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The Big Ten had a very good regular season, but struggled through a bowl season that saw most its teams lose to out of conference competition. That being said, the conference will almost assuredly have some of the top squads in the nation in 2011, and here is an early look at who is most likely to win this year’s national championship.

The Ohio State Buckeyes will be without their top quarterback, running back and wide receiver for the first five games of the season, but that doesn’t stop them from having a 2012 BCS National Championships line of +2,000. Only one of those games should even be close without their starters, based on their perennially dominant defense.

After easy opening matchups, the Penn State Nittany Lions and Alabama Crimson Tide will clash in week two in a key top 25 battle. Alabama was firing on all cylinders against San Jose State, even without Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, and rolled 48-3.

The Nittany Lions also won easily in their first game, but showed they have some definite room for improvement. Alabama is a 12-point NCAA football odds favorite in this game.

2009 Total Offense Rank (yards per game): 37
2009 Total Defense Rank (yards per game): 9

“We are very young in key spots. We don’t have a quarterback who has played more than 20 plays…We have some very gifted skill people on both sides of the football. We have a very average offensive line. I am a little disappointed in our kicking game. We have a lot of work ahead of us.” That quote, from Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno, is not exactly a ringing endorsement of his team. You have to give JoePa credit though; he tells it like it is.