What if, just for a moment, we focused on the Big Ten football to be played in 2023 rather than the machinations of who will be in the league in 2024?

Welcome to one of those precious moments.

Forget the future. Let’s talk about the present. Starting with the 25 burning questions we have about the upcoming 2023 Big Ten football season.

25. Will Iowa average 25 points per game?

The magic number is 25 in Iowa City this season.

Athletic director Gary Barta’s parting gift to Iowa fans is a restructured contract with offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. If the Hawkeyes fail to attain a winning record and an average of 25 points per game, Ferentz’s contract will not be renewed for 2024.

Iowa last crossed that threshold in 2020. And with a more mature offensive line plus the addition of former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara, the expectation is that the Hawkeyes will do it again this season.

But it will certainly be fun tracking whether they do.

24. Who is the Big Ten’s best punter in 2023?

The hottest punting battles are always in the Big Ten. Last season, Michigan State’s Bryce Baringer and Rutgers’ Adam Korsak were each named first team all-Americans by different panels.

Iowa’s Tory Taylor is the punter to beat in 2023. But keep on eye on Nebraska’s Brian Buschini, Indiana’s James Evans, Ohio State’s Jesse Mirco and Maryland’s Colton Spangler, too.

Yes, I’m being completely serious.

23. Can a new coordinator cure offensive woes for Rutgers?

For the 2nd time in 4 years, Kirk Ciarrocca is leaving Minnesota for a job in the Big Ten East. The hope is the Rutgers reboot works out better than his only year at Penn State.

Certainly it will work out better for the Scarlet Knights than last year. Rutgers was 13th in the B1G in scoring and last in yards per play in conference games. But will better be good enough?

22. Will Purdue forge a new identity under Ryan Walters?

Hiring a defensive coordinator as Purdue’s head coach seems antithetical to the Cradle of Quarterbacks. And Ryan Walters is well aware of that, hiring Mike Leach protege Graham Harrell as his offensive coordinator.

That said, it will be fascinating to see how he blends his own defensive philosophies into that mix. It’s an interesting experiment playing out at Purdue, though it may take a few years to produce the final result.

21. Is Minnesota really airing it out?

Mo Ibrahim and the running game used to carry Minnesota’s offense, but now PJ Fleck prepares ready to hand the reins to sophomore quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and a more pass-heavy approach.

Much more ink has been spilled writing about Wisconsin’s offensive overhaul, but Minnesota’s potential changes could prove every bit as jarring.

Or is that just what Fleck wants opponents to believe?

20. Can Tom Allen recapture that lovin’ (each other) feeling?

The Hoosiers are 6-18 since their magical 2020 breakthrough. And a bowl game feels like a big ask given a total lack of experience behind center. But this is an important season for Tom Allen to get the positive vibes flowing again in Bloomington. If Indiana can go into the offseason with a sense that it could make noise again in 2024, it’s a good year for Allen.

19. Will Mel Tucker stop Michigan State’s slide?

After being the toast of the Big Ten in 2021, Mel Tucker was just toast in 2022. Michigan State dipped from 11-2 to 5-7. Finding a happy medium between those extremes would represent a good 2023 in East Lansing.

And dipping below 5-7? Then it is time to begin panicking.

18. Could any B1G coaches end up on the hot seat?

After consecutive years without a coaching change, the B1G welcome’s 4 new faces in 2023: Walters, Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell and Northwestern interim coach David Braun.

Certainly, no Big Ten coach enters the year on a seat as scorching as Scott Frost’s a year ago. But if Indiana bottoms out, Allen could find himself in troubled waters come November. It would have to be a very ugly season, but it’s at least within the realm of possibility.

Tucker is the other name that comes to mind, but Michigan State has 8 more years of fully guaranteed money heading his way. He might put himself on a hot seat heading into next year, but a change is unthinkable in 2023. Probably.

17. Which new coach will have the best Year 1?

The pieces are in place for Fickell to hit the ground running in Madison. The Badgers have talent, but were undermined by 2 years of mismanagement and terrible quarterbacks. Wisconsin could very easily win the Big Ten West.

For Rhule and Walters, the focus is more on laying the foundation for long-term success.

16. Will Matt Rhule snap Nebraska’s bowl drought?

It will likely come down to the wire, but Rhule and the Huskers seem capable of working their way to 6-6 and Nebraska’s first bowl berth since 2016. Doing so would make his first season an unqualified success.

And if Nebraska doesn’t get there? Not reason to panic. Rhule needs to revamp his offensive and defensive lines, so the next couple years will be more indicative of where the Cornhuskers are headed.

15. How will Jim Harbaugh’s looming suspension affect Michigan?

Harbaugh is reportedly in line for a 4-game suspension from the NCAA for lying to investigators about a handful of minor violations committed by his coaching staff in 2020.

Will his month away from the sidelines make any difference for the Wolverines? The opponents are East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green and Rutgers, so probably not. And he’d still run practices, so that makes it even less likely.

But there’s a reason most coaches strive to eliminate any and all potential distractions.

14. Which freshmen will have the biggest impact?

Last year’s talented freshman class helped Penn State rise to the clear-cut No. 3 spot in the B1G behind Playoff teams Michigan and Ohio State. Running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen snapped the Nittany Lions out of a rushing funk that had existed since Saquon Barkley’s departure. Defensively, linebacker Abdul Carter led the team with 6.5 sacks.

Will any B1G freshmen deliver in such a big way this year?

It’ll be tough, because the league’s top signees joined fairly veteran rosters. But keep on eye on Ohio State receivers Brandon Inniss and Carnell Tate, because Buckeye wideouts rarely disappoint.

13. Which team is most likely to surprise (in a good way)?

Maybe it will qualify as a modest surprise, but Illinois is capable of outperforming its projected fourth-place finish in the Big Ten West. Only Ohio State has a better defensive front in the B1G, and Bret Bielema has 3 starters returning on the offensive line.

At the very least, the Illini are going to be a physical team that absolutely no one enjoys playing. Best of all, they don’t have to face either Ohio State or Michigan. If Illinois finishes 9-3 or better, it wouldn’t surprise me — although it may surprise most.

12. Which team is most likely to surprise (in a bad way)?

Sometimes you don’t appreciate what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. And perhaps Penn State fans will finally feel that way about lightning rod quarterback Sean Clifford after this season.

Is Drew Allar going to be a better quarterback than Clifford? Yes. At some point. Perhaps even right away. But even immediate success is likely to run into some hiccups with a sophomore starter.

A lot of people seem to believe the Nittany Lions will just roll out the ball and replicate or better last year’s 11-2 finish. And though the floor for this team is probably no worse than 8-4, there’s a good chance Penn State doesn’t reach its ceiling.

And that would be fine. Because next year’s ceiling is the highest of anyone in the B1G.

11. Will Maryland finally finish in the Top 25?

The Terps infamously have not finished a season in the Top 25 since 2010. Maryland’s brass responded back then by firing Ralph Friedgen, and the program has earned every bit of the curse it’s experienced since.

Mike Locksley thinks that will change this year. In fact, he’s stated that the Terrapins could compete for the Big Ten title.

That seems a bit much. But this roster is quite capable of 9 wins and Maryland’s best-ever showing as a Big Ten program.

10. B1G QB1: McCarthy, Tagovailoa, or other?

If Jim Harbaugh is to be believed, this won’t be much of a question at all. He compared JJ McCarthy to Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen at Big Ten Media Days, and enthusiastically defended the comparison after the initial statement. And McCarthy certainly seems poised for a breakout campaign.

But the same could be said of Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa, who says he turned down a 7-figure offer to transfer to an SEC program. He believes he can accomplish something special at Maryland. And he just might.

Behind that, the winner of the Ohio State quarterback derby is bound to be a factor. So too might the aforementioned Allar, a former 5-star signee. And then there’s a potential wild card: Purdue’s Hudson Card, who got squeezed out of Texas by Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning.

9. Is Drew Allar ready to live up to the hype?

Many Penn State fans pushed for Allar to start as a freshman, and now they’ll finally get what they’ve been waiting for.

If his play proves they had a point last year, then the Nittany Lions might not just be third-fiddle in the Big Ten East.

8. Will Ohio State’s success at QB continue?

The Ohio State quarterback room of recent vintage has been so unstoppable that there wasn’t even enough room to accommodate Joe Burrow.

If Kyle McCord or Devin Brown proves to be the next great Buckeye QB on the assembly line, Ohio State is yet again a CFP contender.

7. Is any player good enough to snap the B1G’s Heisman drought?

No Big Ten player has hoisted the Heisman Trophy since Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith in 2006. Which means that drought is nearly old enough to enroll in college itself.

Buckeyes receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has the talent to win it this year, but will he accumulate ridiculous enough stats to get there? DeVonta Smith (2020) and Desmond Howard (1991) are the most recent receivers to win it, which is quite a gap.

Michigan running back Blake Corum finished 7th in voting last year and will be back in the mix. But so might his quarterback.

Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen is a potential dark horse if the Badgers’ new offense succeeds in opening up more running lanes for him.

6. Can the Big Ten West champ go out with a bang?

In the final year of Big Ten divisions, the West champ will attempt to improve to 1-9 in the conference championship game.

I’m not going to hold my breath on that one. But if Fickell’s mad alchemy works magic in Madison, Wisconsin is the singular team capable of ending the streak.

5. How will Northwestern respond to this mess?

The hazing scandal that cost Pat Fitzgerald his job after 2 decades in Evanston will surely carry over into the season in some form.

According to interim coach David Braun, it’s galvanized the team. The players who are still there largely seem to think Fitzgerald was wronged.

But how much better is a galvanized version of last year’s 1-11 team?

4. Will Wisconsin’s offensive overhaul work?

A program long friendly to the fullback and the third tight end will look as it never has before this season. New offensive coordinator Phil Longo is bringing his up-tempo, no-huddle spread attack to Wisconsin.

It could completely revolutionize everything we’ve ever known about the Badgers. But there’s also a chance, though seemingly remote, that it blows up on the launchpad.

It’ll be fascinating to see how this season plays out in Madison.

3. Is Penn State ready to make the leap?

As legendary Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips once stated, “Last year we were knocking on the door. This year we’re ready to kick it in.”

Unfortunately for Phillips, the Steel Curtain was always in his way. But the concept is similar at Penn State this year.

James Franklin beat everyone but Michigan and Ohio State last year. Now can the Nittany Lions kick the door in?

As stated earlier, I don’t think they’re there yet. But I also wouldn’t be completely shocked if they actually are. The talent is there. It just needs to jell quickly.

2. Will Ohio State beat Michigan?

Michigan hasn’t defeated Ohio State 3 straight times since 1997. And if that changes this season, the grumbling about Ryan Day in Columbus will escalate to an outright furor.

Michigan figures to be favored when the teams meet in Ann Arbor this November. But Ohio State is still recruiting at the highest level in the B1G, and has a defensive line capable of mixing it up with Michigan’s powerful offensive front.

It’s the question we’ll be looking forward to all season.

1. Can Michigan win it all?

Harbaugh has delivered a pair of postseason duds at Michigan. In 2021, the Wolverines were vastly outplayed by Georgia. Last year, Harbaugh was drastically outcoached by TCU’s Sonny Dykes.

Will the Wolverines finally get it right this year?

The roster appears built for the task. It’s on Harbaugh to get Michigan over the finish line.