Top 5 concerns troubling Big Ten fans ahead of 2024 CFB season
The Big Ten will shift again for the 2024 season. By adding Oregon, USC, Washington and UCLA to the league, the conference is now an 18-team monster. The new Big Ten goes from Washington to Rutgers.
What worries lurk in the hearts of Big Ten fans ahead of the season? Well, here are five likely suspects.
Top five concerns troubling Big Ten fans ahead of 2024
#1 What if New Michigan is nothing like Old Michigan?
A season ago, Michigan was the swaggering bad boy of college football. Implicated in the video scandal, losing their coach for four games, nothing stopped the Goliath of the Big Ten, but that feels like a long time ago.
Jim Harbaugh is gone; JJ McCarthy is gone, and the Wolverines look much more like the program that had struggled to win big games than the one that took delight in a 15-0 season.
Can Sherrone Moore patch it up? Even if he can, it's probably not happening in 2024, and the rest of the Big Ten will get in their shots now.
#2 Can Ryan Day weather another disappointment?
Ohio State fans love Ryan Day until they don't. How many coaches with 56-8 records can genuinely be described as being on a hot seat? Day can. Ohio State is consistently one of the most talented and hyped teams in the nation in the preseason and usually through most of the season.
However, that 2014 national title gets farther away with each passing season. With three straight losses to Michigan and an embarassment in the 2020 national title game, Day has become the guy who can't win the big games.
This year's OSU team might be the most talented one Day has fielded in Columbus. So if he comes up short of OSU's ultimate goals again, what's the blueprint heading forward?
Can Day survive it? Can his brilliant recruiting retain its luster if players start wondering if the coach will be around? All worth watching in 2024.
#3 What if Penn State really just isn't that good?
Another team badly in need of a complete season is Penn State. The Nittany Lions won the 2016 Big Ten title game but have now watched the last seven titles go to Ohio State and Michigan. With the addition of Oregon and USC to the league, even the No. 3 spot could be slipping away from Penn State.
It seems like 2024 is the year to fix it. The Nittany Lions miss Oregon and Michigan in the schedule and get to host Ohio State. QB Drew Allar is significantly hyped. But could it be that Penn State just really isn't a championship program anymore?
Since Joe Paterno's 2011 retirement, there's one conference title and no CFP action. The No. 7 finish to 2022 feels like a hard ceiling for Penn State.
#4 Is it time for Iowa to move on?
No program is more frustrating for fans to watch than Iowa. In the last seven seasons, the Hawkeyes have allowed 19.9, 17.8, 14.0, 16.0, 19.2, 13.3 and 14.8 points per game.
During that run, neither Georgia nor Alabama kept foes under 20 points per game each season. Ohio State allowed 20 points per game four of the seven years. So Iowa should be great?
In the words of Lee Corso, not so fast, sweetheart. On offense, in the last two seasons, Iowa has averaged 17.7 and 15.4 points per game. So whilel Iowa has gone 18-9 in that span, they've wasted a golden defensive opportunity to be elite because of an offense that is just excruciating.
Last year, Iowa averaged 235 yards per game, with 3.3 yards per carry and 119 passing yards per game and sub 50% completion percentage. Each of those totals is an embarrassment, and longtime coach Kirk Ferentz replaced his son at offensive coordinator with Tim Lester.
Ferentz has been a star in 26 seasons in Iowa, but it's fair to wonder if there should be a 27th.
#5 What if the new teams dilute the league?
Coming off a national title, the Big Ten should be well-aligned to put multiple teams into the playoff for this year and years to come. But what if the West coast additions either create parity within the league or draw down the league's post-season credentials.
It's not a mystery that the Pac-12 was the weakest conference in post-season play. If USC and Oregon don't live up to their hype, it will probably devalue the entire Big Ten, and getting those third and fourth teams into the Playoff could get tougher and tougher. It's certainly a storyline to watch.
What Big Ten stories will you be watching this fall? Share your thoughts below in the comments section: