When the college football season kicks off on September 3, the Big Ten will have a bevy of new faces on the sideline. Obviously this means players, but the amount of new coaches will be the biggest shake up. First, there’s Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. If you haven’t seen or heard anything about Harbaugh and his offseason in the recent months, congratulations. Every week it seems like he’s making news, whether it’s playing shirtless football in Alabama or shaking hands with the United States Supreme Court.Gregory Shamus/Getty Images But while Harbaugh has been the most noticeable addition, two other traditional powerhouses also have new coaches—two teams that could vie for a spot in the conference championship. They are Paul Chryst at Wisconsin, who inherits a team that made the Big Ten Championship game a year ago only to fall to Ohio State. And there’s also Mike Riley at Nebraska, who takes over a Cornhuskers’ squad that finished 2014 with a 9-4 record. With the players these two teams have coming back, barring epically terrible transitions from the former coach to the new coach, either Wisconsin or Nebraska could contend late in the season. The problem is that if Wisconsin or Nebraska plays extremely well under their new coaches, it won’t really be a surprise. The real surprise would be if they’re terrible…or even subpar. This season the surprise, or more likely surprises, will develop from the unexpected. For example, a team that finished in the bottom half of the conference a year ago (cough…Penn State) could readily move up, despite having a difficult road in the stronger Big Ten West division…
Continue Reading: College Football: 4 Big Ten Teams Everyone Will Be Watching in 2015
