I’m interested to hear others with their takes on their team, post-Spring. Realize we still have another round of games this weekend. OSU didn’t really answer questions at QB. K-State transfer Howard is likely the starter, but no one is really sure what we have there. The OL appears better, with Alabama transfer McLaughlin starting at C and bumping 2023 C Carson Hinzman to G. We have 4/5 starters returning, 5/5 if you count McLaughlin as a returning starter. This defense could be one of the best we’ve had. RB/WR are elite as well. Whether we make a run will depend upon QB and OL.
Iowa's QB situation is fucked if McNamara isn't healthy. Honestly, even if he is healthy not sure how good he actually is, but he is definitely better than Hill. Offense is less predictable and is using more motions to throw off the defense a bit. OL is probably similar to last year. Defense is still really solid and LBs are really good.
Michigan should be good/very good at things that do not involve throwing a football. When we are forced to throw a football, it seems like it is more than likely to not go well for both the passing and catching reasons.
I have no idea what MSU brings back for 2024, but we have three nonconference cupcakes (Akron, WMU, and Marshall) before opening Big Ten play: 9/28 at MSU 10/5 Iowa 10/12 at Oregon If Iowa beats ISU and Minnesota, that’s a ranked team. Oregon should be top 5.
Most early pre-season polls have you top-10. You get OSU in Happy Valley and should be favored in every other game on your schedule except that one, maybe at USC.
I’m interested to see if the addition of the PAC 12 teams causes any change to the way Big Ten teams generally throw the ball. 2023 was terrible, four Big Ten teams (Minnesota, Rutgers, Nebraska, Iowa) among the worst eight passing offenses nationally. Three of those eight were service academies. I get that they’re changing QBs and a coach, but three of the top five in 2023 included Oregon, Washington and USC.
I need everyone to post extremely high expectations about their teams so I can come back and quote them after Da Bucks lay a beat down on them this fall
I made the mistake last year of thinking your offense was going to be good, so I’ll just nod my head for now.
I still buy a college football magazine in early June, and keep it in the bathroom near the shitter, because I am a traditionalist.
I wouldn't count on it being substantially better. Going to need to prove that Kotelnicki gets to do more than just run Franklin's garbage. Luckily OSU is the only team on the schedule that we can definitively say is better than us right now. I would guess at least one of USC or Wisconsin will get us away from home even if they aren't great. WVU could be tricky I guess? The rest of the schedule is pretty ass.
I haven’t read it in a couple of years, but I hate Phil Steele’s self promotion throughout his entire magazine
I love the part of the offseason when herb.burdette tries to convince PSU fans they are sandbagging and/or wrong about their team and that this might be the year that PSU beats OSU because OSU fans sure do get nervous every year while they're beating you.
I stopped buying it a few years ago. Between the self-aggrandizing and recapping way too much of prior seasons it just wasn't worth it anymore. And I think it's like $20 (or more) now.
Nothing we bring back is relevant, but we did bring in some transfers that hopefully make us not embarrassing
I predict that the national champion Michigan Wolverines will still be the national champions for at least 8 more months At that point maybe another school will be the national champions but until then Michigan is the national champion after their victory in the national championship game that made them the national champions
ok. Michigan too on 11/2 truth is, I'm excited about Oregon joining the B1G with modest expectations. Lanning needs to show he can win a big game first, then I can be more optimistic. going 1-1 vs tosu/michigan would be amazing, although I wouldn't bet on it. If michigan was the home game with tosu on the road, that would be a better situation to get that split, as tosu will be really tough to beat even at autzen and away game in November a the big house - eh. the rest of the schedule isn't too daunting. Madison in November could be problematic, but no idea what to expect from that program. 3 regular season losses would be disappointing. I think Oregon is entering the conference in that tier below the top two. QB play, OL and offense in general should be pretty solid, but really need to see improvement from the defense.
the talk of tinsel town over the weekend wasn’t lebron & the purple and gold losing game one in denver it was the new era of lincoln riley’s fast and aggressive defense with a real focus on tackling after the spring game (usc didn’t allow tackling in the spring game)
Some other very soft programs also did not allow tackling in their spring games. Concerning. (FOR THEM)