College football is less than a week away and while Week Zero should be called Weak Zero, there are still a couple of games to whet the whistle of college football fans across the nation.
No, the Big Ten has to wait until the traditional start of the season to take the field, an expanded league of 18 teams, adding four west coast teams during the offseason.
A 12-team playoff, no divisions and some new faces in new places all highlight what promises to be an exciting season of college football, even if fans have narrowed down the Big Ten race to just a few teams and Las Vegas has the Buckeyes as a significant favorite to win the Big Ten. That would mark the first Big Ten title for Ohio State since the strange season of 2020.
With the expansion of the conference, we have more quality games week-in and week-out within the conference as the Big Ten continues to play nine league games.
It got me to thinking about which Big Ten game (not necessarily a B1G vs. B1G game) stands out the most to me. There may be some dissention when it comes specific weeks, this is just my own opinion, and I am here to defend each game that I picked.
Week 1 – Penn State at West Virginia
For all the celebration of the start of the college football season, the B1G schedule for this week is not exactly setting the world on fire, minus one game. Penn State is considered a Darkhorse for the B1G title while West Virginia is a quiet sleeper for the College Football Playoff.
Will Drew Allar finally start showing the output that matches the buzz around him? We know that Abdul Carter is one of the top defensive players in the league, but the offense has been in flux as the revolving door of Offensive Coordinators in Happy Valley.
Penn State is an early 8.5-point favorite but strange things happen in Morgantown (W.Va.) so the Mountaineers could mess around and pull off an upset and knock the B1G off kilter right from the get-go.
Week 2 – Texas at Michigan
On paper this game looks better than what it may end up being on the field. Michigan has a lot on its mind, a NOA could drop any day now, a new head coach in Sherrone Moore, no real quarterback emerging. Will it be Alex Orji or Jack Tuttle? Who is going to catch the ball that is not named Colston Loveland?
Texas will be playing its second game as a member of the SEC and has everything on the line. An out-of-conference loss would not be detrimental to either team in terms of finishing 11-1.
Strangely enough, these two teams have only played once, and Texas won the 2005 contest, a 38-37 win in the Rose Bowl.
If Michigan drops this game, how will the Wolverines respond with a formidable schedule ahead of themselves.
Week 3 – Alabama at Wisconsin
The Crimson Tide are doing something that most of the SEC refuses to do, playing north of the Mason-Dixon line.
The Badgers are going into year two under Luke Fickell and will this season see more of the Phil Longo offense? Transitioning the Badgers from a downhill running offense to more of an air raid takes time and a lot of personnel turnover.
Alabama will have a new body on the sideline for the first time in a long time as Nick Saban retired and Kalen DeBoer taking over the helm.
A Wisconsin win will announce the Badgers as a real threat in the Big Ten. An Alabama win will show that the machine runs on its own (not taking anything away from DeBoer, just saying that it would show that Alabama is too big to fail, at least for now).
Week 4 – USC at Michigan
We have already talked a little bit about Michigan, but new B1G member USC will travel to the Big House. The last time that USC visited the Big House was 1958 and the Wolverines won that game 20-19.
USC has won the last three games in this series and time will tell who the favorite is in this one. If Michigan has a loss on the board and USC handles its business, could the Trojans be a road favorite?
And what happens if Michigan loses this game? A 2-2 start coming off a national title* is not a great look.
But I digress.
Week 5 – Ohio State at Michigan State
This is just a bad week of games in the Big Ten and I defaulted back to the Ohio State game. This will be Ohio State’s first road game of the season, and it will be Ohio State’s first look at new head coach Jonathan Smith after leaving Oregon State.
The Buckeyes have played against Smith however when the Buckeyes hosted Oregon State, back in 2018 when the Buckeyes cruised 77-31, but giving up 31 was an omen for a defense that wasn’t quite right.
Michigan State has a new roster this season but can a team that has only been together for a few months pull off a win like this?
Unlikely.
Week 6 – Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa is currently in the top 25 and could still be come week six. We know that the Hawkeyes are all about defense and this year will be no different.
What will be different is that Brian Ferentz will no longer have a field pass (unless he has a hookup with Connor Stalions) or a headset.
The Buckeyes will be back home after their first road game.
Ohio State last played Iowa in 2022 in Columbus, winning that game 54-10, a bit of redemption from the 2017 game.
This could be a sneaky trap game, but probably not as a home game.
Week 7 – Ohio State at Oregon
Okay, three in a row for the Buckeyes, but this may be the game of the season (outside of ‘The Game).
Ohio State leads this series 9-1 but the Buckeyes lost the most recent meeting of this series.
This is really going to be the heavyweight battle of the Big Ten and could be the first of three meetings. A loss in this game won’t exclude a team from the College Football Playoff, but best not to make a habit of losing.
The Buckeyes have only played in Eugene (Ore.) once, a 30-0 win in 1967.
Just move all your televisions into your living room for this day, so many great games and this game at worst will be 2 vs. 3, barring an unexpected trip.
Week 9 – Michigan State at Michigan
Is this the best game of the weekend in the Big Ten? Probably not.
I am most interested in this game because I think that the Wolverines are going to have several losses and if Sparty can head to Ann Arbor (Mich.) and pull out a win, that is going to reset a lot of things in the series.
The Wolverines have won the last two in the series and four of the last six. The Spartans have scored a grand total of seven points over the last eight quarters of this series.
Week 10 – Ohio State at Penn State
This is not going to be a whiteout.
The Buckeyes have won seven straight and 11 of the last 12 in this series.
You have to go back to Urban Meyer for the last time that the Buckeyes dropped a game in this series.
This won’t exactly be the Iowa game, but Ohio State will face an opposing defense that will cause problems, but the Penn State offense should be better than the Iowa offense.
That will all be predicated by Penn State figuring out the run game with Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton.
We know that J.T. Tuimoloau stands on his head against this team, this is a final shot to cement that legacy.
Week 11 – Washington at Penn State
Penn State doesn’t get much of a break after the game against Ohio State with Washington coming to town.
We are not sure what Washington is going to be all about, they are returning next to nobody from their national runner-up team. But by this point, the Huskies should be figuring out who and what they have and could pull off an upset.
If Penn State loses to Ohio State, sometimes you lose the next game with a hangover. But sometimes when you win, you lose the next game with a hangover.
Penn State is really going to need this game, especially if there is a loss on the board.
Week 12 – Ohio State at Northwestern
Wrigley Field.
That’s a big deal. Ohio State is not going to play in the Pinstripe or the Fenway Bowls, so this is really the only chance for Ohio State to play in a baseball-first venue.
Northwestern really was a surprise last season under David Braun who stepped in at the last minute as Pat Fitzgerald was fired by the Cats.
Fortunately for everyone, it should not be as windy for this game as it was the last time that Ohio State played at Northwestern.
There were people who tried to hold that game against Ohio State, people who were not in Evanston (Ill.) to see just how bad it was.
Week 13 – USC at UCLA
This is a Big Ten game. Can you believe it?
Few people are expecting much from UCLA this season but the same was said last year and UCLA stuck it to USC, 38-20.
I really don’t have a good read on what USC is going to be this season. Most people are not putting USC in the College Football Playoff.
Hopefully the two teams wear their home jerseys for this game and the game ‘next week’ can take a page out of the same book.
Week 14 – Michigan at Ohio State
The Game. Enough Said.
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