So, Purdue and Ohio State early leaders for 2018 B1G FB?

[cidsports]

With the holiday weekend, the newsstands bring us Street & Smith, Athlon Sports and Lindy's Sports to give us a fix of College Football.

• Week 1 - Northwestern at Purdue
• Week 2 - Rutgers at Ohio State

So, by the start of Big Ten play for the other 10 programs, Huskers, Hawkeyes and more, in the Big Ten in mid- to late September, Purdue and Ohio State will likely be at 1-0?

1. Is this the year Wisconsin earns a date in the College Football Playoff? - Street & Smith "dreaming big"
2. Does Iowa have any consistency on the offensive side to get on track and be more than "darkhorse" in the B1G West division?
3. Purdue gets Northwestern early at home. Closes out November home dates with Iowa and Wisconsin in West Lafayette and "With or without its defense, Purdue has the markings of a team that can score, which would be in line with [Jeff] Brohm's history."
4. "Nebraska football may well return to its past glory with its former quarterback as its new coach, but Year No. 1 will have a few bumps along the way first."
5. "With so much working against Northwestern this season, a regression to the mean seems to be the most probable outcome for a Wildcats team that overachieved last year" .... S & S doesn't have much love for a team that has finished 10-3 two out of the past 3 seasons!
6. "If the Gophers find an instant answer under center, there is reason to believe they can move in the West Division. If their QB inexperience shows, however, Fleck's second year record will look a lot like his first."
7. Illinois will "have an uphill climb to secure its first winning record since 2011" .... the first season, since Huskers joined the Big Ten.

Nebraska gets three of Big Ten East Top 4 per Street & Smith.

• Open B1G play @ East #2 Michigan
• Open November @ East #1 Ohio State
• Like 2015, Huskers host Michigan State on Senior Day (despite Spartans winning Big Ten in '15, one slip up was in Lincoln)

The Huskers are projected back to a bowl game, with a date in the TaxSlayer projected by Street & Smith, one of 10 B1G bowl projections. Rutgers, Indiana, Minnesota and Illinois are projected home for the Holidays.

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!