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Marshall was stuck in the 5-7 win range for quite a while before last year’s breakout season. The Thundering Herd went 10-4 in 2013. Marshall picked up a nice 31-20 win in a bowl game over Maryland (who is now a part of the Big Ten Conference).
Louisiana-Lafayette didn’t lose a game in the Sun Belt last year until its final two contests of the year. Lafayette star quarterback Terrance Broadway didn’t play any of the second half due to an injury in their game against rival Louisiana-Monroe.
The Sun Belt Conference has experienced a lot of turnover in the last couple seasons. A lot of the old teams have moved on to slightly bigger conferences, while there are several new faces here looking to get a little national exposure.
The Big Ten Conference isn’t the dominant conference it used to be in college football. During the days of Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler this was the most elite conference in the land. No longer is that the case.
The Big Ten Conference may not be elite in college football as it used to be, but there’s still plenty of action here, and there are several teams fighting hard to unseat the top teams o the past.
The SEC is the best football conference in the country. That really isn’t even up for debate at this time. Auburn fell short of continuing the SEC BCS title winners going, but the conference was easily the best from top to bottom again last year.
Randy Edsall’s Maryland Terrapins are newcomers in the Big Ten Conference this year. Along with Rutgers, Maryland is taking a significant step up in competition this year.
Rutgers makes the big jump from the AAC to the Big Ten this year. While no one can say the Big Ten is a strong football conference right now, it is a much better conference than the extremely weak AAC. The Scarlet Knights are likely to have their hands full this year.
Illinois put their faith in Tim Beckman a couple years ago, and so far it hasn’t worked out. Tim Beckman is definitely on the hot seat now. If Illinois doesn’t win at least six games this year to become bowl eligible, I would expect Beckman to be on his way out of Champaign.
Purdue had the worst season in its 126 year football career last year. The Boilermakers went 1-11 overall and 0-8 in the Big Ten Conference. Purdue was one of the worst teams the Big Ten has ever seen.
Ohio State started last year 12-0 before losing their last two games of the season to Michigan State and Clemson. For a team with such lofty expectations, even a 12 win season felt like a bit of a disappointment.
Michigan fans are never going to be satisfied with a 7-6 season. Brady Hoke came in and turned the program around right away, but now Michigan is struggling to keep their success going under Hoke. In his first year, the team went 11-2. In the past two years, they have gone 8-5 and then 7-6.
Iowa went 11-2 in 2009, but they haven’t won more than eight games since that season. The Hawkeyes had a quality 8-5 season last year. Their first three losses came against teams that lost a combined one game in the regular season (Northern Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan State).
It would be tough to find a coach who has gotten more out of less than Jerry Kill. Well Bill Snyder would fit the bill, but outside of Snyder I can’t think of anyone who fits any more than Jerry Kill.
Bill O’Brien did a tremendous job holding together the Penn State football program through an extremely difficult period. There were many who thought it was the impossible job, but O’Brien did a great job getting his players to believe. O’Brien has moved on to be a head coach in the NFL.
Northwestern was unbeaten and ranked 16th in the nation heading into their home contest against Ohio State last year. They ended up losing in heartbreaking fashion despite playing very well, and after that loss Northwestern’s season would never be the same.
