V w 'V w 4B Wednesday, September 5, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com -0 -1w -wv ,W W w Wednesday, September 5, 2007 fl The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com BIG TEN PREVIEW The Daily writers compared notes, research and opinions before the season and came up with a team-by-team Big Ten preview. Based on returning players, last year's finish, new recruits and our own gut instincts, the rankings came out as follows. FS B. Englemon S. Brown CB M. Trent B. Harrison WILL C. Graham J. Mouton DE T. Jamison A. Patterson 2007 Depth Chart MIKE J. Thompson 0. Ezeh SAM S. Crable M. Pollock DE G. Banks B. Graham SS J. Adams C. Stewart CB D. Warren J. Sears DT T. Taylor B. Gallimore DT W. Johnson J. Ferrara LT J. Long P. Dorrenstein LG A. Kraus T. McAvoy C J. Boren T. McAvoy WR G. Mathews T. Clemons RG A. Mitchell J. Ciulla WR A. Arrington RT S. Schilling M. Ortmann TE M. Massey C. McLaurin PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (8-5, 5th in the Big Ten) Key returnees: WR Dorien Bryant, DE Cliff Avril Player to watch: Quarterback Curtis Painter. With receivers like Dorien Bryant, Painter has the weapons he needs to lead the offense. But although he led the Big Ten in passing by more than 1,000 yards, he'll have to improve upon last year's 129.12 QB rating if he wants to command what could be among the Big Ten's most potent offenses. Reason for optimism: The Boilermakers return 20 starters from last year's bowl team. Reasons for pessimism: Many of those returning starters were on a defense that was one of the worst in the nation against the run last year, Bottom line: Coach Joe Tiller is under a lot of pressure after Purdue wasted two years without Michigan and Ohio State on the schedule. It will be do-or-die for the Boilermakers. 8-4. WR QB M. Manningham C. Henne J. Hemingway R. Mallett KR PR B. Minor J. Sears J. Sears G. Mathews not many t BROMWICH hadthe be From page 3B team whei Now th People are already assuming undefeate that beating the Nittany Lions, that includ Buckeyes and Badgers is impos- sible. But why? Mike Hart is still Mike Hart. Mario Manningham is still Mario Manningham. Jake Long is still Jake Long. Chad Henne is (hopefully) still Chad Henne. The defense adjusted after the first half and held Appalachian State to just two field goals after the break. As far as I can tell, this is the same team that Michigan had when it was thought to be alegitimate threat to finish the season undefeated. Now, because of a sloppily played game that included two special teams breakdowns, an underrat- ed opponent and an unexpected early-season loss, the Wolver- ines suck? Everyone thought Michi- gan was a top-five team in the nation and the class of the Big Ten. People who coach college football, write about college football, played college football and watch college football all thought Michigan would be a great team this year. Could that many well-educated people be so wrong? Possible, but less than likely. So Michigan is not going to win the National Championship this season, and it is not going to finish the year undefeated. But the odds were against the Wolverines doing that anyway. There's just one team out of 119 who can accomplish that, and FB M. Moundros V. Helmuth RB M. Hart B. Minor and a win in the Rose Bowl. Sounds to me like it's some- thing worth playing for. - Bromwich can be reached at dabromwi@umich.edu. thought the Wolverines st chance to be that n all was said and done. e best they can do is an d conference schedule des a win over Ohio State K P J. Gingell Z. Mesko B. Wright FIVE GAMES TO WATCH THIS SEASON IOWA AT WISCONSIN SEPT. 22, 8PM ON ABC This matchup will be the first big test for the Hawkeyes when they open the Big Ten season at Camp Randall. If Iowa is serious about a Big Ten Cham- pionship, it has to pull this one out. OHIO STATE AT PENN STATE OCT. 27, 8PM Joe Paterno said the Nittany Lions have a good, but not great team at Big Ten Media Day. Good teams can play the spoiler for perennial Big Ten pow- erhouse Buckeyes, especially at home. OHIO STATE AT WISCONSIN NOV. 3, TBA If either the Buckeyes or Badgers can stay perfect to this point, this game could decide the Big Ten Cham- pionship, and you can bet Camp Ran- dall will be rocking all day long. MICHIGAN AT WISCONSIN NOV.10, TBA If Wisconsin can survive Ohio State coming to Camp Randall the week before, then this game will take the spotlight. Add to that, all the experts have circled this game as the decider. OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN NOV.17, TBA Arguably the greatest college foot- ball rivalry of all time, this game will be worth watching regardless of records. It's Maize and Blue against Scarlet and Gray. What more do you need? GRIZZLY PEAK AWARDS & IMAGE MI DAILY, KICK-OFF E DITION, SEPT 5&8 B/w 3.75 X 6 INCHES DUE TO PUB 08-01-07