Big Ten power rankings: Ohio State, Oregon vying to unseat Michigan at top in 2024 (2024)

18. Purdue Boilermakers

Unless Hudson Card is one of the Big Ten's top quarterbacks this season and the Boilermakers' defense can generate a pass rush without Nic Scourton, getting to bowl eligibility is going to be a chore for coach Ryan Walters.

17. UCLA Bruins

DeShaun Foster is in for a rough start to his head-coaching career as one of the Big Ten's newcomers considering the schedule the Bruins face and some of the transfer portal casualties this roster suffered.

16. Northwestern Wildcats

Where does David Braun and the Wildcats turn now that projected starting quarterback Brendan Sullivan abruptly transferred to Iowa after spring practice? That's a predicament Northwestern did not expect to be in this summer with fall camp approaching.

15. Indiana Hoosiers

Curt Cignetti utilized the transfer portal to maximum extent this offseason to try and fast-track a bowl-eligible season in Year 1 with the Hoosiers. For this offense to work, he's going to need to find a play-making ballcarrier and a quarterback who makes smart decisions with the football.

14. Minnesota Golden Gophers

The luster of P.J. Fleck is beginning to wear off at Minnesota, where he is three games under .500 against Big Ten opponents over his tenure and feels a long way removed from consecutive nine-win seasons during the 2021 and 2022 campaigns. Last season's starting quarterback, Athan Kaliakmanis, transferred to Rutgers and will be the Scarlet Knights' starter.

13. Illinois Fighting Illini

Last season's fall from grace was sort of expected considering what Illinois lost to the NFL Draft. Johnny Newton leaves a sizable run-stopping and pass-rush specialist void in the middle of the defensive line, but Bret Bielema hasn't had issues with production there.

12. Michigan State Spartans

There's a good bit of optimism surrounding Jonathan Smith's first season in East Lansing depending on who you ask this summer. The Spartans lost a healthy number of expected contributors to the transfer portal, but what Michigan State has picked up in return is commendable, including Oregon State transfer quarterback Aidan Chiles. He'll be a splashy addition to the Big Ten.

11. Maryland Terrapins

Mike Locksley exited spring no closer to naming a quarterback in the post-Taulia Tagovailoa as he was entering it, but there's no panic button being pressed by the Terrapins. Consecutive eight-win seasons means Maryland is on the come-up as long as the Terps getabove-average play out of the position.

10. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers feels good aboutKaliakmanis coming over from Minnesota after he beat out incumbent QB1 Gavin Whimsatt this spring, forcing a departure in the portal. There's a considerable amount of production returning on both sides of the football for a team that seemed to play their best football late last fall.

Disregard last season's run to a Pac-12 title and berth in the College Football Playoff national championship game. We're not expecting a TCU-like fall from grace for the Huskies, but it's a possibility considering the roster is entirely new and coach Kalen DeBoer is now leading the Alabama Crimson Tide. Jedd Fisch is coming off his best season as a power conference head coach at Arizona and has a quarterback in Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers who fits hit scheme like a glove. We're interested in seeing if the Huskies can still control the line of scrimmage like they did in 2023. That's going to be challenging.

You never know what you're going to get during your first season at the helm with someone else's players and Luke Fickell found out the hard way last fall in the Big Ten. The expectation is Miami transfer quarterback Tyler Van Dyke is the guy to lead Phil Longo's offense, butsophom*ore Braedyn Locke really flashed during the spring. There's an ongoing competition there. The worry for the Badgers is the 2024 schedule. Wisconsintakes on USC, Oregon, Penn State, Iowa and Nebraska. And all of those opponents have higher projected win totals.

Phil Parker's defense could lead college football in several categories this fall and that still might only be good enough for an eight- or nine-win season with the Hawkeyes. The reason? It's the offense. Iowa made changes on that side of the football to ensure the last few seasons of stench are out of the program. Sullivan from Northwestern and Cade McNamara will battle for reps in August, but there's considerable pressure on both to perform. Before we can put Iowa to the Big Ten's top tier, the Hawkeyes must show improvements offensively.

The secret's out of the bag in Lincoln — five-star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola should be the star who stirs the drink offensively for the Huskers. The first half of last fall under Matt Rhule was marred by mistakes from Jeff Sims, but throughout the entirety of the campaign, the defense performed. Expect more of the same on that side given the returning starters and talent. Nebraska should be considered a dark-horse threat in the conference just beyond the proven elite tier.

Give Lincoln Riley credit for finally pulling the plug on Alex Grinch and his program's defensive mentality after a disappointing season. The Trojans should be better there afteraddingUCLA mastermind D'Anton Lynn to its staff along with a couple immediate starters from the Bruins in the transfer portal. The post-Caleb Williams offense will be orchestrated by Miller Moss and a bevy of speedsters at wideout. The main question is physicality in the trenches and if USC will have the strength and power to move opposing teams off the football in the Big Ten. That's an unknown right now.

James Franklin has to be tired of the noise. He has a handful of 11-win seasons with the Nittany Lions, but none have moved the needle enough to appease a fanbase that's incredibly hungry for a Big Ten title or playoff berth. Let's face it — Penn State is due. When you hang around the top 10 as long as this program has in recent years, breakthrough is necessary. There's promise that the offense will be more explosive with a new play-caller, but Drew Allar needs to assess his wideout room and find go-to options early. Despite NFL losses and Manny Diaz leaving for the Duke vacancy, the defense should still be potent — as we've come to expect in Happy Valley.

Expectations are other-worldly for the Wolverines given last season's 15-0 romp to a national championship, but that's a bit unfair for first-year coach Sherrone Moore. The roster has several new pieces offensively, the coaching staff is almost completely different and schedule doesn't let up. Michigan plays Texas, out of conference, in Week 2. Brutal. In most cases, you would see the defending national champion's win total around 10.5 or 11 the following summer, but that's not the case here. We could see Michigan falling from grace somewhat, perhaps in the nine-win range.

One of the new kids on campus, Dan Lanning is barging through the Big Ten's front door this fall. A couple losses to Washington last season cost the Ducks a chance to reach the College Football Playoff as a conference champion, but much of that nucleus returns. Oregon addressed its quarterback dilemma following Bo Nix's entry into the NFL Draft with two additions under center and got better at the point of attack. There are big expectations for Evan Stewart as well, a former star wideout and five-star signee in the SEC at Texas A&M.

No hyperbole here — it's national championship or bust for the Buckeyes. First, Ohio State has to find a way to beat Michigan and end its losing skid to the Wolverines. That's been the fly in the ointment for Ryan Day, who would otherwise be considered one of the nation's top coaches entering the 2024 season. Now, it's time to prove it against the elites at the end of the season. Ohio State boosters stepped up in a big way this offseason through talent accumulation in the transfer portal. This roster is as good as it has looked dating back to the Urban Meyer era.