The Big Ten is going to look quite a bit different in 2024. No longer do the Big Ten West and Big Ten East exist. Four newcomers from the Pac-12 are joining. The defending national champion, the Michigan Wolverines, resides in the conference.
The landscape of the Big Ten has flipped on its head and will make life very interesting moving forward. How the Iowa Hawkeyes, an old-school program, fit into this new era is intriguing.
CBS Sports put into tiers all of the schools in the Big Ten for the 2024 season and the Hawkeyes are all by themselves in the tier of “The end table on which you stub your toe.”
The Hawkeyes sit in a bit of a gray zone. There’s no reason to think they’ll win the Big Ten next year, but there’s never any reason to believe Iowa will win the Big Ten, yet it routinely shows up and wins 10 games while scoring only 13 points per game. So, I’m putting them here between Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin, but not with the next tier. –– Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports
Iowa just wins games. No one really knows how Kirk Ferentz does it, but he continues to get to double-digit wins with essentially only a defense and special teams unit. Since 2019, Ferentz’s Hawkeyes have hit 10 wins five times.
You may not like how Iowa goes about its business, but you have to respect it, and there’s plenty of reason to believe this team will be better in 2024. Yes, the offense stinks, but nearly everybody of importance is back. The entire offensive line returns and has depth. Cade McNamara returns at QB after missing most of the season with an injury, as does tight end Luke Lachey. There will also be a new offensive coordinator and perhaps a slightly more optimistic approach on that side of the ball. Sure, the defense loses some big names, but this defense always loses players and it’s one of the best in the league every year regardless. – Fornelli, CBS Sports
If Iowa can even have a pulse on offense, they will improve on that side of the ball. They get their top quarterback and receiving target back. The success of that unit rests on the playsheet of new offensive coordinator Tim Lester.
Iowa returns eight defensive starters, five of whom chose to forego immediate NFL futures to run things back one more time with the Hawkeyes. As clockwork, this unit will be formidable and punish teams.
As for the rest of the conference, things are a bit up in the air. Below are the tiers for the rest of the Big Ten in 2024.
Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers are part of the will be playing Big Ten football tier as they are technically members of the conference but football discussions end right about there.
Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington logically make up the newcomers tier as the four former Pac-12 members head to their new home in the Big Ten. Can these teams handle the Big Ten’s physicality remains the biggest question mark.
Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin all have signs of life as they make up the year away from being a year away group. Nebraska and Wisconsin are entering Year 2 with new high-profile coaches. Michigan State always proves pesky to a team or two each season.
Michigan and Penn State lead us into the usual suspects tier. Michigan has to replenish a lot and will enter a new era with the departure of Jim Harbaugh. As for Penn State, it remains to be seen if James Franklin can win the big games.
Rounding out the Big Ten tiers as the favorite is Ohio State. They return a ton of talent to Columbus and are going to be
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