Big Ten football burning questions for 2024 season as Oregon enters Playoff race, Ohio State goes all-in

This is the year for Ohio State. Ryan Day pushed all of his chips forward with this roster. Between the hordes of standouts who delayed their NFL Draft entrance and the incredible haul of newcomers both through the transfer portal and high school ranks, the Buckeyes are as loaded as they have ever been under Day’s watch. If that does not help this program get over the hump, defeat Michigan, win the Big Ten and contend for a national championship, questions around Day’s future will be louder than ever before. It is hard to picture everything not coming together with rising stars like Caleb Downs, Quinshon Judkins and Jeremiah Smith bolstering this already elite squad.

Brad Crawford projects Ohio State (No. 1), Oregon (No. 5) and Penn State (No. 8) as College Football Playoff teams. Could the Big Ten sneak a fourth team into the debut 12-team field? It is entirely possible. Michigan has 10-win upside and is the obvious other candidate to crack the Playoff from a conference that has a clear elite tier. The Buckeyes and Ducks are essentially locks to get into the field, and with the assumption that one of those two teams earns the automatic bid that comes with winning the league, the question is how far behind them the Nittany Lions and Wolverines land — and how they compare to contenders from the SEC, ACC and Big 12.

Pencil Oregon in as a Playoff team with very real Big Ten championship upside given the remarkable roster construction Dan Lanning completed over his first two years at the helm. Where do USC, UCLA and Washington fit into their new league? They all might be in separate tiers. The Trojans are probably a step behind the elite group at the top, the Huskies look like a middle-of-the-road team in Year 1 after their immense roster turnover and coaching change and the Bruins have heaps of work ahead of them as they rebuild under first-year coach DeShaun Foster.

The most recent Heisman Trophy winner to come out of the Big Ten is Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith in 2006. 18 years between winners is a long time for a conference with as much high-end skill position talent as the Big Ten. USC and Oregon both produced a Heisman in that span, and the 2024 winner could hail from one of those newcomers. Transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel leapfrogged Quinn Ewers and Carson Beck this offseason as the betting favorite to win college football’s most prestigious individual honor.

Five-star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola might not even need to produce high-end numbers for Nebraska to take a leap forward, as the Huskers were one win shy of bowl eligibility in 2023 even with putrid signal-caller play. Instant standout production from one of the most exciting first-year players in the nation, though, could make Nebraska a noisy team this fall and beyond. Raiola dazzled in the spring game with a 16-of-22 performance, racking up 239 yards and two touchdowns. That kind of play in the regular season should help Matt Rhule snap Nebraska’s seven-year bowl drought.

Few teams in the nation benefit from college football’s new structure as much as Penn State. The Big Ten’s scrapping of its divisional format after conference expansion helped the Nittany Lions pick up a favorable 2024 schedule, which avoids both Michigan and Oregon, and Playoff expansion paves the way for James Franklin to get into the field even without capturing an elusive conference title. The Nittany Lions look like a Playoff team this year, but in order to deliver on those expectations, new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki needs to spark improvement from second-year starting quarterback Drew Allar and a receiving corps that has a few question marks.

The most important players on Michigan’s national championship-winning offense are gone, and a lack of roster continuity is not ideal when a program undergoes a coaching change. The defense might still be college football’s best, but the Wolverines need to score points to keep up with a Big Ten that just got a whole lot deeper and to remain in the Playoff discussion. Colston Loveland might be the nation’s best tight end, but dynamic quarterback Alex Orji is a wild card as a passer, running back Donovan Edwards has to prove capable of handling a larger workload and the receivers might be one of the team’s biggest weaknesses.

Offensive and defensive ineptitude at Iowa and USC, respectively, was the difference between those teams pushing as dark horse Playoff teams last season and finishing closer to the middle of their respective conferences. Both programs made high-profile moves on their coaching staffs when the Trojans fired Alex Grinch and the Hawkeyes parted ways with Brian Ferentz. The replacements — D’Anton Lynn and Tim Lester — are significant upgrades on paper, and if they deliver immediate progress, these teams could wreak havoc on the Big Ten race.

Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says Nebraska is a surprise team to watch in the Big Ten this year, but the Huskers have already generated all kinds of buzz with their impressive offseason. A more under-the-radar squad to keep an eye on might be Rutgers, which faces one of the Power Four’s lightest schedules and boasts arguably the Big Ten’s best running back in Kyle Monangai. Perhaps Wisconsin will surge in Year 2 under Luke Fickell if Tyler Van Dyke revitalizes his career. On the flip side, there is always the chance that a perceived favorite registers a disappointing year.

Jonathan Smith and Curt Cignetti looked like home-run hires when Michigan State and Indiana announced them as their new head coaches. Rebuilding programs is a much more expedited process with the transfer portal at schools’ disposal, and it should help jumpstart the Spartans and Hoosiers on their path forward. Year 1 is by no means a “bowl game or bust” campaign for either of those programs, but it would not be shocking to see these two noted program-builders hit the ground running — especially since they struck gold at the quarterback spots with Aidan Chiles following Smith to Michigan State and Kurtis Rourke making the leap from MAC stardom to Indiana.