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Before last season began, then-Maryland coach Randy Edsall predicted the Big Ten East Division would be "the toughest division in all of college football." That pronouncement seemed premature, as only Michigan State and Ohio State had proved themselves as national powers to that point. But things change pretty fast in this sport, as Edsall can attest. The Terrapins fired him less than six months later. And now, as Big Ten conference play is set to begin this weekend, a couple of things seem pretty clear. The East has a strong argument as being, in fact, the toughest division in football in 2016. At the very least, it should present the best and most exciting race in the country. Just look at where the top three teams in the division stand. Ohio State, fresh off a three-touchdown win at Oklahoma, is ranked No. 2 in both major polls. Michigan, which hasn't played tough competition yet but has won every game by double digits, is No. 4 in the Associated Press poll and No. 5 by the USA Today coaches' poll. Michigan State, which registered its own impressive road victory by beating Notre Dame on Saturday, checks in at No. 8 in both rankings. Only one other conference -- the ACC with Louisville and Clemson -- has more than one team among the top eight in the rankings. "I'm not surprised at all," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said Tuesday. "I think our conference is very strong right now and our division has to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, in college football." There are others in the East who could influence the division race. Indiana took both Ohio State and Michigan down to the final play last season. Maryland, which is 3-0 behind D.J. Durkin, looks much improved. Penn State, which plays at Michigan this week, has offensive firepower and gets both the Buckeyes and Spartans at Beaver Stadium later this season. Still, the Big Three went undefeated against the rest of the division last year and look to be in a class by themselves once again. All three are bona fide College Football Playoff contenders. Which means this could be an absolutely epic three-way battle to see who gets to Indianapolis. The only comparable division with that much power at the top is the ACC Atlantic, with Clemson, Louisville and Florida State. But Louisville destroyed Florida State, 63-20, last weekend and plays at Clemson in two weeks, so the contours of that race will mostly be filled in by the first Saturday in October. The best thing about the Big Ten's back-loaded schedule is that anticipation will build for the East race all fall. There could be stumbling blocks along the way, of course. Michigan State hosts No. 11 Wisconsin this weekend. The Buckeyes go to Madison in three weeks and play No. 20 Nebraska in early November. Michigan travels to Iowa on Nov. 12. Yet there's a troika of games everybody is circling: Michigan at Michigan State on Oct. 29, then the killer final two weeks of the regular season featuring Ohio State at Michigan State followed by Michigan at Ohio State. "Our main focus has to be on No. 11 Wisconsin this week," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. "But we're looking forward to it. There should be some exciting games this season." The East produced two classic encounters last year, in Michigan State's blocked-punt-for-a-touchdown miracle at the Big House, and the Spartans' upset of the defending national champions in the Horseshoe. Ohio State looks dominant right now, and the Buckeyes blew the doors off Michigan in Ann Arbor a year ago. But a lot can happen between now and Thanksgiving weekend. We could be looking at a year like 2010, when Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin finished in a three-way tie for the conference crown. Of course, divisions didn't originate in the Big Ten until the following season. If the Spartans, Buckeyes and Wolverines all finished with the same conference record this year but the head-to-head results didn't produce a champion, then a controversial tiebreaker rule -- which would use the playoff poll that does not come out until Tuesday before the Big Ten title game -- might determine the East representative in Indy. It's also possible that the division could produce two playoff teams, if everything broke right. OK, so we're getting way ahead of ourselves. But with the best race in college football, all the possibilities are tantalizing.
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