Big Ten East’s a beast. Ohio State is loaded with returning talent and is the popular pick to return to the College Football Playoff to defend its national title. Michigan State has won 24 games the past two seasons and four straight bowls. Jim Harbaugh’s arrival in Ann Arbor shows Michigan is serious about making a quick resurgence, and Penn State looks to be on the rise under James Franklin. Harbaugh’s Wolverines are a recruiting cycle or two away from contending in the East. Penn State and Rutgers are coming off bowl wins, Maryland will have a new quarterback and defensive coordinator after a solid Big Ten debut season, and Indiana will be looking to move up with QB Nate Sudfeld’s (shoulder injury). The West, meanwhile, is in catch-up mode after Ohio State hammered Wisconsin, 59-0, in the Big Ten championship game. Wisconsin and Nebraska have new coaches, Minnesota is out to prove it is better than an eight-win program and Iowa is coming off losses in five of its last seven. The Big Ten raised its profile last year. Ohio State won the conference’s first national title since 2002, and the league was 6-4 in the postseason, with three teams in the top 13 for the final polls. “There is good energy,” commissioner Jim Delany said, “and we’re glad to be in the conversation.” The Buckeyes are 24-0 in Big Ten regular-season games in three years under Urban Meyer…

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