The Pants Predicts: The Big Ten in 2022

Do you feel that tingling in your eyelids? Do you hear that buzzing in your eardrums? That’s the sound and feel of college football being less than 24 hours away! And not just any old college football. No, no, we’re talking Big Ten college football. We’ve got a pair of Big Ten games on the docket in week 0, including a matchup between Northwestern and Nebraska from Dublin, Ireland Saturday morning.

With the countdown to conference play now down to hours rather than days, The Pants is here with our Big Ten season long predictions for the 2022 season.

There aren’t too many surprises here as we seem to fall largely in line with Vegas expectations. DraftKings Sportsbook has Ohio State as the favorites to win the East at -340, as well as the whole conference at -215, and we tend to agree. Eight of our ten respondents picked the Buckeyes to win the East with seven picking them to win the whole conference. The other two are taking Michigan on both counts, right in line with Vegas. The lone respondent to pick a West division winner to be conference champion is John, who has the Hawkeyes winning the whole shebang.

In the West, there’s a bit more dispersion. While 40% of us have the Badgers winning the West, a total of five different teams earned a vote. That includes three votes for your Hawkeyes, including the aforementioned John taking them to go all the way. The other programs to each earn a vote were Minnesota, Purdue and…. Nebraska.

We also asked our staff to predict some of the individual awards. You can read them all below but generally speaking, we’re in on CJ Stroud and Jack Campbell but are much more diversified in our views on coach of the year.

Here’s a look at each of our individual predictions for the Big Ten in 2022.

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JPinIC

Is it just me or does this season seem like what people envisioned the Big Ten would look like with the East-West setup? Ohio State looks like a playoff team that nobody will touch. Michigan appears to be the next best team and the only real threat to trip OSU up this calendar year. Wisconsin looks to be the clear leader in the West and the world would have you believe that Nebraska is back baby (puke and rallies in practice and all)!

That leaves the Hawkeyes fighting for third in the West and PSU battling it out with Michigan State for third in the East. The rest doesn’t matter except hey look Northwestern is playing in Ireland!

I do think Iowa finishes ahead of the Huskers because I will continue to bet the under on NU (fun fact, the N actually stands for Novice) wins until they actually do something, anything of relevance, but the rest seems relatively accurate. Wisconsin is going to just bludgeon people to death in a way Iowa fans can only dream of with the current offensive woes while OSU looks like the Death Star. Michigan appears to be back to being Michigan MSU is the new hotness so whatever. Just give all the OSU guys the awards as usual, but Jack Campbell is damn special.

West Division Winner: Wisconsin

East Division Winner: Ohio State

Big Ten Champion: Ohio State

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Campbell

Big Ten Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Ryan Day

Ranked Teams at End of Season: 6

Bartt Pierce

Iowa benefited last year a little bit from a “somewhat-easy” schedule. The Hawks made it to Indy when the Gophers beat the Badgers and secured the Axe. We all know that Michigan smoked us on the big stage. Fast forward to this year and Iowa plays a big boy schedule. In my opinion, the Hawks have the toughest schedule of the contending B1G West teams that include the Gophers, the Badgers, and the Boilermakers. Sorry, Nebby, NW, and Illinois. Iowa faces both Michigan and Ohio State. Wisconsin plays Ohio State. Neither Purdue nor Minnesota faces the Wolverines or Buckeyes. Those contests, or lack thereof, will determine who faces (the) Ohio State University to determine the B1G Champ. And we all know that whoever wins the East will win the B1G.

West Division Winner: Purdue

East Division Winner: Ohio State

B1G Champ: Ohio State

Offensive Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Campbell

Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Coach of the Year: Ryan Day

Ranked Teams at End of the Season: 5

John Kuster

Ask yourself this: is Purdue, Wisconsin, or Minnesota better than Iowa?

The answer is no. The Hawkeyes return more returning starters, feature greater depth, and have reloaded with additions like Xavier Nwankpa.

Sure, the schedule is tough: but this is football, and a group led by Kirk Ferentz isn’t going to dwell on having to play tougher competition.

I see the Hawkeyes handling their business in the West rather easily, with the toughest games being Michigan and Ohio State. In the East, things are going to get a bit more chaotic. I’m expecting Rutgers to win 6+ games, Maryland is going to pull off at least one shocking upset, and Penn State will fire James Franklin after suffering a beatdown to Auburn and Michigan.

West Division Winner: Iowa

East Division Winner: Ohio State

B1G Champ: Iowa

Offensive Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Campbell

Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Coach of the Year: Kirk Ferentz

Ranked Teams at End of the Season: 6

tnels20

I don’t blame Iowa for the way they got into the B1G Championship in 2021, but other teams decided to gift it to them. I think the West sees improvement from nearly every team, but does that just mean they all beat up on each other? There is no way I’m picking against anything Ohio State does in the near future. And honestly, despite what happened last year I feel the same way with Wisconsin in the East.

I do feel like Wisconsin and Iowa are in similar boats in terms of season outlooks though. Both have historically replicable defenses, and on offense really were just missing quarterback play. Both return quarterbacks had strong recruiting rankings, but neither have lived up to the hype on the field to this point. Maybe with the addition of Jon Budmayr Iowa can finally have an offensive identity like what has been baked into Wisconsin’s DNA for a decade.

West Division Winner: Wisconsin

East Division Winner: Ohio State

Big Ten Champion: Ohio State

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Nick Herbig

Big Ten Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Ryan Day

Ranked Teams at End of Season: 7

BoilerHawk

The fun thing about the West is that they all play basically the same style, save Nebraska & Purdue. Purdue has the best QB which means I put them in pole position for the conference but they have even more struggles against the Badgers than Iowa (no win since 2003!), and that will continue on October 22nd.

An early season loss to Iowa sets up the narrative as anti-Michigan & pro-Iowa in the divisional races very quickly. Michigan goes on a run of squeakers, including an important victory against Michigan State before taking down Ohio State in the Horseshoe. Can Ryan Day beat the Wolverines? The loss is a blessing in disguise, as two Big Ten teams end up in the Playoff, which Ohio State wins. Big 2 + 12 is back!

West Division Winner: Wisconsin

East Division Winner: Michigan

Big Ten Champion: Michigan

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: Aidan O’Connell

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Nick Herbig

Big Ten Player of the Year: Cade McNamara

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Jeff Brohm

(yes I realize how chaotic these predictions are)

Ranked Teams at End of Season: 4 (Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue)

GingerHawk

Rutgers or Indiana? The road to Indy goes through Piscataway and only one team in red and white will make it out alive. Heaven help whoever comes out of the West.

Okay, enough of that nonsense. The East is Ohio State’s to lose. They’re head and shoulders above any other team in the entire conference. That’s not to say they can’t stub their toe somewhere along the line, but I’ll play the odds and say that doesn’t happen.

The West is a bigger question mark. There are four teams which have a legitimate shot at the division crown, and come November I have a feeling we’ll be taking a very close look at tiebreaker scenarios. Iowa will challenge for that top spot in the West, but their hopes to repeat fall short. This is Minnesota’s year to break through. Riding the arm of Tanner Morgan and legs of Mohamed Ibrahim, the Gophers row that boat into Indianapolis, only to be dashed upon the rock that is the Buckeyes.

West Division Winner: Minnesota

East Division Winner: Ohio State

Big Ten Champion: Ohio State

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Campbell

Big Ten Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Coach of the Year: PJ Fleck

Ranked Teams at End of Season: 6

MattReisener

After a year on the sidelines, Ohio State has re-emerged as he favorite to win the Big Ten. Michigan has enough talent to win the East, but the Buckeyes have a slight edge in my book thanks to The Game being played in Columbus and their impressive array of offensive weapons. Even a marginal improvement on defense could make the Buckeyes one of the toughest outs in the country this year.

The West is honestly a toss-up. Four teams have credible cases to be the favorite this season, and I’ve flirted with picking all of them over the past several months. Wisconsin ultimately seems like the safest bet thanks to its dominant running game and lengthy history of producing elite defenses, but don’t be surprised to see Iowa make a return trip to Indianapolis or to see Purdue or Minnesota in the mix until the final weeks of the season.

West Division Winner: Wisconsin

East Division Winner: Ohio State

Big Ten Champion: Ohio State

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Campbell

Big Ten Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Jeff Brohm

Ranked Teams at End of Season: 5

BizarroMax

You guys are going to hate me. You’re really, really going to hate me. But I’m doing it.

After four years of clownish posturing and slapstick buffoonery, Scott Frost turns it all around in year five, in one of the most improbable and unlikely stories in the conference. With Adrian Martinez (the Chosen One whose talent was foretold to require the entire Big 10 Conference to change how it plays) now ensconced in Manhattan (Kansas, that is), Frost is forced to learn how to win football game by keeping the ball on offense. And this he does. It turns out that when you lose every game by 3 points while also leading the observable universe in turnovers, special teams gaffes, and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, you can turn a lot of L’s into W’s by fixing just one of those things. Going into Rivalry Weekend, the Badgers have two losses in conference but the heads-up win over Nebraska, whereas Nebraska has just one loss. The Cornhuskers need either a Wisconsin loss at Minnesota, or a win over Iowa to get to Indy. They win the West at Kinnick on Black Friday, make Saturday all academic.

The East predictably boils down to who wins The Game. These teams are a dead heat on paper and the difference is home field advantage. But I’m going to pick Michigan again so the Big 10 Championship can be a proxy war for who really won the national championship in 1997. That is, right up until the final 90 seconds, when the Cornhuskers, down by 2, get into long but makeable field goal range for the championship-winning kick, and are just running the ball to drain clock and position the ball. But alas! They muff a handoff and Michigan appears to fall on the ball. The initial call on the field is Cornhuskers recover, but after an agonizingly long delay that includes endless replays and a lengthy commercial break, we come back to see the call surprisingly reversed on questionable evidence. Hours later, the Indianapolis police blotter reports multiple men aged 42-58 from the Omaha area arrested and charged with public urination and misdemeanor vandalism, all of whom claim a defense of “journalistic license” under the First Amendment.

West Division Winner: Nebraska

East Division Winner: Michigan

Big Ten Champion: Michigan

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Campbell

Big Ten Player of the Year: CJ Stroud (wait ... the league doesn’t have this category any more, does it?)

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Scott Frost

Ranked Teams at End of Season: 5 (Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin)

SirNicholas33

As much as I would liked to include Michigan in this given they’re the defending league champs - it’s Ohio State’s world, we’re all just living in it.

The Buckeyes beat Michigan in The Game, putting them in the title game yet again. And really, does it matter who they get? Iowa? Wisconsin? No, it doesn’t matter. Ohio State’s offense is so overflowing with talent they’re practically playing a different sport from the rest of the league, non-Michigan and maybe Penn State editions, and they can only go up defensively from where they were a year ago.

I have Iowa getting to Indy over Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s three toughest league games are away - at Ohio State, at Michigan State, at Iowa. I think they lose all three. Iowa gets the necessary improvement on offense and manages to get to the title game as a result.

West Division Winner: Iowa

East Division Winner: Ohio State

Big Ten Champion: Ohio State

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Campbell

Big Ten Player of the Year: CJ Stroud

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Ryan Day - it’s weird Ohio State almost never wins this award, to be honest.

Ranked Teams at End of Season: 5 - Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin

Kicker32

BizarroMax............... Why are you the way that you are?

The West, as has been mentioned by many a pundit, is going to be an absolute dog fight. Over the last month I’ve waffled between Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. As I mentioned in my Iowa prediction I believe this Iowa defense to be potentially the deepest of Kirks tenure. If the offense improves slightly they will be there at the top. Wisconsin is looking like a typical Wisconsin team with a big running back in Braylon Allen and a stud line backer in Nick Herbig. Minnesota is receiving a boost from the return of star HB Mo Ibrahim and 2019 OC Kirk Ciarrocca along with veterans QB Tanner Morgan and WR Rashad Bateman. When the margins between crowning a champion are this close and the teams are so similar, I have one thought flying through my and that is HEALTH. While that Hawkeyes are struggling with WR injuries at the moment, I believe overall as a team and especially on the defensive side of the ball, the Hawkeyes will be able to absorb the injury attrition that every team must go through durning the course of a season better than either Wisky or the Rodents. All three teams end up with 3 L’s in league play and the Hawks somehow end up in Indy. Although it’s an even year so Northwestern will probably beat all of us.

In the East, Michigan will be formidable but they are not taking two in a row from the Buckeyes. Also the Michigan State hype is utter nonsense and they are going to finish the year unranked while Maryland has a great year (whatever that means).

West Division Winner: Iowa

East Division Winner: Ohio. St

Big Ten Champion: Ohio. St

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Campbell

Big Ten Player of the Year: Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Pat Fitzgerald (this is my offering to you Fitz, just beat Nebraska then leave us all alone.)

Ranked Teams: 6 (Ohio. St, Michigan, Iowa, Penn. St, Wisconsin and Minnesota)

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So that’s how we see things playing out in 2022. Feel free to publicly stone Bizarro Max in the comments. And let us know what you think happens this year while you’re there!