FanHouse Ben Chappell

Every Thursday, Pickin' on the Big Ten answers the questions, questions the answers, and looks ahead to Saturday's games.

It's now indisputably late October. The leaves here in Wisconsin went from being Monet-like things of beauty to being a soggy ground-based nuisance in less time than it takes for a new Jim Tressel criticism to appear on the internet. It feels like the season just started but after this weekend it's two-thirds over.

There are so many questions yet to answer, however. I've already explored the various Big Ten title scenarios, so let's look at some of the other burning issues.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking, smart guy. You're thinking this post should be one letter long, and that letter should be 'F.' It's true that the Big Ten did little to advance its reputation during the season, and even less during the postseason. In spite of it all, there are still a few diamonds among the, um, whatever else it is the diamonds are scattered among.

They're scattered among things like 35-3, a 1-6 bowl game record, the fall of the Michigan dynasty, a tragically unwarranted and completely unjustified preseason overrating, several regressions to the mean, and the worst sendoff since the last episode of "Seinfeld."

So we'll go through the league team by team, painful as that is, to build up the successes and try to understand the failures of Big Ten football in 2008. Yes, I used "success" and "Big Ten football" in the same sentence without the connecting phrase "lack of." Deal with it, Buck. Every team gets an overall grade and a quick look at its prognosis for the 2009 season. For you Big Ten fans, I promise you it's not all bad news; for you Big Ten haters, I promise you it's not all good.

While college football fans across the country await the start of the new season with a drooling fervor there are also some fans who dread it. Why? Because they know their season is already over before it's even started. Oh sure, their boys are still going to go out there every Saturday and play hard for 60 minutes, but it's not going to make a bit of difference.

They're going to lose, and they're going to lose a lot.

No conference can escape from having teams like this, it's just a part of the game. They still serve their purpose because the good teams in the conference need a breather once in a while, and they also need six wins to qualify for a bowl game.

These teams are the conferences dirty little secret. They're the red-headed step child that's told to stay in their room when company comes over. They are the dregs of Big Ten, and they're here to play another set of 12 games whether we want them to or not.

Troubling news out of Bloomington today, as incumbent starting quarterback Kellen Lewis was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. Coach Bill Lynch declined to provide any additional details, but it doesn't sound good. One blog (DISCLAIMER: blogs are not to be trusted. Ever.) claims that multiple credible sources assert that Lewis is done, done, done.

If true, the news is devastating; put simply, the Indiana offense needs Kellen Lewis. In his first two seasons at the helm of the Indiana offense, Lewis amassed 57 touchdowns (42 passing, 14 rushing, one receiving) and well over 6,000 yards of total offense. Lewis was a freshman All-American in 2006, and was named to the All-Big 10 second team by both the coaches and the press. Meanwhile, behind him on the depth chart is redshirt sophomore Ben Chappell and, like, a traffic cone.

Making the suspension even worse is the early departure of superfreak wideout James Hardy, who will likely be taken in the first round of next month's NFL draft. With those two, the Indiana offense was a terror last season--Indiana topped 30 points in eight of their 13 contests. In light of the suspension, the Hoosiers now look positively toothless.