Every week during the college football season, I’ll post my latest Big Ten Football Power Rankings. With the season kicking off Thursday — Wisconsin hosts UNLV in the Big Ten’s lone game on opening night — I figure it’s time to unveil my Week 1 edition. As a reminder, these rankings are not meant to mimic the actual Big Ten standings. What fun would that be, after all? Instead, they are my thoughts on where each Big Ten team stands after its latest game and entering its next contest.

 

1. Wisconsin – We all know the Badgers lost a lot of talent from last season’s Rose Bowl team, but they return plenty of playmakers and alo add former North Carolina State star quarterback Russell Wilson, who will give the already prolific Wisconsin offense a dynamic it has never had.

 

2. Nebraska – While the defense will be one of the Big Ten’s elite, it’s the offense that will determine the Huskers’ fate this season. If Taylor Martinez and company can adjust to life in the Big Ten, Nebraska will be in the thick of the title race all season.

 

3. Michigan State – No Big Ten team returns as much talent at the skill positions as the Spartans. Kirk Cousins has weapons all over the field, however it will be very interesting to see how the defense responds to losing star linebackers Greg Jones and Eric Gordon.

 

4. Iowa – For whatever reason, Iowa tends to have its best seasons when it flies under the radar. The Hawkeyes aren’t expected to do a whole lot this season, and with the young talent they have on both sides of the ball, don’t be surprised if they reel off another surprising season.

 

5. Ohio State – There’s distractions, suspensions and a new coach, all of which will affect the team in Columbus, but remember this team is Ohio State and it always seems to reload with relative ease.

 

6. Illinois – Nathan Scheelhaase was one of the Big Ten’s best quarterbacks down the stretch last year, and he’s only a  sophomore. The quarterback added size and weight over the offseason and coaches said he completed near 80 percent of his passes during fall camp.

 

7. Penn State – Regardless of who the quarterback is in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lions need their defense to recover from last season’s struggles, when it allowed an un-Penn-State-like 23.7 points per game and tallied only 17 sacks.

 

8. Northwestern – We all saw how valuable Dan Persa was to the Wildcats when he went down with the season-ending Achilles’ injury last year, so without seeing the star quarterback in game action since the injury, it’s tough to judge Northwestern.

 

9. Michigan – Denard Robinson is back, as well as a nice collection of receivers, but Michigan still doesn’t have a proven running back — it will be running a pro-style offense this year — and it returns the Big Ten’s worst defense (35.2 points per game), Greg Mattison or not.

 

10. Purdue – As long as the Boilermakers can avoid a second consecutive injury-plagued season (QB Rob Henry already suffered a torn ACL in his right knee), they have the pieces, from Kawann Short to Ricardo Allen to Ralph Bolden, to be far more competitive.

 

11. Minnesota – MarQueis Gray figures to be one of the more interesting Big Ten players to follow this season. The quarterback-turned-receiver-turned-quarterback finally gets his shot under center with four-year starter Adam Weber out of eligibility. But Gray, like the rest of the Gophers, have plenty of questions to address.

 

12. Indiana – Ben Chappell is going to be missed a lot more than people think. With him, the Hoosiers featured an offense that could overcome their poor defense on days they played inferior or equal teams. Without him, the offense could struggle to keep pace, placing even more pressure on the unproven defense.

Football season is here, and that means it’s time to kick off my weekly Big Ten Football Previews. Here’s your Week 1 addition:

 

THURSDAY

UNLV vs. Wisconsin
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN, ESPN3
Stat: Montee Ball’s 14 rushing touchdowns in Big Ten play were the most by a Badger since Ron Dayne had 14 in his 1999 Heisman season.
Prediction: Wisconsin 51, UNLV 14

 

FRIDAY

Youngstown State vs. Michigan State
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: BTN
Stat: The Spartans return 99.5 percent of carries, 99.7 percent of yards and 100 percent of TD rushing from 2010.
Prediction: Michigan State 45, Youngstown State 10

 

SATURDAY

Northwestern vs. Boston College
Time: noon ET
TV: ESPNU
Stat: Northwestern played five games in its home stadium last season (Wrigley game excluded), becoming the first Big Ten to do so since Indiana in 2004.
Prediction: Boston College 27, Northwestern 23

 

Akron vs. Ohio State
Time: noon ET
TV: ESPN, ESPN3
Stat: Ohio State is 16th in the initial coaches’ poll, marking the firstt time the Buckeyes started outside top 10 since ranked 12th in 2002 (won BCS title).
Prediction: Ohio State 41, Akron 13

 

Indiana State vs. Penn State
Time: noon ET
TV: BTN
Stat: Penn State’s 23.7 ppg allowed last season was its highest since 2001.
Prediction: Penn State 40, Indiana State 9

 

Tennessee Tech vs. Iowa
Time: noon ET
TV: BTN
Stat: Iowa went 8-0 when it rushed for more than 120 yards last season, compared to 0-5 when it failed to reach that total.
Prediction: Iowa 46, Tennessee Tech 12

 

Middle Tennessee State vs. Purdue
Time: noon ET
TV: BTN
Stat: Purdue started four different players at quarterback for the first time in program history last year.
Prediction: Purdue 30, Middle Tennessee State 13

 

Minnesota vs. USC
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3
Stat: Jerry Kill went 2-3 against Big Ten teams at Northern Illinois, with the total score of those games being 131-131.
Prediction: USC 43, Minnesota 17

 

Western Michigan vs. Michigan
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC, ESPN2, ESPN3
Stat: A year ago, Michigan was the only Big Ten team in the last 15 seasons to average at least 230 passing and rushing yards.
Prediction: Michigan 41, Western Michigan 23

 

UT-Chattanooga vs. Nebraska
Time: 3:30 p.m.
TV: BTN
Stat: Nebraska improved by 100.5 rushing yards per game in 2010, the largest increase by an FBS team last season.
Prediction: Nebraska 52, UT-Chattanooga 10

 

Arkansas State vs. Illinois
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: BTN
Stat: A.J. Jenkins’ seven touchdown catches last season were the most by an Illinois player since Brandon Lloyd had nine in 2002.
Prediction: Illinois 41, Arkansas State 20

Ball State vs. Indiana
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN3
Stat: Ted Bolser’s five touchdown catches in 2010 were the most in a season by an Indiana tight end.
Prediction: Indiana 23, Ball State 21

 

*All stats are courtesy of our @BTNStatsGuy

 

Season record: 0-0

 

 

Game of the Week: Northwestern at Boston College – One of two opening-week games between BCS foes and the only one featuring two bowl teams from a season ago, the Wildcats and Eagles should give us the most competitive and entertaining game of the first week. Each team won seven games last season, but both could have had more if it weren’t for serious injuries to star players. Northwestern, of course, lost quarterback Dan Persa to a season-ending Achilles’ injury, and went on to lose all three games without him. BC lost standout running back Montell Harris before the season finale and finished 1-1. Both players make their much-awaited return Saturday, and the game might be decided by which one plays better.

 

Player of the Week: Marcus Coker, Iowa – While Iowa fans were very familiar with Coker well before his coming out party in the Insight Bowl, the rest of the Big Ten didn’t know much about the reserve running back. Two-hundered-and-nineteen rushing yards later, Coker is a household name. And the running back should receive a heavy workload against Tennessee Tech, which allowed 199 rushing yards per game last season, seeing as how quarterback James Vandenberg will be making just his third career start.

 

Team of the Week: Ohio State - A win over lowly Akron isn’t going to erase all the distractions surrounding the Ohio State football program, but it can’t hurt. An easy opening win should give Buckeye backers more faith in interim coach Luke Fickell and his team, which is playing shorthanded for the first five games due to suspensions. Point is, people will feel a lot better about Ohio State and its product come late  Saturday afternoon.

 

Upset alert: Ball State vs. Indiana – It’s never easy making this pick during the nonconference slate, but if I have to choose a Big Ten team to suffer an unexpected loss, it would be the Hoosiers. Indiana has won at least its first two games every year since 2003, but it has a new coach, a new quarterback and will face an instate foe, one that beat them in 2008 at Memorial Stadium.

This is certain to interest Big Ten football fans.

 

The Omaha World-Herald did a fascinating study that displays the hometown of every Big Ten football player, from 2002-2011. Seriously, every Big Ten football player during that span.

 

Each player is listed on a map with a school-specific dot that represents his Big Ten team. For the heavy concentrated areas, the recruits are shown in clusters. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.

 

Hardcore Big Ten fans can also test their knowledge with the Omaha World-Herald's Big Ten recruiting quiz.

 

If you're bored, you could easily waste a lot of time messing around on this map.

Three-thousand-something miles later, the BTN Summer Football Tour is complete. Re-live parts of my trip below (I only went to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State this year):

 

TwitPics

Twitvids

Tout Videos

 

Best stop: Penn State is always one of my favorite stops on our tour. From the beautiful practice field to seeing JoePa to the first-class treatment we receive, there's never been a bad trip to Happy Valley. But our behind-the-scenes tour of Michigan Stadium and its ridiculously large scoreboards might have taken the cake this year. It's not every day that you get to walk wherever you want in one of the nation's most iconic stadiums, so it's something I'll never forget. I even walked the tunnel from Michigan's locker room to the playing field, which was a memorable experience despite no gameday atmosphere present. Check out the video here.

 

Best non-football entertainment: Indiana University's Cook Hall. Even if you aren't an Indiana basketball fan, there's plenty in this state-of-the-art facility to respect and keep you entertained. It's basically a museum for IU hoops. The Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame was a fun stop, as well.

 

Best meal: Looking back at my receipts, needless to say, I ate a bunch of bad food.  There was a meal consumed at Hardee's, Taco Bell and Arby's, among other fast food chains, on the trip. If I had to pick the best one, though, it would be between the Mimi's Beginning sandwich (No. 25) at Maize and Blue Deli in Ann Arbor and the spaghetti and meatballs at Coach DiNardo's DeAngelo's in Bloomington, Ind.

 

Best quote: "That's a hard question. We can line it up and we can see who's the best. Both sides of the ball, we can do a little challenge for it. But I ain't giving him all the credit." Penn State LB Gerald Hodges, on whether he or Derek Moye is the best No. 6 at Penn State

 

Lasting impression: Illinois looks like a strong sleeper pick this season. The Illini always look good when it comes to the eye test, and this year was no different. While Illinois lost a lot of talent, it has a bunch of young guys ready to emerge. Nathan Scheelhaase looks great - not to mention much bigger and stronger - the freshman running backs are the real deal and the fact both highly respected coordinators are back gives the Illini hope. Now, can they do it on the field?

Five Big Ten football teams, led by reigning co-champ Wisconsin, are ranked in the preseason Coaches' Poll, released Thursday morning.

 

The Badgers, fresh off a Rose Bowl berth, come in at No. 10, followed by Nebraska (11), Ohio State (16), Michigan State (17) and Penn State (25).

 

Oklahoma lands at No. 1, with Alabama, Oregon, LSU and Florida State rounding out the top 5.

 

Rapid Reactions

 

- Preseason polls are meaningless. I say it every year, and I'll continue to do so until they are gone. There's simply no way to know how teams will play one year to the next, so why not let them prove it on the field before ranking them? In a perfect world, polls wouldn't start until mid-October. That said, these polls exist for the purpose of creating excitement and getting people talking about the sport, which I'm doing right now. That doesn't mean money-making January bowl games should be decided, in part, by preseason polls, though. It happens, just  look at the Big Ten last year. Wisconsin went to the Rose Bowl over Michigan State, which beat the Badgers, thanks in large part to the former being ranked No. 12 in the preseason poll, compared to unranked for the latter. It makes no sense. And yes, I realize the Spartans had a terrible late loss against Iowa -- point is, the Big Ten had three one-loss teams and Michigan State beat Wisconsin, which beat Ohio State, which didn't play Michigan State. 

- I'm not surprised to see five Big Ten teams ranked, but I am surprised to see Penn State as the fifth. Considering some of the Nittany Lions' issues, I would have predicted Iowa as the conference's fifth team.

 

- Michigan State should be ranked higher -- at least higher than Big Ten foe Ohio State. The Spartans return a lot of talent, boast arguably the conference's top quarterback and running back, and don't have any distractions or suspensions. Based on the ranking, you have to think the coaches haven't gotten over Michigan State's embarrassing bowl loss.

 

- How are there two sub-500 teams, Georgia (6-7) and Texas (5-7), ranked? What did these two teams show the coaches since they finished last year, particularly bowl-less Texas? I wonder if the teams' big names and fertile recruting bases had something to do with it? At the very least, make the teams prove it early this year before voting solely on their history.

 

- It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Iowa and Northwestern enter this poll in the season's first couple weeks.

 

- Based on all the hype surrouding Notre Dame this summer, I'm pleased to see them only come in at No. 18. It could have been much higher.