| | Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said his defense is too
suspect and the Big Ten is too deep for anyone to predict the
Wolverines will win the league football title this season.
Yet, that was the prediction offered Wednesday by sportswriters
and broadcasters who gathered here for the Big Ten's annual kickoff
event. The media voters chose Wisconsin to finish second and picked
Purdue third.
"When you lose as many players as we did on defense, you are
faced with a major rebuilding issue," Carr said. Asked what team
he would choose, Carr said, "I'd say one of the 11 teams in the
Big Ten."
Michigan is returning 16 starters, including seven on offense,
from a 10-2 squad that tied for second place with Michigan State
last season.
Wisconsin, the two-time defending Big Ten champions, returns
just as many starters after its second straight Rose Bowl win.
Overall, coach Barry Alvarez sees the adjustments as minimal.
"You really don't concern yourself with how you're perceived,"
Alvarez said. "It's all about how your kids perceive themselves
and what they believe. It's all about what you do on Saturdays."
But the Badgers do face a future without Heisman Trophy winning
running back Ron Dayne. Alvarez hopes to fill that void with
Michael Bennett, a conference track champion whose explosive speed
qualified him for the U.S. Olympic trials.
Purdue comes back with its Heisman Trophy finalist, senior
quarterback Drew Brees, as the Boilermakers vie for a fourth
consecutive winning season -- something the program has not done in
more than 30 years.
Brees, who finished fourth in the Heisman balloting but opted to
return for his senior season instead of jumping to the NFL, was the
media's pick as preseason offensive player of the year. The senior
passed for 3,909 yards last season with 25 touchdowns and 12
interceptions.
In 13 years of running his aggressive, passing offense at
Wyoming and Purdue, Tiller said Brees "is easily the most
effective guy we've had at quarterback."
On the defensive side, the preseason player of the year is
Wisconsin's Jamar Fletcher, a junior cornerback who holds the
league record with five interceptions returned for touchdowns in
his career.
The Big Ten released only the top three teams in the media
balloting. Coaches said the conference's depth makes predictions
futile, pointing to 1999 upsets like road wins by Illinois at
Michigan and Minnesota at Penn State.
"It's tough. We're always going into games with great
expectations," said Michigan State coach Bobby Williams. "But
it's just the nature of this conference, that you're going to go
out and play great teams every week."
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