Big 10 West sneak peek: Connelly on Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and

Costs Connelly, ESPN Staff WriterJul 7, 2023, 07:00 AM ET

Close

Bill Connelly is a staff writer for ESPN.com.Next year, whatever changes. College football begins the era of a 12-team playoff and 16-team megaconferences. The Big Ten will be responsible for the most disconcerting of all changes, the additions of USC and UCLA. Quickly we will reside in a universe in which UCLA and Rutgers are conference mates. It’s going to take a while for that universe to feel like home.It’s practically reassuring, then, to spend some time to say hey there to an old

, trustworthy(and quickly outdated)buddy: the Big Ten West.I’ve been as loud as anyone in promoting for the ditching of departments in favor of a scheduling structure with irreversible competitors and turned challengers. It will make certain everyone in these big conferences plays each other regularly and will assure that a provided conference title game is in between its two best teams. But I need to admit, I’m going to miss the Big 10 West. As a competitive entity, it definitely wasn’t excellent. In some cases it wasn’t even great. Its champs have actually gone 0-9 in the Big 10 national championship, losing by an average score of 37-16. But no department has actually had such a reputable identity. The rest of the world might attempt to keep up with the offense-friendly times; the Big 10 West, nevertheless, has continued to live the defense-and-power-football life.Last year alone, West groups ranked very first(Iowa), second(Illinois ), fifth (Minnesota) and 14th(Wisconsin) in defensive SP +, while Purdue’s No. 50 offense was by far

the best of the bunch. In this year’s SP +projections, four of the nation’s top defenses live in the West. No top 40 offenses do.You be you, West. Let’s preview you one last time.Every week through the offseason, Bill Connelly will sneak peek another division from the Group of 5 and Power 5 specifically for ESPN+, eventually consisting of all

133 FBS teams. The sneak peeks will include 2022 breakdowns, 2023 sneak peeks and burning questions for each group.