Buy Photo Ohio State thumped Wisconsin last year in the Big Ten title game at Lucas Oil Stadium.(Photo: Matt Kryger / The Star)Buy Photo Story Highlights Both IU, Purdue are picked to finish last in their respective divisions 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. The West, meanwhile, is in catch-up mode after Ohio State hammered Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game. Wisconsin and Nebraska each has a new coach, Minnesota is out to prove it’s better than an eight-win program and Iowa is coming off losses in five of its last seven. The Big Ten, as a whole, raised its profile last year. Ohio State won the conference’s first national title since 2002 and the league had a 6-4 postseason record and three teams among the top 13 in 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. Their only loss to a conference team came in the 2013 Big Ten title game, 34-24 to Michigan State. Buy Photo Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott burst onto the scene last year. (Photo: Matt Kryger / The Star) The Spartans squandered their opportunity against the Buckeyes last year, with their defense having no answer for J.T. Barrett and Ezekiel Elliott while losing 49-37 at home. …
Continue Reading: Ohio State, Wisconsin in position to play for Big Ten title again
