USC football should do just fine in the Big Ten West, thank you very much
It’s true that beating Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game will be a challenge and a problem for USC football. Having to go through the Buckeyes will be a difficult component for the Trojans when they do move to the Big Ten.
However: USC will not have much of a problem getting to the Big Ten Championship Game and facing the Buckeyes or the Michigan Wolverines.
We should see a lot of USC-Ohio State or USC-Michigan Big Ten title games once the Trojans move to the Big Ten in 2024. Why can we say this with such confidence and clarity?
Look at the Big Ten West:
WISCONSIN
The Badgers just lost at home to Illinois, 34-10. They fired Paul Chryst. We don’t know if the new coach (likely Jim Leonhard) knows how to build an offensive staff and adapt to the demands of modern (pass-first) football and quarterback play.
IOWA
Much as Chance Nolan has sabotaged Oregon State’s season, Spencer Petras is the one player who is taking down an otherwise-strong Iowa team. Bad quarterback play is crippling the Hawkeyes. Iowa’s ceiling on offense is conspicuously low.
NEBRASKA
Let’s see whom the Huskers hire as head coach, but we know how bad things are in Lincoln. Nebraska hasn’t won a conference championship this century, and it hasn’t even made a bowl game in several years.
MINNESOTA
The Golden Gophers crushed Michigan State a few weeks ago, but a 20-10 home-field loss to Purdue took the air out of their balloon. No team can separate itself from the rest of the Big Ten West right now.
PURDUE
The win over Minnesota was great, but the Boilermakers have lost winnable games against Penn State and Syracuse this season.
NORTHWESTERN
Lost to Southern Illinois at home. Lost to Miami of Ohio at home. Enough said.
ILLINOIS
This could be the best team in the Big Ten West. Illinois dump-trucked Wisconsin in Madison. The Illini are favored over Iowa this coming weekend in a hugely important game. If Illinois is the best in the Big Ten West, that shows just how manageable this division should be for USC in the coming years.
KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIG TEN WEST
Whom will Wisconsin hire as its head coach?
Whom will Nebraska hire?
Can Jeff Brohm avoid bad losses at Purdue?
Can Kirk Ferentz figure out the QB spot at Iowa?
Can Pat Fitzgerald figure out his offense at Northwestern?
Can P.J. Fleck get a better QB than Tanner Morgan at Minnesota?
Can Bret Bielema turn Illinois into the top team in the division?
BIG TEN WEST FUN FACT
Wisconsin represented the Big Ten West in the Big Ten Championship Game in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019, and has not been to the conference title game since then.
BIG TEN WEST FUN FACT NO. 2
Nebraska has not been to the Big Ten Championship Game since 2012.
BIG TEN WEST FUN FACT NO. 3
Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois have never been to the Big Ten Championship Game.
BIG TEN WEST FUN FACT NO. 4
Wisconsin is the only Big Ten West school which has won a Big Ten Championship Game. That was in 2011 and 2012, when the Big Ten used its Legends and Leaders Divisions. The change to East and West Divisions came in 2014.
