Stars of The Big Ten: Who Can Be Their Schools X-Factor this College Football Season?

With football being the ultimate team sport you have probably heard there is no "I" in team, and maybe you even heard Kobe Bryant famously tell Shaquille O'Neal "No, but there is an 'M-E' in that Motherf*cker" but here is a new one.

There's no "I" in team but there is a "H-I-M" in Championship and that is exactly what we are here to talk about.

Who is the key guy on each of the top teams in the Big Ten that can lead their teams to the mountain top of College Football.

The Big Ten has produced some absolute legends, but not evey single one of those legends were able to help their school win a Big Ten Championship yet alone a National Title. With the new age of college sports and NIL the landscape of each team and conference is ever changing.

We have new faces, new systems, and even new schools but who in the Big Ten can make a difference?

What is the Big Ten?

To understand who can be the ultimate difference maker in the Big Ten you have understand what the Big Ten is. It is a conference that embodies the very states the schools are located in. Mostly made up of midwestern state schools these teams are as hard nosed and gritty as the states they hail from.

From storied programs with sustained success like The Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan University Wolverines to more recent success stories like The Indiana Hoosiers it is a conference steepled in tradition.

But then we have new West Coast teams like Oregon and USC trying to bring in their own style of play and make it work in a whole new conference. The Big Ten in my opinion is the best conference in college football. To win here you must be a poised, tough, hardworking, and ultimately a little bit crazy just like the native midwesterners these schools represent.

The X-Factors

1. Julian Sayin, QB (Ohio State)

Julian Sayin is the second year starter heading into this season for the Buckeyes. In his first season we saw much to celebrate, with and FBS best 77% pass completion percentage and 177.5 average QBR he was a key factor for this central Ohio team.

But his downfall ultimately came in the college football playoff, where teams like Miami and Indiana were able to expose his inexperience with in all honestly basic overload blitz packages.

With a year under his belt Sayin is poised to grow from what he saw last year.  He is already making strives in his ability to escape pressure and throw off platform balls.  If he is able to translate that to live games his ability to find WR Jeremiah Smith on those "unheresed plays" will cause defenses a lot of problems.

Another area where he struggled was with the deep ball. Having Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith covered up a lot of those mistakes but hopefully another offseason of training and the weight room can imrove his arm strength to turn him into an elite deepball passer and unlock a new level for an already potent Ohio State offense.

• Julian Sayin to Win the Heisman +1500 on Lucky Rebel

• Ohio State to Win the Big Ten +190 on Lucky Rebel 

• Ohio State to Win the National Championship +600 on Lucky Rebel

2. Dante Moore, QB (Oregon)

You can almost copy and paste the flaws for Dante Moore and Julian Sayin. First year starters who struggled with pressure and extending plays. Typical for young quarterbacks. But much like Sayin I am sure Dan Lanning and the Oregon staff have put an emphasis on him improving in this department.

Moore is a coveted mix of arm talent and natural athleticism. I think he could naturally learn how to extend plays better than most young QB's. With all an all world roster coming back to Eugene, Oregon the Ducks are poised to be National Title Contenders once again. I think the key to it all is if Dante Moore can adjust to and overcome the expectations of this starving fanbase.

He could go down as the best Oregon QB of all time or just another good QB. Time will tell but he as all the makings to become the greatest Oregon quarterback.

• Dante Moore to Win the Heisman +1500 on Lucky Rebel

• Oregon to Win the Big Ten +275 on Lucky Rebel

• Oregon to Win the National Championship +800 on Lucky Rebel

3. Kameryn Crawford, DE (USC)

Yes, this list was not going to be all quarterbacks. Defense does wins championships at the end of the day. With a stable defense it can do wonders for an offense, espescially a young roster like USC has averaging an age of 19.87 years old, the youngest in the Big Ten.

Crawford is everything you want in a Defensive End. Combination of size, speed, and strength he is getting comparrisons to NFL DE's Jaelan Phillips and Gregory Rousseau. If he can become that or even surpass that he will be nightmare for offensive coordinators all year.

This is a prove it year for USC, they have not made too much noise since joining the Big Ten. Falling more and more behind fellow newcomers Oregon. If they wanna show they belong they have to do it sooner rather than later.

• USC to Win the Big Ten +1100 on Lucky Rebel

• USC to Win the National Championship +3300 on Lucky Rebel

4. Carter Smith, OT (Indiana)

Wow an offensive lineman? Yeah we show the big boys love here at Betting News. It is for good reason though. Carter Smith is the reigning Big Ten Offensive Lineman of The Year and he is tasked with protecting the blind side of transfer QB Josh Hoover.

Smith has a lot to gain from a good showcasing in his last season at Indiana. Already projected as a late first round pick a good season can only raise his stock. Being able to push Indiana to another remarkable season will put him into the history books.

Under Curt Cignetti this Indiana took the college football world by storm last year, and I trust him to keep that ship going despite the hard task of reloading a roster. But with his choice of QB at the school he can trust in his star offensive tackle to keep him clean and able to execute the gameplans.

• Indiana to Win the Big Ten +250 on Lucky Rebel

• Indiana to Win the National Championship +900 on Lucky Rebel

5. Jeremiah Smith, WR (Ohio State)

I could not mention X-Factor players in the Big Ten without mentioning Jermiah Smith. One of the best Wide Receiver prospects we have ever seen he is already a lock for a top three Draft Pick.

To keep it short he bails out the offense on broken plays and has the ability to make absolute wonders on the football field. If he performs even just to expectation he has the ability to win a game for Ohio State.

He is as motivated and focused as ever to go out on top at Ohio State. Nearing every major statistical record and already having a National Title ring on his finger that level of hunger is scary for a player of his caliber.

• Jeremiah Smith to Win the Heisman +1500 on Lucky Rebel

• Ohio State to Win the Big Ten +190 on Lucky Rebel 

• Ohio State to Win the National Championship +600 on Lucky Rebel

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