ESPN predicts season record for every Big Ten team, conference champion

Some Big Ten teams get their seasons underway this weekend in Week 0, which means it’s time to make record predictions. ESPN made its picks, including which team will win the conference championship.

One division was easy to predict. The other might not have been.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach logged his prediction for every Big Ten team’s record, led by Ohio State, which he thinks will go 11-1 overall en route to another conference title. Michigan comes in right behind the Buckeyes in Schlabach’s predictions, which means The Game could have some big league-wide implications once again at the end of the regular season.

But in the Big Ten West, things get interesting. Schlabach has Wisconsin winning the division to set up a matchup with Ohio State in the league championship game in Indianapolis. However, he didn’t rule out a potential division title run by Minnesota, putting the Golden Gophers in second place behind the Badgers.

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Here are ESPN’s full predictions for the 2022 Big Ten football season.

Big Ten East predictions

1. Ohio State 11-1 overall record, 8-1 conference record
2. Michigan 10-2 overall, 7-2 conference
3. Penn State 9-3 overall, 6-3 conference
4. Michigan State 8-4 overall, 5-4 conference
5. Maryland 7-5 overall, 4-5 conference
6. Rutgers 4-8 overall, 2-7 conference
7. Indiana 4-8 overall, 2-7 conference

Big Ten West predictions

1. Wisconsin 10-2 overall record, 7-2 conference record
2. Minnesota 9-3 overall, 6-3 conference
3. Iowa 8-4 overall, 5-4 conference
4. Purdue 7-5 overall, 4-5 conference
5. Nebraska 6-6 overall, 3-6 conference
6. Illinois 5-7 overall, 2-7 conference
7. Northwestern 5-7 overall, 2-7 conference

Three Big Ten teams — Illinois, Nebraska and Northwestern — start their seasons on Saturday in Week 0, headlined by a matchup between the latter two teams in Dublin, Ireland. Nebraska and Northwestern get things going at 12:30 p.m. ET.