Ben Kenney
June 9, 2024 7:20 am CT
The countdown to the 2024 college football season continues. As of Saturday, June 8, the season is only 77 days away, or just 11 Saturdays.
Those 11 remaining weeks of the offseason will be full of speculation and season previews. That said, it will be unlike any summer we’ve seen over the last few decades, as preview work for the 2024 season includes predicting a conference landscape that nobody has seen before.
Related: Predicting week-by-week College GameDay schedule during 2024 college football season
That new landscape includes former Pac-12 powers USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. Their arrival coincides with the elimination of the East-West division model and the move to a pool-play format.
It’s easy to predict what longtime Big Ten members including Iowa will look like. But the mystery surrounds the newcomers, and how they will shake-up what was an already-confusing conference landscape.
Related: Where every Big Ten team ranks in ESPN’s 2024 College Football Power Index
Looking at it through a Wisconsin perspective, the season preview work looks extremely different than it did entering even Luke Fickell’s first season in 2023. A classic Big Ten forecast would include the Badgers as the preseason No. 1 team in the Big Ten West and No. 4 or No. 5 overall team in the conference. Most of the preview could be written in pen and recycled for the next season, but that now isn’t the case with the conference’s new members and the questions surrounding the state of the Badgers’ program.
So, we’re analyzing the Big Ten’s preseason position group rankings (courtesy of Athlon) as a fresh way to look at this new conference structure. Those rankings include looks at the significant position groups of defensive line, linebacker, defensive back, offensive line, running back, receiver and quarterback.
Here are those initial rankings, including where each of the Badgers’ position groups rank and what to watch entering the season:
Defensive Line
Athlon’s Big Ten DL Unit Rankings:
1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Penn State
4. Oregon
5. Iowa
6. Nebraska
7. USC
8. Rutgers
9. Maryland
10. Northwestern
11. Wisconsin
12. Minnesota
13. Washington
14. Michigan State
15. Indiana
16. UCLA
17. Illinois
18. Purdue— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) June 7, 2024
Analysis: The first key to the former Pac-12 powers succeeding in the Big Ten is defensive line play. It’s no accident that Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State yet again lead these rankings.
Wisconsin’s No. 11 ranking is a mild cause for concern entering Luke Fickell’s second season at the helm. The program landed transfers Elijah Hills (Albany) and Brandon Lane (Stephen F. Austin), but the position still appears a few years away from being a true strength.
Other teams to watch here are Nebraska (No. 6) and Rutgers (No. 8)
Linebacker (OLB + ILB)
Athlon’s Big Ten LB Unit Rankings:
1. Iowa
2. Michigan
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State
5. Penn State
6. Wisconsin
7. Rutgers
8. Nebraska
9. Maryland
10. USC
11. Minnesota
12. Washington
13. Michigan State
14. Illinois
15. Northwestern
16. UCLA
17. Purdue
18. Indiana— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) June 7, 2024
Analysis: Nobody should be surprised that Iowa enters another football season with a fantastic linebacker core.
The Badgers group is much-improved after the 2023 season. It landed transfers OLB Leon Lowery (Syracuse), OLB John Pius (William & Mary), ILB Jaheim Thomas (Arksansas), ILB Sebastian Cheeks (North Carolina) and ILB Tackett Curtis (USC) at the position. This should be where we see the biggest jump from year one to year two under Fickell.
Defensive Back (CB + S)
Athlon’s Big Ten DB Unit Rankings:
1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Iowa
4. Penn State
5. Oregon
6. Nebraska
7. Wisconsin
8. Rutgers
9. USC
10. Washington
11. Michigan State
12. Minnesota
13. Northwestern
14. Maryland
15. Purdue
16. Illinois
17. UCLA
18. Indiana— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) June 7, 2024
Analysis: Wisconsin’s defensive strength will be its secondary, led by CB Ricardo Hallman and S Hunter Wohler. This portion of the ranking matters, but not nearly as much as the defensive and offensive lines for which teams will emerge and content.
Receiver (WR + TE)
Athlon’s Big Ten WR Unit Rankings:
1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. USC
4. Michigan
5. Penn State
6. Washington
7. Wisconsin
8. Maryland
9. Indiana
10. UCLA
11. Nebraska
12. Michigan State
13. Minnesota
14. Northwestern
15. Purdue
16. Rutgers
17. Illinois
18. Iowa— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) June 6, 2024
Analysis: The new era of Wisconsin football means talented and deep receiving corps. I’d argue the team is underrated here and should be closer to No. 4 or No. 5 in the conference.
It should be no surprise that Big Ten newcomers Oregon, USC and Washington enter with a high ranking here. The three bring some of the more lethal passing attacks in the sport.
Offensive Line
Athlon’s Big Ten OL Unit Rankings:
1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Minnesota
5. Wisconsin
6. Penn State
7. Nebraska
8. USC
9. Rutgers
10. Iowa
11. Illinois
12. Michigan
13. Indiana
14. Maryland
15. Washington
16. Northwestern
17. UCLA
18. Purdue— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) June 6, 2024
Analysis: Oregon’s No. 1 position shows how well-equipped the program is to compete in the Big Ten this season. Otherwise, it’s noteworthy that Nebraska (No. 7) enters with high rankings in the trenches.
Wisconsin’s offensive line should be much-improved after 2023 with two new starters along the interior and another year to adapt to Phil Longo’s offense. But results are needed for the program’s reputation to continue into this new era.
Running Back
Athlon’s Big Ten RB Unit Rankings:
1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. Oregon
4. Michigan
5. Rutgers
6. Wisconsin
7. USC
8. Iowa
9. Minnesota
10. Maryland
11. UCLA
12. Nebraska
13. Michigan State
14. Washington
15. Purdue
16. Illinois
17. Northwestern
18. Indiana— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) June 5, 2024
Analysis: I typically think Wisconsin’s running back duo of Chez Mellusi and Tawee Walker is one of the more underrated in the conference, but Athlon Sports gives the duo a high mark.
Ohio State should be No. 1 on this list by miles. If you flip through these rankings, the Buckeyes line up to be pretty good.
Quarterback
Athlon’s Big Ten QB Unit Rankings:
1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Penn State
4. USC
5. Washington
6. Michigan State
7. Nebraska
8. Wisconsin
9. Michigan
10. Purdue
11. Indiana
12. Maryland
13. Iowa
14. Minnesota
15. UCLA
16. Illinois
17. Rutgers
18. Northwestern— WestCoastCFB (@WestCoastCFB) June 5, 2024
Analysis: I disagree with Athlon’s view of the quarterback position entering 2024. My ranking has Ohio State QB Will Howard down at No. 8, with Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel up at No. 1.
The takeaways from the ranking include the highly-ranked wild cards of Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola and Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles. There is sky-high potential at the top of the conference, but also some big question marks.
Overall Power Ranking
- Ohio State
- Oregon
- Michigan
- Penn State
- USC
- Iowa
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Nebraska
- Washington
- Rutgers
- Maryland
- Michigan State
- Northwestern
- UCLA
- Minnesota
- Purdue
- Illinois
- Indiana
Analysis: I’d divide the Big Ten into tiers entering the season. Ohio State and Oregon are the clear tier one, Penn State and Michigan are in tier two and the rest of the conference is stuffed into the following few tiers.
The overall message: teams like Wisconsin, Nebraska or Iowa could finish anywhere from No. 5 to No. 12. Not only is the new conference dynamic difficult to grasp, but each of those programs have undergone recent changes.
No. 7 feels like the right range for Wisconsin. But a peak season could see the program finish No. 3 or No. 4 in the new Big Ten’s first season.
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