Going into the 2024 college football season, one could make the case that it is going to be one of the best years the sport has ever been.
The main headline of the season will be conference realignment and the introduction of the 12-team Playoff, however, it will also feature some of the best on-the-field products we have seen in a long time. Only a handful of players will still have COVID eligibility left to help even out the playing field.
Conference realignment is great in the sense that some of the regular season matchups we get are essentially Playoff previews with the Georgia Bulldogs traveling to the Texas Longhorns on Oct. 19 or the Ohio State Buckeyes going to the Oregon Ducks on Oct. 12.
Yet, some of the best games of the 2024 season will actually be taking place in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Jesse Simonton of On3 Sports ranked the top 10 nonconference games of the 2024 season where he had the Longhorns trip to the Michigan Wolverines as the No. 1 game on the list saying,
“The Wolverines will put the nation’s longest active winning streak to the test against a Texas team looking to make a road statement for the second straight season. Last year’s win over Alabama propelled Steve Sarkisian’s team to a Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff berth, and a victory in the Big House — even against a depleted Michigan team — could similarly catapult the Longhorns to a special season in Year 1 of the SEC. Sherrone Moore takes over the reigning national champs, and the former Wolverines’ OC isn’t a stranger to coaching in major matchups — beating Penn State and Ohio State as the team’s interim last season. A win against a Top 5 Texas team would more than validate Moore’s promotion, though.”
The Wolverines are coming off a national championship and will be tasked with replacing both their head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Both departed for the NFL this offseason.