College football is back and Week 0 was exciting with Georgia Tech taking down No. 10 Florida State, but now there is a full slate of football on in Week 1 and fans could not be more excited.
College football has gone through a big change this offseason and the Big Ten is a part of that change. Four new teams have joined the conference, Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA. They now have the most teams in their conference with 18 and they are doing away with divisions.
There are so many questions surrounding each team and these questions will help them in their quest for the Big Ten title and hopefully an appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Purdue
Can Purdue be more than a cupcake team?
Purdue is coming in as one of the bottom teams in the Big Ten and not a lot of their fellow conference members are too scared of them. The Boilermakers need to work to make themselves more of a threat in the conference.
Indiana
How will Curt Cignetti adjust to a power conference in the FBS?
Curt Cignetti was a great coach at James Madison and was able to hold his own bringing the Dukes into the FBS. Cignettie had a lot of success with James Madison and when he was brought on at Indiana, a lot of his players followed.
However, the teams James Madison played were not of the same caliber as the teams in the Big Ten. Cignetti will need to adjust to playing in the Big Ten in order to be successful at Indiana, but he has some solid players on his squad that could shake a few things up in the conference.
Michigan State
Can Jonathan Smith be successful in year one?
Michigan State is starting over again with Jonathan Smith as their head coach. After Michigan State fired Mel Tucker in September, they played with an interim and the Spartans brought in Smith as his replacement in November of 2023.
Michigan State has some young talent that needs to be coached up and Smith is the guy chosen to do just that. The Spartans have some history of being successful and playing spoiler for another team. Smith has success at Oregon State and will hopefully bring that success to the Spartans.
UCLA
DeShaun Foster?
There are so many questions about DeShaun Foster at UCLA, especially after his Big Ten Media Days appearance where his opening statement was, well interesting. Foster comes in with no head coaching experience and UCLA has struggled a lot in past seasons.
Chip Kelly chose to leave the Bruins late in the season which meant their choices for coaches were limited. Foster could come out and surprise everyone, but he simply is the biggest question for UCLA. The Bruins are in a new conference with a new head coach with no experience, year big question mark there.
Northwestern
Can Northwestern replicate its 2023 success?
Northwestern came out of nowhere in 2023 and went 8-5, which no one expected. Now the biggest question is can they do it again? They can replicate the success they had, especially since they lost quite a few players in the transfer portal that were big parts of that successful season.
Illinois
Can Illinois be consistent?
Illinois had a great season in 2022 then dropped off big time in 2023, so the question is whether or not they can be successful. Inconsistently is something that can hurt a team the most in college football.
Illinois has to find a way to get back to the success they had in 2022 or else they will have no shot at the Big Ten title and will just be waiting around for basketball season.
Minnesota
Can Minnesota keep up in this new era of football?
Minnesota is going to have to step into this new era of football which includes conference realignment, NIL, and the transfer portal. Minnesota has never been a team with a huge cash flow and unfortunately in today's age of college football, money speaks a lot and brings in a lot of players. In order to stay up with all of these teams, they are going to need to find a way to keep up.
Maryland
How does Maryland react to losing big players?
Maryland lost their best player last season Taulia Tagovailoa when his request for another year of eligibility was denied. They also lost quite a few players to graduation and the NFL, so they are in a sense in a bit of a rebuild.
The question is how Maryland will react after losing a lot of their best players, how will they work to still be a threat in the Big Ten?
Washington
Was Kalen DeBoer the reason for recent success?
Washington made it to the National Championship, lost big to Michigan, and then lost the coach Kalen DeBoer who brought them out of the trenches to Alabama. Now, Washington is in a new conference with a new head coach, but the good news is that they have a head coach with experience and success to his name.
Washington brought in Jedd Fisch from Arizona after DeBoer left for Alabama, a coach who is familiar with this Husky team. However, the question is whether or not DeBoer was the big reason for the success in the last two seasons.
Rutgers
Can Rutgers just fly under the radar?
Rutgers seems to be a team that a lot of people forget about easily. The Scarlet Knights however know how to come in under the radar and win six to eight games each season. Seems that the Scarlet Knights are already able to fly under the radar, can they do it again, but this time fly under the radar and find themselves around the top of the Big Ten?
Nebraska
Can Nebraska simply win games?
Nebraska has been the laughingstock of the Big Ten for quite a few years now, especially in the Scott Frost era. However, they are looking better this season and a lot of that starts with freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, but again he is a freshman, he could be a bust.
Nebraska has simply struggled to win games for so many years, so the big question here is can they bring it all together now? They have the pieces and they have the big-name quarterback, now they just have to figure out how to put it all together.
Wisconsin
Can Luke Fickell do what he was brought in to do?
Wisconsin watched Luke Fickell lead Cincinnati, a Group of Five team, into the College Football Playoff for the first time ever and felt if there was one person who could elevate their program where they wanted it to be, it was him.
Fickell was average in his first season with the Badgers, but he was adjusting to coaching in a power conference. Fickell has shown he can take a team with maybe more average players and bring them to the top, but now he needs to put his money where his mouth is in year two and show everyone he can do it in the Big Ten.
USC
Can USC be successful without Caleb Williams?
Life after Caleb Williams will be tough for UCS, but let's not forget that Williams didn't lead the Spartans to a Pac-12 title, or even the Pac-12 title game. Saying that though, life after Williams will not be a cake walk.
Williams was the biggest part of UCS's team and there is no replacing him. Can the Trojans find success without Williams? Yes, Lincoln Riley is a very talented coach, but this will be the third conference he has coached in and they just seem to keep getting tougher and tougher.
Iowa
Can the offense simply do its job?
There is no sugarcoating how bad Iowa's offense was last season. They were the worst in the Big Ten and one of the worst in college football. The Hawkeyes did deal with a lot of injuries last season including one to quarterback Cade McNamara and tight end Luke Lachey.
There is no question that Iowa has a good defense, it is one of the best in the country, They can continue to have a dominant defense, but a defense alone can not get them back to the Big Ten Championship. The offense simply needs to do its job at least 50% of the time in order to give the Hawkeyes a chance.
Michigan
Will there be a championship hangover?
Michigan lost their head coach to the NFL and they lost the majority of their starters to the NFL, oh and they are dealing with investigation after investigation. However, they did win the National Championship last season and no one can take that away from them.
So many times in all of sports, a championship hangover can be seen and with so many pieces of the championship team gone, Michigan could easily struggle this season. Sherrone Moore showed he could win, but that was just three games, now he has to do it for a whole season which is a lot harder.
Penn State
Will Drew Allar finally produce?
Drew Allar came to Penn State as a five-star recruit and Nittany Lion fans had big hopes for him. In his first season, however, Allar was underwhelming, especially with how much he was hyped up before the season started.
Penn State has the best chance now to make a Big Ten Championship with the divisions gone in the conference. He has the weapons around him, now Allar just has to show he can be the player that Penn State recruited him to be.
Oregon
Can Oregon live up to the hype in the Big Ten?
Oregon has everything going in their favor right now. They are in the Big Ten, they just got the Heisman favorite in Dillon Gabriel, and Dan Lanning has shown he is a proven winner. Everyone is betting on Oregon.
Can the Ducks handle the pressure though? They are in a new conference and that will bring its own challenges. They just might be the team that can bring down Michigan and Ohio State, but they can;t let it all go to their head just yet, not a single down has been played yet in the Big Ten.
Ohio State
Can Ohio State get over get over that National Championship hump?
Ohio State comes in every season as the team that supposedly has the best roster, the best team, the best coach, and is just all-around the best. However, they have not won a National Championship since 2014, the first season with the College Football Playoff.
The Buckeyes have a new quarterback with transfer Will Howard from Kansas State and one of the best wide receiver groups in the country. Everything is in their favor to win the National Championship, but can they finally get over the hump? Ryan Day still has something to prove.