The experts disagree as to just how good the Ohio State defensive line is going to be in 2010, but on one end of that line there is a consensus of opinion - Cameron Heyward is an All-American. The senior from Georgia is one of two returning starters in the defensive front four for the Buckeyes, and the two new starters were both key contributors in the rotation last year for defensive line coach Jim Heacock.
The difference between this year and last is that the depth in the second and third units is less experienced than last year's reserves, a factor that accounts for some of the questions nationally about the overall strength of the 2010 defensive line. There's a case to be made that this year's group is more talented top-to-bottom, but the depth is still unproven after you get past the starting foursome.
Ever since the early 1990’s when the great shakeup of college football’s traditional alignments began in earnest, the trend has almost always gone toward expansion rather than contraction. The ACC added Florida State and three Big East defectors; the Big Eight absorbed the leavings of the Southwest Conference; the Big Ten added Penn State and Nebraska; the Pac-10 added Colorado and Utah, and so on and so forth. Very few leagues have shrunk in that span, although the Western Athletic Conference did shrivel from sixteen to nine members in 1999 with the mass defection of the schools that now make up the bulk of the Mountain West, and conferences have lost individual members here and there. For the most part it’s been bigger-bigger-bigger in the ongoing game of musical chairs.
Setting the scene on an early December Saturday in 2015... 
After several seasons of decline the Big Ten is back on the upswing, bolstered by a solid 2009-10 bowl season and the anticipation of Nebraska joining the conference for 2011. But there will be plenty of excitement to tide us over while we’re waiting for the Cornhuskers and a conference championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Big Ten rolls into 2010 with a revamped bowl lineup, as many as three serious BCS contenders and perhaps the conference’s best hope for a National Champion since Troy Smith and Co. dominated the ’06 regular season.
There is general agreement among OSU football observers that the Buckeyes' chances for a championship season in 2010 depend to a large extent on Terrelle Pryor's continued improvement as a passer. The return of his top two wide receivers from last year should make that goal more attainable, and the influx of young talent into the receiver corps promises a strong pass-catching unit at Ohio State well into the future.