The Big Ten grew once more on August 4, 2023, when Oregon and Washington joined the conference. Together with the previously announced additions of UCLA and USC, those two clubs increased the conference’s overall membership to eighteen.
The Big Ten announced a new football scheduling schedule that would rotate opponents from 2024 through 2028 in addition to adding the four new clubs. In light of this, I thought about examining the teams that Ohio State will not be playing in 2024 and speculating about the potential seasons of those teams. Given each team’s quality level and schedule difficulties, it would not be impossible for one of them teams to end up in The Big Ten Championship Game.
Here are the teams I have already previewed, arranged alphabetically below, before I go any further. To view any of these teams in the past, just click on their name; the link will direct you there.
First place went to the Illinois Fighting Illini, followed by the USC Trojans, Maryland Terrapins, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, UCLA Bruins, and Illinois Fighting Illini.
I know I’m using this phrase a lot, but I swear this is the last time you’ll see it in one of these posts until Ohio State’s October 12th game against Oregon. Alright, I’ll be honest: I’m going to have to adjust to this.
Like any other West Coast club making this historic transfer, the Washington Huskies cause as much havoc as possible as they enter The Big Ten. Similar to their longstanding foe UCLA, Washington has major personnel losses on both sides of the ball and a brand-new coach in Jeff Fisch.
Ohio State’s next scheduled regular-season game is scheduled to take place in Husky Stadium in 2025. The game’s timing and date have not yet been disclosed.
Principal Employee Losses in 2023: Alright, take a deep breath now. Ten Washington players were selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. What was even more noteworthy was that three of those athletes were chosen among the top twenty players chosen in total. Washington suffered the subsequent losses:
– Michael Penix, Jr., quarterback (ATL Falcons, first round; qualified as THE surprise selection of the first round, but I won’t stray too far from the topic)
WR Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears, first round
– Troy Fautanu (OT), Pittsburgh Steelers, first round
– Wide Receiver Ja’Lynn Polk, New England Patriots, 2nd round
OT Roger Rosengarten, Baltimore Ravens, 2nd round
– OLB Bralen Trice, Atlanta Falcons, third round
WR Jalen McMillan, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, third round
– Edefuan Ulofoshio, LB, Buffalo Bills, fifth round
– S. Dominique Hampton, Washington Commanders, fifth round
Devin Culp, a tight end, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, seventh round
Any club losing its starting quarterback, three wide receivers, both offensive tackles, tight end, linebacker, and safety would find it tough to overcome the talent losses. Include the chaos of firing your head coach, hiring a new one, and attempting to fit in with a completely new conference. Oh no.
Schedule Outlook for 2024: The non-conference portion of Washington’s schedule includes games against Weber State (August 31 at 11 pm ET on The Big Ten Network), Eastern Michigan (September 7 at 3:30 pm ET on The Big Ten Network), and Washington State in The Apple Cup (September 14 at 3:30 pm ET on Peacock). (As previously mentioned, it will require some getting used to, considering Washington vs. Washington State to be a “non-conference game”).
Starting out easy, Washington takes on Northwestern on September 21 before visiting Rutgers for a Friday night game on September 28 (8 p.m. ET on FOX) in the Big Ten conference. The calendar shift to October and November is when the challenges of the current season and the nostalgia for past seasons begin to emerge.
On October 5, Washington will play Michigan in a rematch of their national championship game from the previous season; this game could be interesting. On October 12, the Huskies will travel to Iowa City to play the Hawkeyes for the first time since the 1964 campaign. On October 26, Washington will visit Memorial Stadium for the first time since September 23, 1978, to play Indiana. On November 2, the team will return home to play longtime rival USC.
Washington will travel to Beaver Stadium for the first time to play Penn State in the Nittany Lions’ “White Out” game on November 9. Although the kickoff time has not been announced, it is expected to be either 3:30 pm or 7 pm ET, so keep an eye on this. By the time the game ends, it will be dark, even though kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The 2024 #PennState White Out is set for Nov. 9 against #Washington.
🎟️: https://t.co/og5R9Ne6h2 #Sponsored pic.twitter.com/40ChhekXe6
— Nittany Central (@NittanyCentral) July 15, 2024
Washington plays their Friday night game against UCLA (9 p.m. ET kickoff on FOX) on November 15. After a week off, the team travels to Autzen Stadium to play Oregon on November 30 to conclude the regular season. Definitely a rocky introduction to The Big Ten.
2024 Prediction: Washington will not be taken into consideration for either the Big Ten Championship Game or the College Football Playoffs because it has too many important positions to replace. If the Huskies had a great start to the season and started to lose steam in their conference and non-conference games, that would not surprise me. A bowl team, but one that is positioned closer to the center of the conference than at the top. The Huskies will be competitive this season under the guidance of excellent coach Jedd Fisch.
Watch for the eighth and last installment of the series, which examines how the Wisconsin Badgers might fare in 2024, next week. As always, I appreciate your feedback and are grateful that you read.
