Outlook and predictions for the Big Ten East Division

Outlooks and predictions for every team in the Big Ten East

The college football season is nearly here and there is a new twist this year. The Big Ten East race will begin in earnest just one week from today as Indiana will host Ohio State August 31st.

No tune-up games for the Buckeyes and the Hoosiers as they jump head first into their conference schedules. So what better time for predictions as to what the Big Ten East Division standings will look like when the season is over.

Rutgers

2016: Finished 7th in BIG Ten East

2017 Prediction: Scarlet Knights will finish last in the division again.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have yet to do anything since entering the conference in 2014. Sorry Scarlet Knights’ fans but nothing will change this season.

Rutgers finished dead last in the Big Ten East last season and this season they will most likely will continue that pattern. Rutgers did acquire a new offensive coordinator during the off-season in Jerry Kill, but will he be able to improve the offense dramatically in his first season as OC?

In 2014, Kill was the BIG 10 coach of the year for Minnesota and has shown he can take less talented teams and prove people wrong in this conference. Rutgers, barely a top 100 team, has a lot of work to do if they want to improve their status in the East Division and compete for a bowl game.

I don’t see this season as the one in which they get all the pieces together and make it happen, but going forward they might be a stronger opponent then what they have been since joining the BIG Ten.