Yep, the Big Ten now has 12 teams. And it\u2019s still called the Big Ten. We have to get over it.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s focus instead on what should be a great year of smashmouth football from the Big 10 conference.<\/h3>\n
Multiple teams have a shot at the Big Ten title this year. Leading the way by a hair at the books is Nebraska <\/strong>at +150. <\/strong>That\u2019s quite the honor for a team just joining the Big Ten this season. The Cornhuskers will hang their hats on their elite defense, which features some true studs in Lavonte David, Jared Crick and Alfonzo Dennard. Their offense is a bit of a question mark for 2011, however. They were a powerhouse running team last season but new offensive co-ordinator Tim Beck has been very secretive about the scheme going forward.<\/p>\n It will be interesting to see how the Huskers use Taylor Martinez, who excelled as a runner but not so much as a passer last season.<\/p>\n Wisconsin <\/strong>is right behind at +175. <\/strong>It\u2019s hard not to get excited about the Badgers\u2019 running game, which was insane last season. Montee Ball ran for 777 yards and 14 touchdowns in the final five games<\/em>. James White, the \u201cchange of pace back,\u201d topped 1,000 yards himself. Wisconsin has a good secondary and possibly the best defensive player in the conference in linebacker Chris Borland.<\/p>\n But can this team compete with Scott Tolzien gone and sophomore Jon Budmayr getting the reins at quarterback? It\u2019s quite the question.<\/p>\n Penn State <\/strong>is next at +450. <\/strong>Quarterback Matt McGloin showed plenty of potential at quarterback down the stretch last season but reportedly hasn\u2019t locked down the starting job. Penn State has some solid players in the secondary and on the offensive line but their D-line is a concern after Pete Passaro tore his ACL in March.<\/p>\n 2011 probably would\u2019ve been Ohio State\u2019s (+500) <\/strong>year but coach Jim Tressel and starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor are gone after the memorabilia scandal. The Buckeyes\u2019 forecast has obviously changed. They still have talent all over the field, including a solid offensive line, but Ohio State has little chance to win the conference because it has so many important players suspended early in the season.<\/p>\n That list includes starting tailback Dan Herron, who ran for 16 scores last year, and wideout DeVier Posey.<\/p>\n What about Michigan State (+800)? <\/strong>The Spartans are an intriguing sleeper. Kirk Cousins hasn\u2019t blossomed into an elite quarterback yet but he has a deep, capable receiving corps that should mesh well with his accurate arm. And watch out on \u201cD\u201d for Williams Gholston, cousin of former NFL first-rounder Vernon. He\u2019ll anchor what could be a powerhouse front seven alongside Jerel Worthy. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n If Cousins improves enough, Michigan State has a shot, as all the teams above the Spartans on this list have questions at quarterback.<\/p>\n Iowa <\/strong>fades into the background at +1500. <\/strong>To me, the Hawkeyes are a poor man\u2019s Wisconsin. They too have a good running game \u2013 just not as impressive as Wisconsin\u2019s. Iowa has an excellent front seven on \u201cD,\u201d too. But, like Wisconsin, they have question marks at quarterback. Ricky Stanzi is gone and new starter James Vandenberg threw eight passes last season.<\/p>\n That makes it hard to justify betting on Iowa despite the decent value.<\/p>\n Northwestern (+1500) <\/strong>is the deep sleeper of this conference. If nothing else, it should be an exciting offensive team to watch.<\/p>\n Dan Persa is reportedly healed from his ruptured Achilles\u2019 tendon. That\u2019s big news for NU, as Persa led the country in completion percentage at 73.5 while also rushing for 50-plus yards per game. Almost the entire offense returns, with seniors galore. However, Northwestern\u2019s defense struggled last year and only returns seven starters to boot.<\/p>\n The Wildcats will probably allow too many points to really contend.<\/p>\n The Big Ten pick isn\u2019t easy. Nebraska and Wisconsin could be powerhouses. Michigan State (or even Michigan with Denard Robinson) could make waves thanks to its quarterbacking, as could Northwestern. It\u2019s not a sure thing but I like Wisconsin.<\/p>\n This team was just so dominant on the ground down the stretch in 2010 that I think it can win even with uncertainty at quarterback. Scott Tolzien was capable last season but it\u2019s not like he was the offensive focal point anyway.<\/p>\n The Badgers can do it without him.<\/p>\n Pick: Wisconsin +175<\/strong><\/p>\n CappersPicks.com brings you the only college football handicapping<\/a> guide you\u2019ll need. Use the College football previews<\/a> for the 2011 NCAA football season to help you with your college football handicapping at our top sportsbooks online this season.<\/p>\n Looking for Big 10 Conference football betting odds? Use the College football previews for the 2011 NCAA football season to help you with your college football handicapping, right here at Cappers Picks handicapping online\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":40122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[28750,50235,39987,2540,50236,50237,15948,25846,1565,3007,50095,15290],"class_list":["post-40114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-28750","tag-2011-big-10-conference-picks","tag-big-10-conference","tag-big-10-football","tag-big-10-football-picks","tag-big-10-gambling","tag-big-10-odds","tag-big-ten-picks","tag-college-football-handicapping","tag-college-football-previews","tag-conference-futures","tag-ncaa-football-futures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40114"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40195,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40114\/revisions\/40195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Big-Ten-Football-Predictions-e1309972103685.jpg\")
THE FREE 2011 BIG TEN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL PICK<\/h3>\n
CHECK OUT OUR BEST 2010 COLLEGE FOOTBALL CAPPERS – CLICK HERE!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"