Big Ten 2024 College Football Primer: Top Players, Games, Transfers, Storylines, Predictions
by Pete Fiutak, CollegeFootballNews.com
STORYLINES
- The SEC is the SEC. It "just means more" and the fan bases are insane and the emphasis is at a whole other level, but the Big Ten is now the biggest deal among the college athletic conferences.
Biggest reach, biggest schools, biggest membership, biggest cities, biggest media presence, and most importantly, the biggest piles of cash flowing in.
The Big Ten was already a huge deal, and then it added USC and UCLA, and then -- even though it was a bit earlier than everyone wanted to make the call -- it brought in Oregon and Washington to take thinsg to a whole other level.
18 schools. 14 states. More who'd love to be a part of it -- (cough) North Carolina, Virginia, Miami (cough) -- More, more, more. On the field........
- Ohio State. Oh sure, Michigan is the defending national champ, but the place will coast for years on the fun and dominance of last season.
Washington played for the national title, but it's in a reboot, Oregon is amazing again, and Penn State, USC, and let's throw in Iowa, are all reasonably in the mix to get into an expanded College Football Playoff. But to cut to the chase, the 2024 college football season is Ohio State or Bust.
Georgia should have something to say about this when it comes to winning the national title, but after three straight losses to Michigan, three straight years without playing for another title after losing to Alabama for the 2020 national championship, and three straight 11-2 seasons - they'd be holding parades almost anywhere else for this - without a Big Ten title, enough was enough.
Ohio State didn't just crush the transfer portal, it annihilated it. It loaded up on top talent to go along with a base loaded with players who should be in the NFL, and now the pressure is cranked up to all-time insane levels what should be the No. 1 team in the land.
- Here come the epic weekly matchups. It'll become old hat next year, but for 2024, what would normally be a decent bowl game - or a traditional Rose Bowl - will be a weekly thing with all of the former Pac-12 vs Big Ten showdowns.
Wisconsin and USC haven't played in the regular season since 1966. The two play in LA on September 28th. Iowa and UCLA haven't played since the 1986 Rose Bowl - they meet on November 9th.
The Bruins and Penn State last met in 1968, this year it's in Happy Valley on October 5th. The big one, though, is when the Big Ten season kicks off in Ann Arbor on September 21st when the Trojans face Michigan for the first regular season showdown between the two since 1958.
Washington and Michigan play a national championship rematch in Seattle on October 5th. The Dawgs go to Penn State on November 9th.
Oregon is the biggest deal of the former Pac-12ers coming into the season, and it gets the monster game of the Big Ten campaign when Ohio State rolls into Eugene on October 12th. The Ducks go to Michigan (November 2) and Wisconsin (November 16).
BOLD PREDICTIONS
- The Oregon offense will keep on going. It lost QB Bo Nix, RB Bucky Irving, and WR Troy Franklin, and it's not going to matter.
In comes Dillon Gabriel, the former Oklahoma-from-UCLA-from-UCF quarterback who has an outside shot of finishing as one of the top three passers in NCAA history with a huge season. It's his sixth season, he'll be even more accurate and effective in this attack, he should put up Nix-like numbers as the veteran leader to make this O explode.
If you're looking for where the Ohio State misfire will come, October 12th in Eugene - because of Gabriel and this attack - could be it.
- Nebraska will be bowl eligible by October 5th. The long national nightmare will finally be over. One of the bluest of blue blood programs, the Big Red haven't been bowling since 2016 and have just one winning campaign since 2014.
It was 5-3 last year, and lost its last four games to miss out on a bowl. It was 3-3 in 2022 and just won just one game the rest of the way. It was 3-3 in 2021 and didn't win another game, lost its last game in 2019 to go 5-7, lost its first six games in a 4-8 2018, and was 4-4 to start 2017 and lost the last four games.
Oh yea, there will be a problem over the second half of the season, too, but UTEP, Colorado, Northern Iowa, Illinois, at Purdue and Rutgers. That's the start to the campaign, and it'll be a 6-0 start to finally relieve the pressure.
- The under-the-radar team to watch out for will be........Maryland. No, it won't challenge for the Big Ten title, but it'll be in for a strong season.
With 18 teams in the new-look Big Ten, several will get lost in the shuffle. Michigan State under new head coach Jonathan Smith will be one, Wisconsin might be another - to a certain extent - and don't forget about Iowa being a problem again for strong teams, at least defensively.
Maryland has to go through a little bit of an overhaul, and there's not a lot of star power, but three key things matter: schedule, schedule, and schedule.
There's no Michigan, Ohio State, Washington, or Wisconsin to deal with. The first five games are against teams that didn't go bowling, there's a week off before a home game against Northwestern, and getting Rutgers in College Park in November will help.
TEN BEST BIG TEN PLAYERS
1. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon (QB - SR)
2. Abdul Carter, Penn State (EDGE - JR)
3. Jay Higgins, Iowa (LB - SR)
4. JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State (EDGE - JR)
5. Caleb Downs, Ohio State (CB - SO)
6. Tyleik Williams, Ohio State (DT - JR)
7. Will Johnson, Michigan (CB - JR)
8. Colston Loveland, Michigan (TE - JR)
9. Denzel Burke, Ohio State (CB - SR)
10. Mason Graham, Michigan (DT - JR)
TEN BIGGEST BIG TEN GAMES
1. Michigan at Ohio State (Nov. 30)
2. Ohio State at Oregon (Oct. 12)
3. Oregon at Michigan (Nov. 2)
4. Ohio State at Penn State (Nov. 2)
5. Michigan at Washington (Oct. 5)
6. Washington at Oregon (Nov. 30)
7. USC at Michigan (Sept. 21)
8. Penn State at USC (Oct. 12)
9. Iowa at Ohio State (Oct. 5)
10. Wisconsin at USC (Sept. 28)
TOP TEN BIG TEN TRANSFERS
1. Caleb Downs, Ohio State (CB - Alabama)
2. Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State (RB - Mississippi)
3. Evan Stewart, Oregon (WR - Texas A&M)
4. AJ Harris, Penn State (CB - Georgia)
5. Jabbar Muhammad, Oregon (CB - Washington)
6. Nyland Green, Purdue (CB - Georgia)
7. Jamaaree Caldwell, Oregon (DT - Houston)
8. Kamari Ramsey, USC (S - UCLA)
9. Julian Fleming, Penn State (WR - Ohio State)
10. Tackett Curtis, Wisconsin (LB - USC)
TOP TEN BIG TEN QUARTERBACK TRANSFERS
1. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon (Oklahoma)
2. Will Howard, Ohio State (Kansas State)
3. Aidan Chiles, Michigan State (Oregon State)
4. Julian Sayin, Ohio State (Alabama)
5. Dante Moore, Oregon (UCLA)
6. Jayden Maiava, USC (UNLV)
7. Tyler Van Dyke, Wisconsin (Miami)
8. Kurtis Rourke, Indiana (Ohio)
9. Will Rogers, Washington (Mississippi State)
10. Max Brosmer, Minnesota (New Hampshire)
NEW BIG TEN HEAD COACHES
Curt Cignetti, Indiana
The man is coming in hard. Brash, bold, and with a whole lot of bluster from the start, the former James Madison head coach will do everything possible to will Indiana into being a good football school.
Jedd Fisch, Washington
The locked in head man at Arizona until he wasn't, now he's taking over a wee bit of a rebuild for a Washington program coming off a trip to the national championship. A fantastic coach - he turned around Arizona fast - don't underestimate this hire.
DeShaun Foster, UCLA
Good luck figuring out how this will go, but it'll be interesting, at least in Year One. He's a player's coach who everyone likes, but there's no experience whatsoever as a head man. Give it a season for the Bruin star RB to build things back up.
Sherrone Moore, Michigan
He kept the ship afloat during the Jim Harbaugh suspensions last year, and no matter what, he has a win over Ohio State - he earned his stripes. Don't expect another national title out of the Wolverines this year, but Moore will be expected to at least get back to the College Football Playoff now that it's expanded.
Jonathan Smith, Michigan State
It's been a rough time for Michigan State football, but Smith was able to success in a tough Oregon State situation, he brought over a slew of key players - welcome to new QB Aidan Chiles - and the turnaround should come fast.
