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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 26, Digital 6

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 6 84 Michigan and Michigan State but faces the top West teams (Iowa, Wisconsin and Northwestern) on the road. "Tommy Armstrong Jr. is another one of those senior quarterbacks," Dienhart said. "He's never lived up to his potential, always thrown too many interceptions. But this will be his second year in that offense. Where their sea- son will be won or lost is in the trenches. They lost four offensive linemen and three really good defensive tack- les so it will be interesting how they decide to try and fill those gaps. But Nebraska might have the best receiving corps in the Big Ten." As a whole, the Big Ten's returning talent level is plen- tiful, including 31 who earned All-Big Ten honors. Michigan has the most first-team honorees returning with three, but Indiana is the lone other team to return more than one with guard Dan Feeney and kicker Griffin Oakes. Individual award winners returning are top defensive back (Iowa's Desmond King), top kicker (Oakes), top specialist (Maryland's William Likely III), top tight end (Michigan's Jake Butt), top punter (Nebraska's Sam Foltz) and top freshman (Jabrill Peppers). THE BIG NINE Speaking of schedules, a big storyline is the addition of a ninth conference game for the first time in 32 years. The move was made to beef up the Big Ten as it turns to a new media agreement. The strategy apparently worked as a six-year, $2.4-billion deal is expected to be inked. This year, the East Division will have five league home games on its slate, but that will switch in 2017. Also, look for more conference games early in the season to match the way it is done in other Power-5 conferences. A case in point, Ohio State and IU will square off to open the 2017 season. Iowa Desmond King returns after winning the Jim Thorpe Award in 2015. He led the Big Ten and ranked second nationally with eight interceptions. The Crossovers A key factor in the conference race is cross- division opponents. Here's the list: Illinois: at Michigan State, at Michigan, at Rutgers Indiana: Nebraska, Purdue, at Northwestern Iowa: Michigan, at Penn State, at Rutgers Maryland: at Nebraska, Purdue, Minnesota Michigan: Wisconsin, at Iowa, Illinois Michigan State: Wisconsin, at Illinois, Northwestern Minnesota: Rutgers, at Maryland, at Penn State Nebraska: Maryland, at Indiana, at Ohio State Northwestern: Indiana, at Michigan State, at Ohio State Ohio State: at Wisconsin, Northwestern, Nebraska Penn State: at Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota Purdue: at Indiana, at Maryland, Penn State Rutgers: Iowa, at Minnesota, Illinois Wisconsin: at Michigan, at Michigan State, Ohio State

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