Predicting every Big Ten football team’s 2022 record

While Wisconsin fans can often count on a game that is too close for comfort when the Badgers meet the Wildcats, this Northwestern team is going to once again have a difficult time generating offense.

The Wildcats have no favors from the Big Ten schedule, as they have to head to Penn State and welcome Ohio State at home.

Ryan Hilinski is the expected starting quarterback, but reports from spring football are that redshirt freshman QB Brendan Sullivan could push him for the job:

#Northwestern redshirt freshman QB Brendan Sullivan has put himself in position to push Ryan Hilinski for the starting job after a strong spring, per coach Pat Fitzgerald. Son of former Michigan offensive lineman Mike Sullivan.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 21, 2022

After a brutal 2021 campaign followed a miraculous 2020 season, Tom Allen and the Hoosiers retooled by adding Missouri transfer quarterback Connor Bazelak.

Expect Indiana to find its neutral level after extremes in either direction over the past two seasons. The defense has the potential to be in the upper half of the conference, but solving an offensive that sputtered last season will be the question.

Rutgers was on the wrong end of lopsided losses to the Big Ten’s best a year ago, although the Scarlet Knights found themselves in a last-minute bowl game against Wake Forest.

A QB competition is the highlight of the offseason, as Noah Vedral brings experience while Gavin Wimsatt and Evan Simon await an opportunity. The schedule sees the Scarlet Knights land Minnesota,

It was a strange 2021 campaign for Bret Bielema in his first year at Illinois. The Fighting Illini were led by Chase Brown on the ground and pulled off one of the weirdest wins of the college football season by taking down Penn State in nine, yes nine, overtimes.

They also lost at home to Rutgers and UTSA. Up and down puts it mildly when talking about the 2021 Illini. The questions on offense surround the quarterback position. Will it be Tommy DeVito or Artur Sitkowski under center when Week 1 rolls around?

The keys are still with quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa as the Terrapins look to build on a decisive Pinstripe Bowl victory over Virginia Tech in 2021.

Can the defense hold up alongside an offense that put together multiple massive games last season?

Well, well, well, another year of being high on the Cornhuskers in preseason predictions.

A new-look offense will be headlined by former Pitt offensive coordinator Mark Whipple and Texas transfer quarterback Casey Thompson. Nebraska was the best 3-9 football team in the history of the sport last season. Can they finish some of those close games in 2022? They will have to if Scott Frost wants to stay in Lincoln.

After a solid 2021 season, Purdue will be looking to fill massive holes on either end of the football.

The Boilermakers lost their best overall player in defensive end George Karlaftis and wide receiver David Bell to the NFL draft.

Quarterback Aidan O’Connell is back in the fold as the Boilers try and fill holes at receiver.

Minnesota might rival Illinois for the strangest season in 2021. This is a team that lost to Bowling Green at home yet beat Wisconsin to take the Big Ten West crown away from the Badgers (and give it to Iowa).

Quarterback Tanner Morgan and running back Mohamed Ibrahim are back in the Twin Cities as the offense will have familiar personnel. The defense improved last season and will have to continue that upward trajectory.

Following a tremendous start to 2021 spurred by beating Wisconsin in Week 1, the Nittany Lions faltered down the stretch.

Sean Clifford returns for his fifth season in Happy Valley after he threw 21 touchdowns in 2021. The Nittany Lions lost a lot of talent in the NFL draft, and will have to restructure a defense that was in the bottom third of the conference last season.

Alex Padilla and Spencer Petras both got time under center last season as the Iowa offense struggled to find consistency.

The defense, however, was as good as any unit in the country. That defense returns much of the same personnel and will once again be near the top of the Big Ten. Can either Padilla or Petras develop into a consistent starter this season? That’s the question that holds they key to Iowa’s potential in 2022.

While the defense loses Jack Sanborn, Leo Chenal, and others to the NFL, Wisconsin has shown their ability to reload under defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.

The other side of the ball is a question mark. Wisconsin has a new offensive coordinator in Bobby Engram, as Graham Mertz looks to put it all together at quarterback. The running back room will lead the way as Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi return to form a duo with unlimited potential.