Big Ten College Football Preview 2022: Ohio State Or The Field?

The Big Ten has been in the news cycle often this offseason. The conference is not realigning, but looking at the landscape for the 2022 college football season.

Ryan Day's team won 11 games last season and finished in the top-five. They lost to Michigan for the first time since 2011. The team returns 73% of their production. CJ Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones are the main offensive players. TreyVeyon Henderson is a star running back. Jim Knowels is the new defensive coordinator. Ohio State's first game is against Notre Dame.

Purdue is 4-5 against Ohio State in their last 10 meetings dating back to 2003. Aidan O'Connell will start at quarterback for the Boilermakers. Broc Thompson will play at wide receiver. They have road games at Minnesota and Wisconsin and home games against Iowa and Iowa. Their draw from the East division is a cakewalk: Maryland and Indiana.

Nebraska finished with a 3-9 record last season. Scott Frost is under pressure to improve the team's fortunes. The transfer class is ranked seventh. Michigan's 2021 season is a big one. They defeated Ohio State and won the Big Ten championship. Jim Harbaugh returns to Ann Arbor with both coordinators and two first-round grade pass rushers. Their schedule is favorable. Michigan closes their season at Ohio state. It's unrealistic to expect anything less than nine or ten wins. There is also a quarterback battle between J.J. McCarthy and Cade McNamara. Mazi Smith will be the centerpiece of the defense.

Iowa will be at the forefront of the Big Ten West in 2022. Penn State made strides to fix their ground game. Wisconsin was a major disappointment the past two seasons. Braelon Allen is expected to emerge as a star in Madison.   Michigan State needs to replace the production of Kenneth Walker with Colorado transfer Jarek Broussard. Michigan's defensive secondary was not very good last season.

Minnesota, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern and Rutgers are the remaining teams in the Big Ten. Minnesota is the most likely team to challenge their division. Indiana and Indiana have been good in recent years but neither did anything to improve their program since 2020.

Ohio State will play Purdue in the Big Ten Championship in 2022.