Big Ten spring preview: Can Ohio State knock off Michigan, and who wins the West?
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Blake Baumgartner
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Tom VanHaaren
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Tom VanHaaren
ESPN Staff Writer
- ESPN staff writer
- Joined ESPN in 2011
- Graduated from Central Michigan
For the first time in the College Football Playoff era, the Big Ten had multiple teams selected, with Michigan and Ohio State making it in 2022. This fall, Michigan and Ohio State could be joined by Penn State as top-10 teams in the preseason and all three should be capable of making a run at the CFP.
That’s not even including a potential undefeated team from the Big Ten West, with your three crossovers always pivotal. Iowa and Illinois don’t face either Ohio State or Michigan while Wisconsin misses Michigan but hosts Ohio State. Minnesota, however, plays at Ohio State and hosts Michigan.
As the league prepares for one final year at 14 schools before USC and UCLA come from the Pac-12 prior to the 2024 season, new coaches at Wisconsin (Luke Fickell), Nebraska (Matt Rhule) and Purdue (Ryan Walters) should energize the Big Ten West race. In the Big Ten East, new quarterbacks at both Ohio State (Kyle McCord) and Penn State (Drew Allar) will be two of the most prominent positions to watch while Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is perhaps the most experienced signal-caller returning in the conference. — Baumgartner
EAST DIVISION
Top storyline: The Hoosiers had 17 players enter the transfer portal this offseason, including freshman linebacker Dasan McCullough, tight end A.J. Barner and quarterbacks Connor Bazelak and Jack Tuttle. That’s a lot of production to replace in one offseason, especially at quarterback. Bazelak was the starter in 2022 after transferring in from Missouri with Tuttle as one of the backups. The staff was able to get Tennessee transfer Tayven Jackson, but he was a freshman last season, attempted four passes for the Vols and doesn’t have much experience at the college level. There are a ton of new faces on the roster, and combined with new coaching hires on the staff, Indiana has a lot of change in one offseason to try to turn things around.
Newcomer to watch: Quarterback Dexter Williams injured his knee in November, and with Bazelak and Tuttle transferring, all eyes will be on Jackson. He was a freshman last season for Tennessee and by all accounts could be Indiana’s starter in the 2023 season. — VanHaaren
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Taulia scampers to make incredible play for Maryland TD
Taulia Tagovailoa breaks out of the pocket and finds Jeshaun Jones for a touchdown.
Top storyline: Tagovailoa is back for his final season, which gives the Terps an excellent chance at improving on their 8-5 record from last season. Tagovailoa finished the 2022 season with 3,008 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions while also rushing for four touchdowns. He is losing receivers Rakim Jarrett and Jacob Copeland to the NFL, as well as tight end CJ Dippre, who transferred to Alabama. The staff brought in West Virginia receiver transfer Kaden Prather, as well as FIU transfer Tyrese Chambers, to help replace those losses. If Tagovailoa can take another step up and improve on last season, Maryland should be in line for another winning season.
Newcomers to watch: Chambers and Prather are both players to watch. They had similar numbers for their respective teams last season with Chambers hauling in 544 yards and four touchdowns and Prather 501 yards and three touchdowns. They should be big additions to the offense. — VanHaaren
Top storyline: With star running back Blake Corum (1,463 yards, 18 touchdowns) working his way back from the knee injury he suffered in late November, building and maintaining depth at that position will be crucial. Donovan Edwards (991 yards, seven TDs) is also back after suffering a bone fracture on his right hand in mid-November. The trio of C.J. Stokes, Isaiah Gash and Tavierre Dunlap all received limited time last year and combined for 420 yards and three touchdowns. They should get ample reps this spring as Corum and Edwards continue their respective rehabs. It helps to have a sound offensive line, which will be looking to keep the momentum going after averaging 238.9 rushing yards in 2022 — fifth in the FBS.
Newcomer to watch: ESPN 300 running back Cole Cabana (No. 116 overall) could certainly factor into the competition behind Corum and Edwards. Cabana, who had 1,518 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior for Dexter (Michigan) High School, is the Wolverines’ third ESPN 300 running back over the past four recruiting cycles. — Baumgartner
Top storyline: Michigan State fell from 11 wins and a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory in 2021 to just five wins in 2022. A lack of a consistent running game (113 yards per game), which ranked 12th in the Big Ten, was a nagging issue throughout last fall and was a big reason for the offense’s difficulties. Jalen Berger (683 yards, six touchdowns) is the team’s leading returning running back, with Elijah Collins (Oklahoma State) and Jarek Broussard (NFL draft) having both moved on. Head coach Mel Tucker and offensive coordinator Jay Johnson will need to find a way to get more production on the ground to help quarterback Payton Thorne. Thorne threw for 3,233 yards and a program-record 27 touchdown passes two years ago and will be looking to get back on track in 2023 with the help of an improved running game and an emerging threat at wide receiver in Keon Coleman.
Newcomer to watch: Running back Nate Carter (983 career yards, three touchdowns) comes to East Lansing to try to provide a lift to the Spartans’ offense after spending his first two years at UConn. He played in only four games last season because of a shoulder injury. — Baumgartner
Top storyline: The Buckeyes’ offense has been a well-oiled machine in the Urban Meyer and Ryan Day eras. With C.J. Stroud now off to the NFL, Kyle McCord will be in the spotlight as Ohio State looks to get back atop the Big Ten after two straight losses to Michigan. The 31st-best player in the 2021 class, McCord (190 passing yards, one TD in seven games in 2022) saw limited snaps behind Stroud, the two-time Big Ten Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year. Getting McCord, who has only 58 career pass attempts, up to speed this spring is vital as the Buckeyes try to restore some order to their rivalry with the Wolverines and return to the College Football Playoff.
Newcomer to watch: Wide receiver Brandon Inniss (No. 34 overall) is one of three ESPN 300 receivers to matriculate to Columbus this fall. Along with Noah Rogers and Carnell Tate, Inniss figures to add depth behind established wideouts Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. — Baumgartner
Top storyline: All eyes will be on sophomore quarterback Drew Allar as he appears ready to take the reins from Sean Clifford, who rewrote the program record book. Allar, the second-best pocket passer in the 2022 class, was the first ESPN 300 QB for James Franklin’s team since 2020. How quickly Allar (344 passing yards and four touchdowns as a freshman) adapts to being the guy under center could determine the Nittany Lions’ potential Big Ten title and CFP aspirations. Sophomores Nicholas Singleton (1,061 yards, 12 TDs) and Kaytron Allen (867 yards, 10 TDs) both starred in the backfield, and building depth behind them is imperative. The return of offensive tackle Olu Fashanu, who would have been a potential top-15 NFL pick this April, is huge and should help Allar’s transition.
Newcomer to watch: Incoming freshman London Montgomery (No. 233 overall) is the third ESPN 300 running back to sign with Penn State in the past two cycles. If Singleton or Allen gets hurt, Montgomery could provide some much-needed insurance. — Baumgartner
Top storyline: Rutgers went 4-8 in 2022, and if the team is going to look to make a turnaround in 2023, it needs to figure out the quarterback position. Both Evan Simon and Gavin Wimsatt played in 2022, but they combined for nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The staff didn’t add any quarterbacks through the transfer portal, so it’s likely going to be a battle between Simon and Wimsatt for the starting job in 2023.
Newcomer to watch: With no transfer quarterbacks coming in, 2023 three-star recruit Ajani Sheppard is a name to watch. It isn’t likely he’ll play right away, but the team needs more competition at the position. — VanHaaren
WEST DIVISION
Top storyline: How do you replace the production of one of the best running backs in program history? Bret Bielema and the Fighting Illini begin life after Chase Brown (1,643 yards, 10 TDs) this fall. Reggie Love (329 yards, two TDs) and Josh McCray (56 yards) are the team’s two leading returning rushers, while two openings on the offensive line (center and right tackle) remain up for grabs as the running game (166.2 yards per game) aims to remain a focal point of the offense. Aidan Laughery, Nick Fedanzo and Jordan Anderson are the other running backs on the roster and could get some reps this spring and in fall camp. For the second straight year, Illinois will be relying on a transfer quarterback and hopes Ole Miss import Luke Altmyer can be just as successful as Tommy DeVito was after coming from Syracuse.
Newcomer to watch: New defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, the youngest coordinator in the Big Ten, takes over from Ryan Walters, who left to take the Purdue head coaching job. Henry will be tasked with keeping one of the nation’s best defenses (12.7 PPG, 273.5 YPG) from last season humming. — Baumgartner
Top storyline: After averaging just 251.6 total yards on offense last year, things can only get better for the Hawkeyes. In particular, the passing game struggled (156.7 YPG) and Cade McNamara, who transferred from Michigan, will succeed Spencer Petras under center. McNamara threw for 2,576 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions with Michigan in 2021 before losing out to J.J. McCarthy in a quarterback competition that played out into the first few weeks of 2022. Iowa’s schedule doesn’t include either Ohio State or Michigan, so if offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz can get things flowing again on that side of the ball, Iowa can harbor hopes of playing meaningful football come November.
Newcomer to watch: Expectations will be high for McNamara, who helped pilot Michigan to a Big Ten title and CFP trip in 2021. With the Hawkeyes’ defense routinely one of the strongest in the nation, the offense needs to pull more of the weight for the team to reach its potential. — Baumgartner
Top storyline: The Gophers are losing running back Mo Ibrahim to the NFL, which is a huge blow to the offense. Ibrahim set school rushing records during his time at Minnesota and was the heart of the offense, with 1,665 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns last season. The next-best mark was shared by Trey Potts and Bryce Williams, who each had three rushing touchdowns. Replacing that production at running back will be a tough task and an important piece of whether or not the offense will have success in 2023.
Newcomer to watch: Running back Sean Tyler transferred in from Western Michigan to try to help replace Ibrahim’s stats. Tyler had 1,027 yards and seven rushing touchdowns last season for the Broncos. — VanHaaren
Top storyline: Nebraska finished the 2022 season 4-8 and saw head coach Scott Frost fired after the third game. Matt Rhule was brought in to get Nebraska on track and moving in the right direction — the Huskers haven’t won more than five games since the 2016 season. Rhule has had success at all of his previous stops at the college level and has been able to rebuild programs in the past, most recently at Baylor before leaving for the NFL. Rhule has a tough task ahead of him in rebuilding Nebraska and has a fan base eager for a winning product. With the transfer portal more relevant than ever, the pressure to win early is higher than ever and Rhule has his hands full at Nebraska.
Newcomer to watch: Rhule is the one to watch. If he can turn things around, he will be revered at the highest level in Lincoln. — VanHaaren
Top storyline: Northwestern went 1-11 in 2022 and lost 10 games in a row after beating Nebraska in the season opener. In the final five games of the season, the offense didn’t score more than 13 points in a game. The quarterback position has been a main point of pain for the offense and the team ranked No. 94 in pass yards per game last season, No. 122 in interceptions to attempts and 117th in passing touchdowns with just 10 the entire season. The staff didn’t bring in any help at quarterback through the transfer portal, so figuring out the position is going to have to come from within if Northwestern is going to flip the script in 2023.
Newcomer to watch: True freshman Aidan Gray is going to have a shot to compete for the starting quarterback job. He’ll have to battle with Ryan Hilinski and Brendan Sullivan, but neither played particularly well in 2022. Sullivan started to come on at the end of the season, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. — VanHaaren
Top storyline: Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm left for Louisville and Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters was hired in his place. Walters has filled out his staff, including adding Graham Harrell as offensive coordinator. Harrell spent last season at West Virginia and had been part of the USC staff prior to that. Harrell needed a new quarterback as Aidan O’Connell is off to the NFL, and the staff was able to bring in Texas transfer Hudson Card. He and Harrell should mesh well, but it’s yet to be seen what the offense will look like in Year 1 with so many new faces.
Newcomer to watch: Card was a former ESPN 300 recruit, ranked No. 40 overall, who signed with Texas in the 2020 class. He threw for 928 yards, six touchdowns and one interception last season, playing when starter Quinn Ewers was injured. — VanHaaren
Top storyline: With quarterback Graham Mertz now off to Florida and new head coach Luke Fickell heading into his first year in Madison, things will look quite a bit different offensively. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo will have three new transfer quarterbacks competing for playing time, with Tanner Mordecai (SMU) possibly leading the way. Mordecai, who was 151st in the 2018 ESPN 300, has spent time at both Oklahoma and SMU and threw for 7,152 yards and 72 touchdowns over the past two seasons with SMU. Former 2022 ESPN 300 quarterback Nick Evers (Oklahoma) and Braedyn Locke (Mississippi State) join Mordecai in a revamped Badgers quarterback room as the offense looks to improve on last season’s 183.8 passing yards per game.
Newcomer to watch: Fickell, who went 57-18 in six seasons at Cincinnati, was arguably one of the best coaching hires this offseason. The former Ohio State player and coach should fit seamlessly into a conference he knows extremely well. — Baumgartner
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Greg Wyshynski
The Dallas Stars‘ 3-1 win in Game 4 against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night was a contrast in offensive efficiency. The Jets converted just once on 72 shot attempts. Dallas center Mikael Granlund, meanwhile, needed only three shot attempts in the game to score three goals. His hat trick was all the offense the Stars needed to take a commanding 3-1 series lead, moving one win away from their third straight trip to the Western Conference finals.
“Obviously, the job is not done. We’ve got a lot of work to do. [But] that was a good win,” Granlund said.
It was the first career hat trick for Granlund, a 13-year veteran whom the Stars acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a trade back in February. Three goals on three shots, all of them sailing past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who remained winless on the road in the 2025 postseason.
Granlund’s first goal came at 8:36 on the power play, as he skated in on three Jets defensemen and fired a snap shot past Hellebuyck from the top of the slot.
“I was just shooting it somewhere and it went in,” Granlund said.
“I got a clean enough look. It was just a damn perfect shot, just above my pad and below my glove,” Hellebuyck lamented.
“Obviously, he probably wants the first one back, the wrister,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said of Hellebuyck. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to get him some run support. Get him a lead.”
Granlund’s second shot and second goal came on a play started by Mikko Rantanen, whose league-leading point total now stands at 19 for the playoffs. His outlet pass found Granlund in the neutral zone, sparking a 2-on-1 with Roope Hintz. Granlund kept the puck and roofed it to give Dallas a 2-1 lead after Nik Ehlers had tied the game for Winnipeg earlier in the second period.
“When you pass all the time, you can surprise the goalie sometimes when you shoot the puck. It’s good to shoot once in a while,” said Granlund, who had twice as many assists (44) as goals (22) in the regular season.
Granlund’s third and final shot attempt of the game was on another Dallas power play in the third period, following a double-minor penalty to defenseman Haydn Fleury for high-sticking Hintz.
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen, in the lineup for the first time since Jan. 28 after missing the last 32 regular-season games and first 10 playoff games because of a knee injury, collected the puck after Matt Duchene rang it off the post. Heiskanen slid it over to Granlund for a one-timer that brought him to his knees on the ice. After the shot beat Hellebuyck at 7:23 of the third period, waves of hats hit the ice in celebration of Granlund’s three-goal night.
It was fitting that Rantanen and Heiskanen had points on Granlund’s hat trick. This was the first game that the Stars’ so-called “Finnish Mafia” played together, as Heiskanen was injured before Granlund and Rantanen joined the team. Those three skaters joined countrymen Hintz and defenseman Esa Lindell in helping Dallas to victory.
“It was fun for sure. Fun to finally be on the ice with them,” Heiskanen said.
Goaltender Jake Oettinger did the rest with 31 saves, many of them on dangerous Winnipeg chances. But in the end, all the Stars needed were three shot attempts, while the Jets’ voluminous offensive night produced only one goal.
“Oettinger made some big stops. But we had 70 shot attempts. We have to get more than one goal,” Arniel said. “If we can’t find more than one goal, we’re not going to win hockey games, especially [against] this team.”
Dallas will attempt to close out the series on Thursday night in Winnipeg.
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David Schoenfield
Pete Rose, Joe Jackson, seven other members of the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox”, six other former players, one coach and one former owner are now eligible to be voted on for the Hall of Fame after commissioner Rob Manfred removed them from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list.
Hall of Fame chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement: “The National Baseball Hall of Fame has always maintained that anyone removed from Baseball’s permanently ineligible list will become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. Major League Baseball’s decision to remove deceased individuals from the permanently ineligible list will allow for the Hall of Fame candidacy of such individuals to now be considered.”
Due to Hall of Fame voting procedures, Rose and Jackson won’t be eligible to be voted on until the Classic Era Baseball committee, which votes on individuals who made their biggest impact prior to 1980, meets in December of 2027.
Let’s dig into what all this means.
Why were these players banned?
All individuals on the banned list who were reinstated had been permanently ineligible due to accusations related to gambling related to baseball — either throwing games, accepting bribes, or like Rose, betting on baseball games.
Most of the banned players, including Jackson and his seven Chicago White Sox teammates who threw the 1919 World Series, played in the 1910s, when gambling in baseball was widespread. As historian Bill James once wrote, “Few simplifications of memory are as bizarre as the notion that the Black Sox scandal hit baseball out of the blue. … In fact, of course, the Black Sox scandal was merely the largest wart of a disease that had infested baseball at least a dozen years earlier and had grown, unchecked, to ravage the features of a generation.”
The most famous player, of course, was Jackson, one of baseball’s biggest stars alongside Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker in the 1910s. While many have tried to exonerate Jackson through the years, pointing out that he hit .375 in the 1919 World Series, baseball historians agree that Jackson was a willing participant in throwing the World Series and accepted money from the gambling ring that paid off the White Sox players.
While the White Sox players were acquitted in a criminal trial in 1921, commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned the eight players in a statement that began with the words “Regardless of the verdict of juries …”
If there was an innocent member in the group, it was third baseman Buck Weaver, not Jackson. Weaver had participated in meetings where the fixing of the World Series was discussed, and Landis banned him for life for guilty knowledge.
As for Rose, he was banned in 1989 by commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti for betting on games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds, including those involving his own team. While Rose denied the accusations for years, he eventually confessed. He died last September at age 83.
Who else is impacted?
Phillies owner William Cox was banned in 1943 and forced to sell the team for betting on games. Cox had just purchased the team earlier that season. None of the other non-White Sox players are of major significance, although Benny Kauff was the big star of the Federal League in 1914-15, winning the batting title both seasons. The Federal League was a breakoff league that attempted to challenge the National and American leagues.
When is the soonest Rose and Jackson could go into the Hall of Fame?
The Hall of Fame voting process for players not considered by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America — such as Rose and Jackson, who never appeared on the ballot due to their banned status — includes two eras: the Contemporary Baseball Era (1980 to present) and the Classic Baseball Era (pre-1980). The voting periods are already set:
December 2025: Player ballot for the Contemporary Era.
December 2026: Contemporary Era ballot for managers, executives and umpires.
December 2027: Classic Era ballot for players, managers, executives and umpires.
Each committee has an initial screening to place eight candidates on the ballot, so Rose and Jackson will first have to make the ballot. While it’s unclear how a future screening committee will proceed, it’s possible that both will make the ballot. While comparisons to players with PED allegations aren’t exactly apples to apples — since they were never placed on the ineligible list — it’s worth noting that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Rafael Palmeiro were included on the eight-player Contemporary Era ballot in 2023.
Once the ballot is determined — a 16-person committee consisting of Hall of Fame players, longtime executives and media members or historians — convenes and votes. A candidate must receive 12 votes to get selected. In the most recent election in December, Dave Parker and Dick Allen were on the Classic Era ballot.
Which players have the best HOF cases?
Obviously, Rose would have been a slam-dunk Hall of Famer had he never bet on baseball and had he appeared on the BBWAA ballot after his career ended. The all-time MLB leader with 4,256 hits, Rose won three batting titles and was the 1973 NL MVP. And while he’s overrated in a sense — his 79.6 career WAR is more in line with the likes of Jeff Bagwell, Brooks Robinson and Robin Yount than all-time elite superstars — and hung on well past his prime to break Ty Cobb’s hits record, his popularity and fame would have made him an inner-circle Hall of Famer.
Whether he’ll get support now is complicated. Bonds and Clemens both received fewer than four votes in 2023. The committee usually consists of eight former players, and they may not support Rose given the one hard and fast rule that every player knows: You can’t bet on the game.
Jackson, meanwhile, was a star of the deadball era, hitting .408 in 1911 and .356 in his career, an average that ranks fourth all time behind only Cobb, Negro Leagues star Oscar Charleston and Rogers Hornsby. He finished with 62.2 WAR and 1,772 hits in a career that ended at age 32 due to the ban. Those figures would be low for a Hall of Fame selection, although the era committees did recently elect Allen and Tony Oliva, both of whom finished with fewer than 2,000 hits. And again, it is hard to say how the committee will view Jackson’s connection to gambling on the sport.
The only other reinstated player with a semblance of a chance to get on a ballot is pitcher Eddie Cicotte, who won 209 games and finished with 59.7 WAR. While his final season came at 36, the knuckleballer was still going strong, having won 29 games for the White Sox in 1919 and 21 in 1920 before Landis banned him.
For what it’s worth, the top position players in career WAR who made their mark prior to 1980 and aren’t in the Hall of Fame are Rose, Bill Dahlen (75.3), Bobby Grich (71.0), Graig Nettles (67.6), Reggie Smith (64.6), Ken Boyer (62.8), Jackson and Sal Bando (61.5).
Pitching candidates would include Luis Tiant (65.7), Tommy John (61.6) and Wes Ferrell (60.1). John was on the recent ballot and received seven votes. Others on that ballot included Steve Garvey, Boyer, Negro Leagues pitcher John Donaldson, Negro Leagues manager Vic Harris and Tiant.
Other potential pre-1980 candidates could include Thurman Munson, Bert Campaneris, Dave Concepcion and Stan Hack.
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