The 2014 National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes capped off a comeback season for the much maligned Big Ten and the best is likely yet to come. The East division has become a powerhouse of coaches with Urban Meyer of Ohio State, Mark Dantonio of Michigan State, James Franklin of Penn State and the latest and greatest arrival, Jim Harbaugh of Michigan. Let’s take a look at offseason assessments of what could become the best division in all of college football.
Ohio State Buckeyes
The champs and Meyer have the luxurious problem of solving a three-headed quarterback monster. The original starter, Braxton Miller, was injured and did not play a down in 2014. J.T. Barrett filled in for Miller and led the Bucks to a division title before suffering a season-ending injury against Michigan.
Cardale Jones then made history as the three-game starter for Ohio State, leading them to wins in the Big Ten Championship game, the College Football Playoff semifinal, and the National Championship Game. ESPN projects Ohio State at number seven nationally for recruiting, which can only serve to help build upon what is considered to be a SEC-quality roster. The biggest worry Meyer should have is potential complacency of his players that can often follow a championship.
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Michigan State Spartans
Dantonio’s program has won 11 or more games in four out the last five seasons. With Harbaugh down the road in Ann Arbor the challenge of maintaining program success, let alone dominance over Michigan, will intensify. Michigan State plays the style that Michigan longs for with a punishing defense and power running attack that opens up the play action passing of quarterback Connor Cook. ESPN projects a 28th in the nation recruiting class for Sparty, which is right in their normal wheelhouse. This is a program that develops talent and has built a hardnosed culture. Expect little drop off in East Lansing as Dantonio has established a lasting program.
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Penn State Nittany Lions
The dark clouds of the Jerry Sandusky scandal may finally be lifting, at least in a football sense. Penn State has had their bowl ban sanctions and scholarship reductions removed and Joe Paterno has been restored as the winningest coach in college football. Franklin is a recruiting machine that has Penn State projected to have the number 12 in the nation recruiting class by ESPN. There is nothing but upside for this program but time and patience will be needed after the fallout of the past scholarship reductions that depleted PSU’s depth.
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Michigan Wolverines
Harbaugh has wasted no time in making his mark as he flipped Texas commit Zach Gentry last week to his side with a full commitment. The four star rated quarterback out of Albuquerque could be in the mix to start as a freshman. Harbaugh will spend the offseason initiating a full-fledged and much needed culture shock for a program that has become soft and entitled. Expect maximum effort and hard work to be the foundation that he builds his old school culture upon. Harbaugh has created a buzz in Ann Arbor that is eager with anticipation for what is going to be a future of successs.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
It was a solid Big Ten debut for the Scarlet Knights as they finished 8-5 and took apart North Carolina 40-21 in their bowl game. Still, the metrics indicate that head coach Kyle Flood has much to do this offseason. Despite the record, Rutgers ranked 83rd for scoring offense and 90th for scoring defense in 2014. The Scarlet Knights also benefitted from Michigan and Penn State playing far below their historic levels and potential. It would be unwise to expect that to continue. Rutgers must step it up in recruiting to sustain any hope of success.
Maryland Terrapins
It was an up and down 7-6 season for the Terps in their first year as members of the Big Ten and they also have much to do on their build out. Maryland ranked an abysmal 112th for total offense and 97th for total defense. Head coach Randy Edsall is in a rut in which he has failed to win more than seven games in his first four seasons on the job.
Indiana Hoosiers
The Hoosiers are coming off an injury ravaged 4-8 season in which they experienced the high of winning at Missouri 31-27 after the low of losing at Bowling Green 45-42. Recruiting defensive depth is job one, two, and three for Wilson.
