The 2024 college football regular season has ended, and since this is still college football and we care about everybody's education (wink), it's only fitting that we hand out some postseason grades.
And, believe me, we'll be grading on a curve.
The Big Ten enjoyed a historic season in 2024 with the conference expanding to 18 teams with the additions of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington from the Pac-12. Three of those newcomers had their ups and downs, while one came in and took the league by storm. Meanwhile, Ohio State entered the season as the clear-cut favorite of many to win the conference but exited the regular season without a trip to Indianapolis and now enter the College Football Playoff on the heels of a stunning loss to Michigan in its finale.
Did you just meet expectations or blow past them? Or did you perform so poorly that you're in danger of being held back a year? All the Big Ten teams had very different seasons. Luckily, I'm prepared to grade them all.
Oregon
Oregon showed up at a new school and was immediately the smartest kid in class. The Ducks were the only FBS program to get through the regular season without a loss and were one of only two Power Four teams to get through conference play without a loss (SMU the other). Oregon beat both Ohio State and Michigan during the regular season and completed the job by beating Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game, becoming only the second Big Ten program to beat all three in the same season (Michigan State has done it five times). Now, they'll enter the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 seed. What other grade could you possibly consider giving them? Grade: A+
Indiana
Indiana began the season with a win total projection of 5.5. The question surrounding this team in Curt Cignetti's first season was whether they could make a bowl game. At the time, you looked at the schedule and believed it could happen if things went well. Well, things went well. Very well. Indiana was bowl-eligible after six games and finished the regular season 11-1 with its only loss coming to Ohio State. It was, without question, the greatest season in Indiana football history. The Hoosiers had never won more than nine games (1945, 1967) in a season and beat that total by two. They'll finish their season in the playoff. Grade: A+
Illinois
Another team with similar projections to Indiana coming into the year. After an 8-5 record in 2022, Illinois came back down to Earth last year. This season, the goal was to get back to a bowl game. Bret Bielema's team flew past that to finish the regular season 9-3 and ranked in all the major polls. It's only the eighth time in program history the Illini won at least nine games in a season and the first time they've done so since 2007. Grade: A
Penn State
Penn State exceeded expectations this year; the Nittany Lions had a preseason win total of 9.5 and picked up 11 wins en route to an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game. They'll also be playing in the College Football Playoff, which was expected considering Penn State was the prime example of a program that would've benefitted most from a 12-team field over the last decade. Still, as good as the season has been and as wonderful as Tyler Warren is, I have to dock the Lions slightly. Their two losses came to Ohio State and Oregon, which means it's been another season where the Nittany Lions show they're a class above most but can't quite crack through to the ranks of the elite. Grade: A-
Rutgers
It felt like Rutgers played three different seasons this year. It began the season 4-0 before suffering four straight losses to drop to 4-4. They it finished with wins in three of their final four to get to 7-5 and reach bowl eligibility. That means the Knights are going bowling in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013-14, but while it's an impressive accomplishment, the overall inconsistency keeps them from getting an A. Grade: B+
Minnesota
I'm sure there are some Minnesota fans who feel this grade is a little generous because the Gophers did leave you feeling like they were capable of a little more in 2024. You look back at the season-opening loss to North Carolina, the loss to Michigan and that Rutgers defeat and wonder what could've been. Still, the Gophers picked up a win over USC, beat an Illinois team that finished the year ranked and nearly knocked off Penn State. They also exceeded their preseason win total of 5.5 by a good margin. I know fans would like to get back to those nine-win seasons, but any time Minnesota finishes a year with a winning record in Big Ten play, it's a season to be proud of. Grade: B
Nebraska
Nebraska had a preseason win projection of 7.5, which it finished well short of, but the public's projection for this team differed from mine. If I were a Nebraska fan, the only thing I was hoping for entering 2024 was that Dylan Raiola would show promise and we would end our seven-season bowl drought. Mission accomplished on both parts. The only problem with the season was a 5-1 start that included a blowout win over Colorado got everybody's hopes up early; however, that was followed by a 1-5 finish. I'm grading the entire picture here, not just the last half, but it is hard to ignore that stretch run, so we're sticking a minus on this B. Grade: B-
Iowa
Iowa was just kind of there this season. It wasn't a bad year by any stretch, as the Hawkeyes won eight games and Kaleb Johnson had one of the best seasons by any running back. But it wasn't a good year, either, as this is a program that sees eight wins as its floor began the season ranked but fell out of the major polls after its second game, never to be seen again. The best news is the Hawkeyes won three of their rivalry games, but the one they lost was to their in-state rival who went on to have the best season in their program's history. Also, you know, there was the whole having to play a billion different QBs again thing. Grade: C+
Michigan State
Expectations weren't high for the Spartans in Jonathan Smith's first season, and they delivered an overly agnostic season. The Spartans won only five games and won't go bowling, and while Aidan Chiles flashed his arm strength at times, there were far too many times he flashed it in horrible ways. So, in the end, you're 5-7, which is where preseason projections had you for the most part, and you don't know whether to be optimistic about next season or pessimistic. It's fandom purgatory, which is always the worst place to be as a fan. Grade: C
UCLA
Not every 5-7 season feels like a failure! While nobody at UCLA is going to tell you they're happy to go 5-7, those five wins are more than were projected in the preseason (4.5). The truth is, the Bruins came out the gate playing an extremely difficult schedule that saw them lose games to Indiana, LSU, Oregon and Penn State. Once things eased up a bit down the home stretch, the Bruins found a groove, winning four of their last six and staying competitive in losses to Washington and USC. Considering how last offseason went with Chip Kelly leaving unexpectedly, the uncertainty surrounding a first-time head coach in Deshaun Foster and being in a new conference, things could have gone very poorly here. They didn't, and the Bruins deserve credit for that. Grade: C
Washington
A similar situation to Michigan State. Yes, Washington won the Pac-12 last year and reached the College Football Playoff, but the only thing this year's team had in common with that one was the uniforms; everything else changed, as did the expectations. The Huskies were projected for 6.5 wins and finished with six, so they came up a little short but still managed to get to a bowl game. They finished 4-5 in Big Ten play but picked up wins over Michigan and USC. Unfortunately, they also lost both rivalry games to Washington State and Oregon. Grade: C-
Michigan
You ever skip class for the entire semester, don't do any of the work and then show up to ace the final and get a passing grade? That's Michigan's 2024 season. Listen, on the whole, this was a terrible year for the Wolverines. They went from winning a national title to playing musical chairs at QB with three different three-legged chairs. They got clowned at home by Texas and Oregon. They lost road games to the Washington team they beat in the title game last year as well as Illinois and Indiana. Then they went and beat Ohio State for the fourth straight season to finish the year strong and send the Buckeyes into a tailspin. The last sentence is the only one anybody in Ann Arbor cares about right now, but the final only makes up so much of the overall grade. Grade: D+
Northwestern
Northwestern was one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 season as it somehow managed to win eight games despite firing Pat Fitzgerald barely a month before the season began. This year, the correction came for David Braun and the Wildcats. They finished 1.5 wins below their preseason projection, and their two Big Ten wins came against Purdue and Maryland, who combined to go 1-17 in conference play. Plus, all seven of Northwestern's conference losses were by multiple scores, with six coming by 3+ scores. They just weren't competitive most weeks. Grade: D
USC
After going 7-5 in its final year in the Pac-12 and losing Caleb Williams, USC was projected to win 7.5 games this season. That was probably a bit unfair, and the Trojans proved it by winning even fewer games this year. The win over LSU to start the year felt far more significant at the time before LSU went on to prove to be vulnerable all season. Outside of that win, USC's best victory was Rutgers, and while they were never blown out by anybody, you never got the sense they were good enough to beat better teams. Toss in a mid-season QB change that didn't really change anything, and it's hard to say it was a successful season. Grade: D
Ohio State
Ohio State will be in the College Football Playoff. That's great. It's a chance at redemption, but it doesn't matter to me here. The Buckeyes enter each season with three goals in a specific order: Beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and win a national title. They're 0-2 so far, and it's the fourth straight season they've come up short in that department. Maybe they salvage it all by winning the national title; they certainly have the talent to do so. But this team did not spend all that money on its roster and coaching staff with the intention of losing to Michigan and sitting at home on conference championship weekend. Grade: D-
Maryland
Maryland came into the season hoping that getting out of the Big Ten East Division was what the program needed to step up to the next level. Instead, the Terrapins had their worst season since Mike Locksley's first year in College Park in 2019. The Terps finished 4-8, well below their preseason projection of 6.5 wins, and won only one Big Ten game. They also lost to all their old East division counterparts (Michigan State, Indiana, Rutgers, and Penn State) while avoiding Michigan and Ohio State altogether! Grade: F
Wisconsin
Plenty of Wisconsin's shortcomings in 2024 were out of its control. Things might go differently if Tyler Van Dyke isn't lost for the season in the Alabama loss, but I'm not grading on what might've been. The fact is Wisconsin's three Big Ten wins came against Purdue, Rutgers and Northwestern. It followed those wins up with five straight losses, including losses to rivals Iowa and Minnesota by 49 points combined. The Badgers also fired their offensive coordinator, and Luke Fickell is 8-10 in conference play after two seasons. That's not what he was hired to do. Grade: F
Purdue
Simply put, there wasn't a worse Power Four program in the country. In fact, there weren't many teams worse than the Boilermakers regardless of conference. Purdue finished 1-11 and was blown out in eight of those 11 losses. The only win came against Indiana State in the season-opener, and Indiana State finished 4-8 this year. As a result, Ryan Walters was fired after two seasons and the Boilermakers will be starting from scratch next season with Barry Odom as many of their best players are hitting the transfer portal. Grade: F-
