Big One, Little Ten
Right: Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells was tabbed by the media as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. SI Photo
It’s official. The other 10 teams in the Big Ten can just stay home because the Ohio State Buckeyes are going to run away with their fourth straight conference title and could be the first team ever to win back-to-back-to-back outright crowns.
But, according to the media, there are a few teams that might get in Ohio State’s way during the course of league play.
Wisconsin, which went 9-4 overall last year and had a 5-3 mark in the Big Ten, was picked second. Bret Bielema and his Badgers return 17 starters from last season, including junior running back P.J. Hill and senior tight end Travis Beckum.
The media chose Illinois as the third-best team in the Big Ten after the Fighting Illini also went 9-4 overall and 6-2 in league play last year, and head coach Ron Zook has 13 starters returning from a team that played in the Rose Bowl that include junior quarterback Juice Williams, senior defensive end Will Davis, and junior cornerback Vontae Davis.
The media contingent of the Big Ten Confernce only selects the top three teams.
Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while teammate and linebacker James Laurinaitis was tabbed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.
Ohio State’s Wells headlines the conference’s offensive players this season after an impressive 2007 campaign that saw him rush for 1,609 yards, a total that ranks fourth-best in OSU single-season history. The junior also scampered for 15 touchdowns last season and was tabbed a first-team All-Big Ten selection and a second-team All-American by The Sporting News.
Laurinaitis received the Big Ten’s top preseason defensive honor after concluding his junior season as a consensus All-American, Butkus Award winner and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He is the second OSU linebacker in the last five years to earn back-to-back preseason accolades after A.J. Hawk was named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005. Laurinaitis led the team with 121 tackles and added two interceptions and five sacks in 2007.
In other news, reserve defensive back was granted his release to play elsewhere according to Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch.
Clifford was arrested earlier this month when he punched a pair of employees at a Cincinnati sports bar.
