Angelique S. Chengelis of The Detroit News takes a look at five storylines for the realigned Big Ten’s 2024 season.
On the road again
DeShaun Foster, UCLA’s new head coach, made it clear to anyone who saw his opening remarks at Big Ten Media Days that UCLA is, in fact, in LA. Foster then poked fun at the awkward but funny moment by showing up to the first week of training camp wearing a T-shirt that read “We’re in LA.”
Unfortunately, the Bruins will only play six games in LA this season, hitting Hawaii starting Aug. 31 to travel 22,048 miles, the longest distance of any Big Ten team this season. UCLA also travels to LSU on Sept. 21, then kicks off Big Ten play with games at Penn State, Rutgers, Nebraska and Washington. Indiana will travel the fewest miles of any Big Ten team – 4,895 – and its only major trip is to UCLA. Michigan will travel 5,194 miles in total, and Michigan State will travel 6,771.
Watch the Big Ten on TV
Where will you watch Big Ten games on TV this fall? Seemingly almost anywhere, any time of day, and even Friday nights. Big Ten teams play on CBS, NBC, FOX, FS1, BTN, CBS and NBC, with the Big Ten title game on CBS.
Let’s see, there are Friday night games on FOX, but “FOX Big Noon Kickoff” remains. There’s also “The Big Ten on CBS” and “Big Ten Saturday Night” on NBC, and don’t forget the games will be streamed on Peacock. This will be the first full season for CBS, which last year still broadcast SEC games during the 3:30 p.m. kickoff window and then gradually moved to Big Ten games.
Rivalries remain
With the expansion of the conference from 14 to 18 teams, the East and West divisions no longer exist, but follow the same path as Leaders and Legends.
Now the top two teams in overall record will face off to determine the Big Ten champion.
Still, the Big Ten has made sure to have protected rivalry games. For a refresher, here they are:
Michigan: Michigan State, Ohio State; State of Michigan: Michigan; State of Ohio: Michigan; Penn State: none; Northwest: Illinois; Illinois: Northwest, Purdue; Rutgers: Maryland; Maryland: Rutgers; Indiana: Pittsburgh; Purdue: Illinois, Indiana; Iowa: Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin; Minnesota: Bremen, Germany; Wisconsin: California, USA; Nebraska: Iowa; UCLA: USC; USC: University of California; Washington: Oregon; Oregon: Washington.
More: 2024 Detroit News College Football: Your Guide to the Season Preview
New coach shines
Two of the four new schools (UCLA and Washington) now in the Big Ten have new coaches.
Foster, who was previously a running back for the Bruins and spent the last 10 seasons on the coaching staff, is in his first season as head coach, replacing Chip Kelly, who left to become offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Washington is led by Jedd Fisch, who most recently served as head coach at Arizona – he led the Wildcats to a 10-3 season last year.
There are more new head coaches in the league.
Indiana hired Curt Cignetti, who coached James Madison since 2019 and led the team to an 11-1 season last year. Sherrone Moore is now Michigan’s head coach after serving as offensive coordinator last season and offensive line coach for the past three years. Before that, he coached the tight ends when he arrived in 2018. He replaces Jim Harbaugh and was the associate head coach for four games last season. Jonathan Smith is Michigan State’s head coach after coaching Oregon State since 2018, leading the Beavers to victories in his past three seasons. David Braun isn’t exactly new to Northwestern, as he was interim coach last season, but he now owns the job after leading the Wildcats to an 8-5 season last year.
How hard is hard?
Depending on which rankings you look through, from ESPN to College Football Network to Phil Steele’s magazine, Florida is at the top of the list of teams with the toughest schedule this season, and for good reason. The Gators play seven top-25 teams, including four top-15 opponents on the road. There is some variation in the ratings of Big Ten teams and their schedules, but the consensus is that California’s newcomers, UCLA and USC, are right up there with the best. UCLA is covering more miles this season than any other Big Ten team and has a schedule that includes games against LSU, Oregon, Penn State, Nebraska, Iowa, Washington and USC. Another team to consider is Purdue, which faces Notre Dame, Oregon State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State. Steele believes Michigan’s 15th-ranked schedule is tough.th the biggest challenge in the country and Michigan State is 22and.
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