Why the Big Ten Will Get FOUR (or Even FIVE?!) Teams Into the Twelve Team Playoff | College Football

Introduction the four teams that I think will represent the Big 10 in the college football playoff this season and why coming up next on Darren talks ball okay so the college football season is finally here and I couldn't be more excited that's why I'm kind of you you'll see me from time to time hop on and just make videos like this on camera I know a lot of you are probably used to the slides and everything don't worry we're going to still keep doing that of course but sometimes I just want to get on here and talk college football and but what better way to just get on here in front of the camera in front of you guys not have to do so much of the prep work work excuse me and just talk college football with you guys which of course is why we titled the channel what we did and why we do what we do we all love college football in this time of year I think this is kind of the peak of excitement and hype and especially hope and that's why you see me putting out so much content lately so especially heading into the season don't forget before we really get into my four teams that I think will make the college football playoff from the Big 10 this season and why don't forget to like the video and subscribe help get this video up into the algorithm and stay subscribed to the channel so you'll be informed whenever we come out with new content of course covering all of the Big 10 and including I'm happy to announce this week in Big 10 football which is a weekly live stream we'll be doing every Thursday afternoon around 1:30 or 2 o00 that's a chance for you guys to interact directly with me and of course talk college football add nauseum for as long as we want or until my toddler wakes up because I'm not going to lie I set it up that way because that's when my baby boy is uh usually napping but anyway let's get into those four teams that I was talking about that I think will represent the Big 10 in the first ever 12 team playoff this season we're going to start with my let's think about it here who are we going to start with who do we want to start with let's start with Penn State all right Penn State sunglasses are back on anyway Penn State is a really a team heading into this season that I feel like it's kind of now or never for this team of course there's a lot that's been made of everyone that's returned on this roster they were one of the few teams in the Big 10 with a I guess you could say quality returning starter and Drew Aller quality meaning he rarely turns the ball over which is a great thing I guess I suppose I I I have a hot take on Drew Eller most people who follow the channel and have followed the channel for a while will know this he just hasn't played up to his potential and what a lot of people had in terms of expectations for him coming out as a five-star quarterback out of high school of course he has all the size and the strength and you know not necessarily the athleticism that I think a lot of people also thought he had coming out of high school but he was the beneficiary I think of a kid who he was the beneficiary of having had a major growth spurt in high school and really taking off in the high school ranks and became a five-star do I think on my evaluation that he is a five-star should have been a festar no but but I may be wrong and he may prove me wrong this season of course this is entering his second season playing starting quarterback for Penn State he was really young last season he had a what I would say marginal to poor offensive coordinator last season they've I think improved at offensive coordinator with Andy coton Nikki coming over from Kansas Kansas one of the more modern inventive and creative offenses in all of FBS football by the way for the last few seasons so I'm really intrigued to see if Drew Aller will improve and we'll see right away of course as they play West Virginia West Virginia in week one just kind of getting into the schedule here which I think is a big reason why Penn State will make it to the college football playoff albeit not to the Big 10 championship game or anything like that my prediction for the Big 10 championship game will come later in this video when we talk about some other teams but when you look at the schedule and you look at everything that Penn State has coming back James Franklin of course is a track record of going you know most any year 10-2 or 11-1 as a coach and that should be good enough if Penn State plays up to their usual level their usual you know expectation level to get into the college football playoff with 12 teams now out of the Big 10 I don't think there will really be maybe outside of one team this season I do think we'll go 10 and two or maybe 9 and three I don't think there will be any big 10 teams that are able to go 10- two that'll be left out of this new playoff format but we'll know what this team is really in week one they'll get a pretty big decent Challenge from the West Virginia Mountaineers though I do think they will be able to handle them and I do think we'll see then if Drew all has really improved but again they have more than just drew all coming back they have a lot coming back on that defense despite losing several defensive backs from last season to the NFL I really really like Penn States front seven with Donnie Dennis Sutton and Abdul Carter those guys will probably be playing in the NFL next season of course Tom Allen is now the defensive coordinator over there but I don't think too much is going to change schematically for them either Tom Allen kind of likes to Blitz a lot too like Manny Diaz did and of course you also return those running backs the key for me I think is can Drew Aller get in sync with his new wide receivers because it's almost a totally new wide receiver core over there at Penn State they lost the guy to the transfer portal I'm blinking on his name right now I think he went to Old Miss or Auburn or something like that but they bring in Julian Fleming who was a another kind of like the wide receiver version of Drew Aller he was like a perfect 100 rated recruit on 247 coming out of high school but never really lived up to that hype so maybe the pairing of Julian Fleming and Drew Aller can figure it out together and if they really can I think they can be a really really good team this season I think they can even push for you know not just getting into the playoff but having a win or two under the belts especially if they get in in that first week and get a home game a home playoff game for Penn State is almost like can you imagine can you imagine with the new helmet communication and stuff by the way how loud it's going to be at Happy Valley for a playoff game and how difficult the quarterback of the opposing team is going to have the quarterback of opposing team I feel bad for them if if Penn State gets to host a playoff game them trying to hear the the calls coming through their helmet communication they better have that volume cranked all the way up but also again my big reason for Penn State making the 12 team playoff is the schedule and getting into it really in more depth here they avoid Oregon they avoid Michigan they have to play Ohio State but other than that they don't play Too Many Heavy Hitters they play a USC in week what is it one two three four five six seven so they get seven weeks to kind of ramp up to USC after playing West Virginia by the way I do think that'll be a win for them at West Virginia tomorrow on the big noon kickoff but then they play Bowling Green Kent State Illinois UCLA maybe a bit of a challenge but that's at home so they get a good bit to get things right before they kind of play their first they play their first top 25 team of the whole season in week seven and then they only play one other top 25 team in an Ohio State they have to play at Wisconsin which could be a trap game for them the week before Ohio State and I did a video of course on Luke fickles team looking much improved this season I think they'll be a very improved Squad themselves but but if you win that game against West Virginia which I think they will if they take care of business against USC and maybe maybe their two losses are Wisconsin and Ohio State or maybe they beat USC or maybe they lose to USC excuse me and then they beat Wisconsin but lose to Ohio State I think really at worst this is is a 10 and two team of course that we haven't even talked about KRON Allen and Nick Singleton that much in this this video excuse me coming back to really great running backs they'll have a def decent offensive line I think despite losing Olo fushu at left tackle one of the better left tackles in the entire country they're just simply going to be able to out talent and out bully most of these teams on their schedule they finish out the SCH schedule with Washington who has replaced everything that's an entirely different team from that National Championship runnerup team from last season including their head coach and everybody at Purdue at Minnesota and Maryland doesn't scare me too much if I'm a Penn State fan so this is an easy track a very easy path for a team with a former five-star quarterback a guy who could be could be an elite wide receiver in Julian Fleming if he finally play plays up to his potential a decent offensive line a good tight end by the way in Ty Tyler Warren and great running backs in KRON Allen and Nick Singleton to make the college football playoff it's an easy easy track for Penn State and I think I would just about guarantee that this team makes it in at either 10-2 or 11 and one and now this Michigan one this one might be my most controversial and I'm sure a lot of people probably pile on in the comments and notice the connect the dots between the fact that I'm a guy wearing a Michigan hat pret projecting this team as a playoff team I know there's a lot of hot takes out there and the Kevin noones and Buckeye huddle people of the world and the especially the guys on the bu guys on Buckeye scoop I'm pretty sure think Jim Harbaugh was the guy that killed Kennedy at this point I don't know but I digress I digress once again I digressed there but but I do think in a lot of ways people are overlooking the defending national champions and I do think that they can easily well maybe not easily it's a tougher path it's not the same case as Penn State but I do think they can make the college football playoff because this team in case you haven't noticed is going to have one of the best defenses in the entire country two two projected possibly top 10 picks on this defense in Mason Graham at defense of tackle a guy that I compare to Aaron Donald guy who is a little undersized shorter arms and such and such as you would expect than you would expect from a good defensive tackle but he plays like an absolute Beast along that defensive line and is great as a pass rusher as well as a guy against the run and then you got will Johnson at corner probably the best corner in college football maybe outside of Travis hunter or a few other guys that are up there and I'm blinking on names now right now but we're talking about Michigan football here and I do think that defense will really carry of the team but also I think we're overlooking some of the offensive weapons that Michigan has at their disposal they have the best tight end in the entire country by the way and coulston Loveland another projected first round pick a guy who's kind of the next brck Bowers in a way if he can get better at blocking especially as an inline tight end he he really is as good as Brock Bowers if he can improve in that part of his game he is trying kind of like the next Travis Kelce or George KD even he kind of projects as that in my opinion from what we've seen seen so far in his college career he had nearly 800 receiving yards last season by the way and wasn't even the team's top you know receiver in terms of catches he could be that this season and then of course Donovan Edwards is still there the offensive line projects to be pretty good despite the fact that they're replacing a lot they're bringing in a lot of guys that are Juniors and even seniors that have been waiting their turn there were highly rated recruits Greg krippin could play center who was a center at IMG Academy in his high school days Giovani alad is a former top 100 recruit and oh yeah Michigan's new head coach shiron Moore is the guy who is responsible for this team winning the Joe Moore award two years in a row Shon Moore is an offensive line genius Guru whatever you want to call him I think this team will be better on offense than a lot of people are maybe predicting whether it's Alex orgy or Davis Warren at this point rumors are abound and well waiting for the smoke to kind of puff out of the chimney to give us the announcement of when uh the quarterback will be announced or whatever I don't know why I made a weird Catholic reference there this isn't Notre Dame we're talking about this is Michigan football but anyway I think regardless of quarterback this could be a pretty good offense SJ Morgan is a very good skill position player great slot receiver Tyler Morris showed out in the Rose Bowl they're just a lot of guys that have kind of been overlooked and that's kind of the story of a lot of players on Michigan football they get overlooked in recruiting Michigan snags them up develops them through their great strength and conditioning program and with their great coaching and the next thing you know they're really great players some of these guys were also really highly rated recruits they just weren't the flashy you know Jeremiah Smiths and uh Julian Fleming you know perfect 100 rating five stars that Ohio state gets Tyler Morris was a fourstar in like a 95 uh uh aggregate average on 247 that's a really good receiver to in my opinion and he's shown it from his experience now the schedule is the problem for Michigan they get Texas in week two right away big time Big Game in college football and that'll determine a lot of things for the entire college football world as is a big 10 SEC matchup then two weeks later they got to play USC at home USC I think could actually be pretty good this season if they turn around that defense with the Anon ly at Washington is kind of a maybe a tricky one but again Washington is replaced a lot then they have to play Oregon albeit they do get them at home Oregon another team we're going to talk about here in a minute and another team yet another team we're going to talk about here in a minute they have to finish out the season at Ohio State who is probably the best roster at least on paper in all of college football so if this team go 9 and three I could actually see them missing the playoff unfortunately for me as a Michigan fan and many others I'm sure who are watching uh they could even go eight and four there's just there are a lot of question marks for this team but I am really confident in the fact that this defense is going to be so good they're going to be in a lot of close games and as we've seen from previous Seasons they are experts experts at winning close games they don't get shook they don't lose their heads and I think that kind of experience and that calmness that they always exude will carry over and will get them to a 10 and two record I don't see this team going undefeated I don't even see them going 11 and one I'm trying to be as realistic as possible as a Michigan fan but let me know in the comments feel free if you're an Ohio State fan to pile on about how they're going to I don't know go seven and five or something but anyway I think this team will make the college football playoff albeit you know not not with a first round by no Conference Championship for this team or anything like that they will probably get the play the first weekend we'll see if that'll be on the road or at home that'll come down to a lot on on how other teams have performed out there in other conferences and how the rankings work out and such and such but if they get a home playoff game again might much like Penn State they have a great home atmosphere Michigan Stadium is a better uh home field advantage than a lot of people give them credit for this team also hasn't lost at home in like three years by the way they're like 40 and3 overall all together in the last 3 years and it's funny how we're all kind of over looking them but I do think Michigan will make the 12 team playoff I do as like a 10 and2 team and now we're going to get into my two teams that I do think make the big 10 championship game and one of them I think will win the national championship Ohio State and then in perhaps my least hottest take ever probably the least hottest lukewarm take it's not even lukewarm it's cold it's freezing it's frigid it's like chip Kelly's heart you've heard the reports on how many many people have had bad experiences with Chip Kelly over the years woof anyway Ohio state is going to make the 12 team playoff whether I as a Michigan fan like it or not because simply they're kind of a combination of the two teams the two paths that I just laid out for Penn State kind of having an easy schedule and then with Michigan being a talented team Ohio state has both of those going on they have a easy path in their schedule which we'll get to in a second and then they're also probably the most on paper at least talented teams in the entire country we've made it a point to reference it in every video we've done on Ohio State so far this season if you're watching you've probably already seen and heard about Caleb DS and Seth mclin the Alabama editions in the transfer portal quinon Judkins coming over probably was the best running back in the SEC last season and one of the more difficult conferences in the entire country I mean there's not much more to say about Ohio State at this point I think they have an easy path again talking about the schedule they play AK who is ranked 132nd in preseason SP plus according to Bill Connelly by the way if you follow along if you follow my picks I'm actually taking Ohio State to cover in that game which is a 55 at at the last time I checked it was a 55 point spread against akan and I'm still taking it because that's how much of a cupcake akan is to Ohio State of course that game will be at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow to kick off their season and then they play Western Michigan one of the worst Max schools that'll be on big The Big 10 Network at 7:30 p.m. then they get a week off and play Marshall that's their out of conference that's all they play in the outof conference schedule a lot has been made of course to their out-of-conference schedule being the new Michigan out-of conference schedule of course Michigan didn't really play anybody last season and had a very easy ramp up into the rest of the season and that went well for Michigan so we're we're going to see if that goes well for Ohio State of course I think the first four weeks of the Season all they have to do really is stay healthy in my opinion because in week five in their fourth game they play a new head coach and a team that they have absolutely pounded for the last few seasons at Michigan State so there's not a single Challenge on the schedule until they play Iowa and Iowa is the team in this video that I'm just going to kind of briefly mention here could be kind of a borderline playoff team just because they have a very elite defense that defense returns a ton of production from last season even though they lost Cooper Dee they probably got the best linebacker duo in the entire country maybe outside of Mig we didn't even mention Jon baram and Ernest hman in our Michigan SE section of this video excuse me but that'll be Ohio State's first challenge of the season and I do think Iowa has a white enough schedule they avoid largely outside of Ohio State a lot of the Heavy Hitters themselves so look for Iowa to maybe towards the end of the season be kind of a 9 and3 borderline playoff team themselves if they can get the offense figured out but that's just my little take on Iowa headed into the season so Ohio State plays them that's their first preseason top 25 team they don't even play them until October 5th then the very next week of course they have the big big match up with Oregon which I think in case you're paying attention in case you're reading between the tea leaves and all that good they they play Oregon which will be a little preview of The Big 10 Championship matchup I do think Ohio State and Oregon meet again in the Big 10 championship at the end of the season but outside of playing Oregon they don't really play they play Penn State now that I mention it they do play pen State they have to go to Penn State but Penn State hasn't beat them since what was it 2016 2017 at this point seems like every season we get really hyped up for that game and Penn State just lays a goose egg but we'll see we'll see if the new coordinators and all that make a difference for Penn State in that one but even if even if they lose at Oregon and they lose at Penn State that game will be in Happy Valley we'll see that'll probably be a big 10 big noon kickoff which I absolutely hate I wish that game was a night game a lot of big games in the Big 10 these days should be night games but fox has all the money in the world and they are willing to Shell it out to put these games on the big noon kickoff anyway and what can I do what what what do we what do you expect me to do over here about it I'm just a pretty broke guy making videos on the internet over here anyway but outside of those two games they do play Michigan at the end of the season too so now that I think about it maybe maybe worst case scenario they end up with three losses but I don't think that's going to happen this team is simply too talented they have too much going for them they returned too much production that entire defense returns from last season and you've added Caleb downs one of the best safeties in all of America last season those Corners are really good the defensive ends and the defensive tackles of course are really good linebackers should be decently good maybe even better than last season because I think Tommy ikenberg to be frank was a little overrated especially in pass coverage and steel Chambers was just bad in pass coverage they got some guys in there now that I think can cover the pass a little bit better cover wide receivers or running backs running down field and of course that offense with with Chip Kelly they're going to run the ball a little bit more be a little bit more balanced it all comes down really for me for Ohio State can Will Howard be effective enough to score enough points to stay out ahead of teams that will probably score some points on that really great defense they've had they'll have like Oregon and maybe Penn State and Michigan but that's a big what if I think Ohio State's going 11 and one this season I do think that they beat Michigan finally for the first time in four or five years however long it's been nearly 2,000 days now since the last time Ohio State beat Michigan and I know I'm going to get a lot in the comments probably from Ohio State fans about the sign ceiling stuff and like that get over it just get over it we're all adults get over it I don't know what to tell you stop being babies about it anyway that's Ohio State and how I project them going into the season and why I think they will be one of the four teams that represent the Big 10 in the college football playoff hey guys I just wanted to take a quick break and let you guys know of two different ways you can further support the channel and the first is absolutely free that's our Discord Channel you can find the link to the Discord in the description of this video we've already got a few people in there chatting college football 247 365 and it's also a great spot to get little previews and 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don't like Ohio State no have you seen what hat I'm wearing I can't help it I'm sorry but also I do really think taking a more rational and logical approach to this that Oregon simply look this is how I see it Oregon added the better quarterback in the transfer portal Oregon was already pretty decent defense L but they've added a lot a lot in the transfer portal to really beef up that defense which was the problem last season and they were already an elite offensive team they have a defensive minded head coach and Dan Lanning who learned from the best in Kirby Smart while he was at Georgia being their defensive coordinate Dan Lanning was a defensive coordinator one of the best defenses we've ever seen in college football and I think this year is the year that that really translates to Oregon's roster they've got multiple 300 pound Plus hosses hosses on that defensive line now that they've added through the transfer portal and oh yeah they added one of the best cornerbacks from the Pack 12 last season from a national championship runnerup team in Jabar Muhammad we haven't even gotten into Jordan James and how I project that he will have a breakout season they've got a good offensive line albe it they do have a question mark at Center looks like According to some reports they may even start a true sophomore at that position filling in for Jackson pow Johnson who of course left to the NFL but the rest of that offensive line looks great most of those guys are returning and Dylan Gabriel is my pick for the Heisman I think we've seen in previous Seasons guys like Jaden Daniels kale Williams etc etc Bo Nicks from Oregon was a big Heisman candidate guys who started out at other schools got some experience and went to play for better schools with better Talent around them winning the Heisman Trophy and I think that's going to be the case for Dylan Gabriel this season with those wide receivers with the addition of Evan Stewart that offense is just going to be too much to handle they've got a really good offensive coordinator by the way I'm blanking on names now Oregon fans can probably fill me in in the comments but I do think this team goes to the Big 10 championship game beats Ohio State wins the Big 10 championship and then runs through the 12 team playoff in its first season and just to get into their schedule for just a second it's not too difficult either though I do think there are some teams that could give them early tests in Boise State we did a big preview and prediction video for that one by the way a lot of Boise fans watched that one and commented on it so appreciate you all out there Boise State one of the better running offenses in all of FBS football last season they have one of the best running backs by the way in all of FBS football and a pretty good quarterback that's probably going to start there as well but I do think ultimately Oregon just out muscles them they're just way too talented to lose to a team like Boise State at home early in the season that game starts at 10 o'clock on peacock staying up past my bedtime for that one then they get the instate rivalry with Oregon State glad to see they continued along with that one then at U UCLA could be interesting game at the Rose Bowl that'll be a really fun one hopefully maybe that one's a night game the Rose Bowl of course is a beautiful atmosphere and I love seeing teams like Oregon play there the new Big 10 will be really fun by the way then they get Michigan State at home that could be a blowout easily and the two big tests that they do have on the schedule are Ohio State but they get Ohio State at home as we mentioned a minute ago when we went over Ohio State schedule they play at Michigan on November 2nd we'll see what the weather is like we'll see if that even really impacts this Oregon team I know it gets cold out in Oregon too but depending on the year and time and everything the timing of it it could be either 80° or -20 as someone who lives here in Michigan in early November but those are probably really only other two games that they could potentially lose on their schedule because I see see the rest of these as being relatively easy wins for this team and 10-2 gets you in even if maybe my prediction of their going to the big 10 championship game and winning it won't be right they will still be a really really big threat in 12 team playoff even if they kind of back their way in as a 10 and two team and that's it that's the video thank you guys so much for watching I appreciate it let me know in the comments if you like me doing more of this camera work I'll do more of it as the season goes on CU frankly I just don't have the time to make all the slides and do all the graphics and all the fancy stuff I don't know how fancy it is anyway I just do it on the free version of canva but anyway let me know what you think in the comments like the video help get it up into the algorithm which will get more I on this channel help this 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