It feels like there are a thousand changes as we enter the 2024 college football season. Every conference looks completely different thanks to either the addition or subtraction of teams. There is an expanded College Football Playoff, there is an openness to treating players like employees rather than student-athletes, oh, and the broadcasts will look different with new deals and new broadcast partners. But one thing remains the same: each team is competing for one thing – a national championship. Here’s our 2024 Big Ten football preview.
Who is joining?
The Big Ten is going to look a whole lot different this year with impressive upgrades and are likely adding more tougher schools than any other conference. Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA have jumped ship and will join the teams in the Midwest. Washington was just in a Natty, Oregon has been a powerhouse for years, and USC is hoping they can emulate the same with Lincoln Riley as their head coach. As for UCLA…eh. They fired Chip Kelly at the end of the year which is fun given he is now the offensive coordinator of Ohio State.
The Big Ten members can’t be thrilled to see three new quality schools that will block their path to the Big Ten Championship and the new expanded College Football Playoff. In my mind, the Big Ten will compete with the SEC with these additions.
Last Year
The Big Ten had their most successful year in a very long time and that’s because one of their schools ended the year on top. But we can’t overlook Michigan’s murky past to their championship parade as their head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended more than once and then bolted the university for the NFL as soon as the year was over.
Ohio State had a great year with two overall losses but came up short of competing for a title in either the conference or national level. Outside of that, it was a meh year with an Iowa team that was unable to score on offense representing the conference in the championship which was an absolute blowout.
What to Watch
I am curious to see how these three new powerful schools fare in year one. Can Oregon win the conference in their inaugural season? Will Michigan take a big step back with the new competition? Will an older traditional power finally take a step up like Wisconsin or Nebraska?
There is so much to watch in the Big Ten this year, but my focus is to see if there is some regret over who came into the conference and if the existing schools wish they could have a do-over as their schedules get tougher.
Heisman Candidate
Dillon Gabriel is going to be a popular name here. He is playing for his third school after previously playing at both UCF and Oklahoma. He now gets to develop in an Oregon offense that has been very kind to quarterbacks. This is a much tougher conference than the Pac 12 defensively, but Gabriel could put up his best numbers of his collegiate career.
Prediction
The defense is basically remaining the same and the offense is taking a MASSIVE step forward for Ohio State with Chip Kelly coming in. Without Jim Harbaugh in their way, I have Ohio State winning the Big Ten and making a deep run in this new CFP.