Athlon has come out with its Big Ten preseason predictions, and it really likes Ohio State's chances this season.
The preview magazine has the Buckeyes finishing the 2013 season undefeated at 13-0, and has them ranked No. 2 nationally behind Alabama.
"This isn’t a team with elite talent at every position, but the Buckeyes should be very good on offense, and they have a proven commodity in head coach Urban Meyer. The schedule isn’t overly taxing, either. Aside from the season-finale at Michigan, you could make a case that Ohio State’s toughest game could be the early October trip to Northwestern. Even if the Bucks don’t navigate the regular season without a loss -- as we are predicting -- it will be a huge surprise if they don’t win the division and play in the Big Ten Championship Game."
Athlon has Michigan and Nebraska each finishing 6-2 in Big Ten play, with the Wolverines taking the Legends Division title.
"[I]n the end, we went with Michigan for two reasons -- the Wolverines host Nebraska in November, and the Huskers are tough to trust; they have had some puzzling losses in the last two years."
The predictions also call for Wisconsin and Northwestern to go 9-3, Penn State at 8-4, Michigan State at 7-5, Indiana and Minnesota to go bowling at 6-6, and Illinois, Iowa and Purdue to each finish 4-8.
