Big Ten Roundtable: Bold predictions for 2015

The final installment in an extensive roundtable discussion about the Big Ten concludes today. After reviewing the state of the conference, scanning spring storylines, having fun with making our own changes to the conference, it is time to bring this roundtable discussion to a close with our bold predictions for 2015. And boy do we have some bold predictions for you.

Over the course of the past week we have been discussing the state of the Big Ten in a roundtable format. Members of the Bloguin community (and one from outside the community) have come together to share some answers to some Big Ten related questions. Throwing it all together in one single post would be too much, so instead we have been addressing one question per post in the. Those who participated in this round-table discussion are:

Brandon Cavanaugh, Eight Laces

Andy Coppens, Madtown Badgers & Talking 10

Joe Dexter, Buckeye Battle Cry

Bart Doan, The Student Section

Kevin McGuire, Nittany Lions Den

J Money, Boiled Sports

Matt Zemek, The Student Section

Finally, what is your one (possibly) bold prediction for the Big Ten for the next year?

Andy Coppens: My bold prediction is that we won’t see any of Michigan State, Ohio State or Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. I know, crazy, right?

However, the law of averages says Ohio State can’t possibly win every game it plays in the Big Ten for four-straight years. It also says at some point Michigan State will take at least a small step back, and given the players lost this could be the year. Wisconsin also faces a new coaching staff and plenty of youth filling holes on the depth chart this season.

It all adds up to three teams who aren’t going to be in Indianapolis come December. Look for that to be Penn State and Nebraska at this juncture. I will watch this spring and the prediction of PSU vs. Nebraska may (and likely will) change. I just don’t see either of the three-headed monster making it this season.

Brandon Cavanaugh: I’ll get the “homer” yell for this one, but Nebraska represents the West (hold your boos) and win or lose, the Huskers are actually competitive for a change.

Matt Zemek: Minnesota wins the West. It is reasonable to think so… which is counterintuitively why it feels so out-of-the-box.

Kevin McGuire: It seems as though every few years Iowa manages to make a run and to me it feels as though they are about due for one of those years. It will not be easy with road games at Wisconsin and Nebraska, but somehow, some way, Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes wiggle their way to Indianapolis to represent the Big Ten West in the Big Ten Championship Game. 10 regular season wins for Iowa? How much bolder can one get?

J Money: The Big Ten announces plans to expand by two more, Jim Delaney gets a hairpiece, and Urban Meyer says soon he’ll want to spend more time with Jim Tressel’s family.

Bart Doan: Michigan finishes second at worst in the East. Folks forget the moribund nature of Stanford when Jim Harbaugh took them over. They instantly became a more improved football team by about 5,000 percent. It makes sense that the same will happen in Ann Arbor, which should be terrifying for everyone else.

Joe Dexter: Is it plausible to think that a quarterback who threw more interceptions than touchdowns in his second full year as a starter could be in the hunt as the B1G Offensive Player of the Year during his junior campaign?

It might be bold, but Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg has the tools to improve that much next season, even with just a slight improvement in line play during the 2015 campaign. Head Coach James Franklin is one of the more underrated quarterback groomers in the country and despite the numbers, he has a truly talented signal caller in Hackenberg.

Those are our ideas. Now you are being given the power to make one universal change throughout the Big Ten. What do you do with that power? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

We are getting close to wrapping up this ongoing Big Ten roundtable. One more question to go! It is not too late to get caught up either:

Part 1: Is The Big Ten Back?

Part 2: Where does the Big Ten rank now?

Part 3: The Big Ten and Autonomy

Part 4: Evaluating Maryland and Rutgers

Part 5: B1G surprises from 2014

Part 6: B1G disappointments from 2014

Part 7: Spring football headlines to watch

Part 8: What one change would you make to the Big Ten?

Follow everybody on Twitter:@BoiledSports @The_BBC @MTBadgers @TheStudentSect @Talking_10 @eightlaces

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