As the dawn of a new conference nears, 18 teams from 14 different states are prepared to vie for the 2024 Big Ten Championship. Some teams’ aspirations are more realistic than others, and looking around the conference, some early predictions might just turn into reality.
Most likely to win the Big Ten: Ohio State
Don’t get me wrong, Oregon’s got everything it needs to win this game. However, Ohio State’s played in the defensively-minded Big Ten Conference since 1912 and has won 39 Big Ten Championships. The Buckeyes know what it takes, have done it before and have a roster with enough strength to do it again.
Most likely runner-up: Penn State
The Nittany Lions have an incredibly talented roster in 2024, including returning star Drew Allar. Penn State also has a relatively easy schedule, and won’t play either Oregon or Michigan in 2024. Realistically, the Nittany Lions could go 8-1 in conference play and make it to Indianapolis.
Most likely to go 6-6: Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights are up right now, which is to say, they could be mediocre. While Rutgers won’t be in the running for a Big Ten Championship, a handful of winnable games — including Howard University, The University of Akron, Virginia Tech, Washington, UCLA, Minnesota and Illinois — fill its 2024 campaign. Expect to see the Knights in a bowl game come December.
Most likely to be winless in conference play: Minnesota
If expectations for the Golden Gophers aren’t low enough, Minnesota faces one of the toughest schedules in the conference. Iowa, Michigan, USC, Rutgers, Penn State and Wisconsin all loom in the Golden Gophers’ near future, and there isn’t much on their roster to expect anything from.
Most likely to ruin someone else’s season: Nebraska
For the most part, the Cornhuskers have been a doormat since joining the Big Ten in 2011. However, head coach Matt Rhule is entering his second year and just landed Nebraska’s biggest recruit in program history with quarterback Dylan Raiola. Nebraska could be good enough to sneak around and beat Wisconsin, Iowa or even Ohio State, all of which appear on the Huskers’ 2024 schedule. Nebraska also has a chance to build some early-season momentum by beating a highly-anticipated Colorado team in Week 2.
Most likely to host ESPN’s College Gameday: Oregon
While Oct. 12 will be full of incredible games like The University of Texas at Austin vs. The University of Oklahoma and The University of Mississippi vs. Louisiana State University, it’s hard to imagine the College Gameday crew won’t be in Eugene for Ducks vs. Buckeyes. This game is one of the most highly-anticipated games of the college football season, and not having ESPN on the lawn outside of Lillis would be a major miss.
Most likely to overperform: Northwestern
USA Today has the Wildcats ranked 17th in the 18-team conference entering the season. But Northwestern was only supposed to win one conference game last year, and that was before firing its head coach weeks before the season. If that team still went on to win a bowl game, this year’s squad shouldn’t be slept on quite that hard.
Most likely to underperform: UCLA
If Bruins’ head coach Dan Foster’s remarks at Big Ten Media Day weren’t a sign of how discombobulated his program is, I’m not sure what is. UCLA is coming off an unimpressive 8-5 season last year and is adjusting to a new system in 2024. Oh, and Oregon took the Bruins’ quarterback of the future in Dante Moore. UCLA’s first year in the Big Ten will be one to forget. Expectations for the Bruins are already pretty low.
Most likely to take the biggest step forward: Wisconsin
Head coach Luke Fickell will be in his second year with the Badgers as he leads a program that never stays down for long. He landed transfer quarterback Tyler Van Dyke from University of Miami to boost his offense, but maybe most importantly, all of Wisconsin’s hardest games — The University of Alabama, Penn State and Oregon — are all home games.
Most likely to take the biggest step back: Washington
Oh no… say it isn’t so.
Not only would it be a daunting task to return to the National Championship Game with the same roster, but the bulk of the Huskies’ best players from last year — and their coach — left the program either via Alabama or the NFL Draft. Washington made a great hire by bringing on Jedd Fisch, but he was unable to bring his best players with him from Arizona. The Ducks might beat this year’s UW team by 60.