The 2023 football season is now upon us and fans are chomping at the bit for football to start and to see their favorite team’s take the field. It is also the last year fans will see the Big Ten as we now know it, with 14 teams, before the incoming additions of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.
Taking a look at this upcoming season, the conference may be the most competitive it has been in a long time from top to bottom.
In this series, we are ranking the teams in the Big Ten, starting with offenses:
14. Northwestern
Northwestern was the bottom dwellers a year ago, and I don’t see that changing this season, especially after the chaotic offseason they just endured.
13. Indiana
I think this one is going to be close, between the Hoosiers and Northwestern, but with a lot of new pieces in the offense, and a very young quarterback, I don’t see Indiana having a successful offensive season.
12. Illinois
This is my bold prediction, but I think Illinois is really going to struggle on offense this season. While their offensive line should be a typical highly touted Bret Bielemma squad, Ole Miss QB transfer Luke Altmyer doesn’t instill much confidence in me. Along with having to replace star RB Chase Brown.
11. Rutgers
Gavin Wimsatt is entering his third season with Rutgers and if he is going to take a major step forward, it is going to have to happen this season.
10. Minnesota
I think this will just be natural regression for PJ Fleck’s squad having to replace Tanner Morgan and Mo Ibrahim. Minnesota’s offensive line should be stout once again though.
9. Nebraska
Matt Rhule was a phenomenal hire, and adding Georgia Tech transfer Jeff Sims should help, but his OC hire of Marcus Satterfield doesn’t inspire much confidence in me after an underwhelming tenure at South Carolina.
8. Michigan State
This may be a little high, but I cannot go any higher until questions are answered about the QB situation and if Jay Johnson can make the proper adjustments.
7. Iowa
This is putting a lot of faith in Cade McNamara to fix a lot Iowa’s problems, and I think he can.
6. Maryland
With having Taulia Tagovailoa around, I have confidence Maryland’s offense willl keep
5. Purdue
While Purdue lost offensive mastermind Jeff Brohm to Louisville, I think new head man Ryan Walters made a great move hiring Graham Harrell as OC, along with landing Texas QB transfer Hudson Card.
4. Wisconsin
Luke Fickell has built a very scary offense for his first year in Madison. SMU transfer QB Tanner Mordecai along with Braelon Allen’s ground game, Wisconsin will be causing a lot of problems.
3. Ohio State
It is crazy to me that I don’t have Ohio State in the top spot but it really boils down to the lack of confidence I have in Kyle McCord or Devin Brown at QB. They are going to have to prove that they can be the effective next man in line.
2. Penn State
Drew Allar looks like he is going to be a stud, and Penn State is going to be one of the best teams in the conference this season.
1. Michigan
Michigan returns the best OL in America, paired with two great running backs and a solid quarterback. They hold the top spot heading into 2023.
