There is no doubt that the UCLA Bruins are going to have their hands full with the 2024 schedule. The first season as members of the Big Ten, and there are five teams from the conference in the preseason Top 25.
When the Associated Press Top 25 came out on Monday, these four teams landed in the rankings:
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
There is a ton of pressure on Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. They are right up there with Georgia as the favorite to win the title. The Buckeyes were very busy in the transfer portal. It will be a new-looked Ohio State team, but an extremely talented one.
3. Oregon Ducks
Dan Lanning and his Ducks are one of the co-favorites along with the Buckeyes. Oregon was talented a season ago, but could not get over the Washington hump. The Ducks are going to be incredibly talented on the offensive side, can they bring enough defense to be a legit contender?
8. Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State has been knocking on the door for the last couple of seasons. James Franklin will have his team right in the mix again. The question will be, do they have enough to be able to take down the top two in the league? Penn State comes in within the Top 10 of the preseason rankings.
9. Michigan Wolverines
The defending national champions will have a whole new look. A new head coach, a new quarterback, new running back options. There are going to be some big-time changes with the Wolverines in 2024. Can they pick up where they left off?
23. USC Trojans
Lincoln Riley has given plenty of talk about being a member of the Big Ten. Riley thinks the Trojans can contend, but the fact of the matter is – they have to be able to defend better. USC is just inside the Top 25 and starts with a big game in Week 1. It will be interesting to see life without Caleb Williams.
You can see the entire listing of the Top 25 teams here: The first College Football games are slated for Saturday, August 24th.