Few analysts in college football draw the nation’s attention like that of Joel Klatt. Klatt is on the call for Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff each Saturday that usually features the biggest game of the weekend featuring a Big Ten team.
As the college football transfer portal has settled for the time being and spring practice has wrapped up nationally, Klatt released an updated top 25 ahead of the 2024 season.
We’d guess that he will go ahead and change these once again when fall camp comes around and injuries and everything else take place, but it’s a great time to check in and see where Klatt sees the best in the nation fitting in as we enter the summer months.
Here we go with Klatt’s top 25 teams.
Texas A&M lost a good amount of talent to the transfer portal but added a decent amount as well. While we don’t know if their roster will be better and more complete than a year ago, we are pretty much certain that new head coach Mike Elko (above with Marcus Freeman) will be a better fit in College Station than Jimbo Fisher.
Iowa said farewell to offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz this season in hopes that the most exciting play during a possession is no longer the punt. Time will tell if the move pays off for the seemingly eight-plus win regular Hawkeyes.
Led by quarterback Jalon Daniels, Kansas will feature one of the best quarterbacks in college football this fall. Now, can they keep him healthy for 12 games and become a real threat in the new-look Big 12?
It seems absurd to think but Nebraska hasn’t played in a bowl game since the end of the 2016 season when they lost to Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. In the coaching carousel of 2023 I walked away most impressed with their hire of Matt Rhule and expect the Cornhuskers to end that drought and start to do at least some work in the Big Ten.
Arizona was a surprise team in 2023, finishing the year with 10 wins. They lose head coach Jedd Fisch who left for Washington but do bring back quarterback Noah Fifita who has the expectation being Big 12 championship in 2024.
Will Howard is gone to quarterback Ohio State and in enters the highly-touted Avery Johnson to signal call for Kansas State. The Wildcats figure to have one of the best offenses in the Big 12 in 2024.
Klatt clearly has a stack of Big 12 teams he can’t decide between as the conference favorite for 2024. Oklahoma State return much from a team that beat both Oklahoma and Texas A&M while also managing to lose at home to South Alabama.
Few teams have used NIL to their advantage quite like Miami but will that finally pay off in victories in 2024? The Canes have been a force in college football six days a week under Mario Cristobal. Unfortunately for them to date, Saturday is the day they’ve struggled.
Oklahoma‘s defense should be good enough to keep them in a lot of games as they move to the always-difficult SEC. However, will their offense with first-year starter Jackson Arnold put enough points on the board to compete for a possible College Football Playoff spot?
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava is now the guy at Tennessee as the Vols look to recapture some of that 2022 magic under Hendon Hooker. The best player on the Vols however is edge rusher James Pearce who is good enough to be in consideration for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
USC was undefeated when they traveled to Notre Dame in the middle of last October. The Irish whipped the Trojans 48-20 that night and sent them spiraling to a 7-5 regular season finish. USC still needs help on the interior of their defensive line but is excited about the Miller Moss era at quarterback entering year three under Lincoln Riley.
LSU is reworking their defense as [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] cleaned house with his defensive side of the coaching staff following last year’s struggles. How the Tigers defense bounces back is a huge question but how they replace Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock are equally huge questions.
Clemson got their quarterback struggles sorted out as 2023 went on with Cade Kubnik getting better the more time he saw the field. Dabo Swinney remains slow to utilize the transfer portal however, something that will either make or break Clemson’s ACC title chances and College Football Playoff chances in 2024.
Florida State was quick to utilize the transfer portal under Mike Norvell, turning around much of their team in 2021. How will new quarterback DJ Uiagaleilei perform in 2024? That answer could very well determine if the Seminoles repeat as ACC champs.
Klatt isn’t nearly as sold on Notre Dame as ESPN who ranked the Irish fifth in their latest poll earlier in the week. The defense should be one of the nation’s best and although the offense likely won’t be elite, they won’t be nearly as incompetent as they showed at times in 2023, either. Adding Riley Leonard at quarterback is huge, as long as he’s able to go by late-August that is.
Missouri has to replace running back Cody Schrader who burst into Columbia via the transfer portal last season en-route to finishing seventh in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Luther Burden is a huge receiving threat for returning starting quarterback Brady Cook as the Tigers look to make big noise again in the SEC.
There is nothing wrong at all about being a fringe top-10 team annually and that’s exactly what Penn State has become under James Franklin. Can quarterback Drew Allar reach high expectations in 2024 however and help the Nittany Lions finally take that next step again?
Michigan has to replace 13 players they lost to the NFL draft including starting quarterback JJ McCarthy who is off to guide the Minnesota Vikings. Those losses are huge but how much will Michigan miss head coach Jim Harbaugh who is off to the Los Angeles Chargers?
I can’t remember the last time Alabama started a year not ranked in the top-five nationally but that is clearly where we appear to be headed with the departure of Nick Saban. Can Jalen Milroe do enough to guide the Tide back to another SEC championship under new head coach Kalen DeBoer?
Utah has been the most physical team the west coast has seen in recent years despite 2023 being a bit of a setback by the Utes standards. Quarterback Cam Rising is back without injury concerns entering 2024 though and it’s Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff or bust for Utah in 2024.
Head coach Lane Kiffin has been catching fish left and right in the transfer portal despite losing running back Quinshon Judkins to Ohio State. Led by star quarterback Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss is a serious threat not just in the SEC but to make a run at a possible national championship.
Oregon enters their first year in the Big Ten not just as the new kid on the block but as a real threat to make a run at the conference championship. Adding quarterback Dillion Gabriel at quarterback was as big of portal move there was this off-season and the despite the Midwest stereotypes about teams from the Pacific coast, Oregon will bring one of the most physical teams in the Big Ten this year.
Texas returned to glory in 2023, earning their first ever spot in the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns will be back as a force again in 2024 with Quinn Ewers still quarterbacking and key portal additions like defensive end Trey Moore (UTSA) and safety Andrew Mukuba (Clemson).
Despite losing to Alabama in last year’s SEC championship game, Georgia is the current model-program in college football. Kirby Smart has to restock after losing a big-time of talent to the NFL draft but having one of the nation’s best in quarterback Carson Beck, the Bulldogs are thinking national title or bust in 2024.
If money buys championships than Ohio State is going to win the 2024 national championship. After losing their third-straight game to Michigan, Ohio State went all-in in the transfer portal adding talent all over the field including at quarterback with Josh Howard, previously of Kansas State. Quidshon Judkins (Ole Miss) is on the short list of best backs in the nation and the Buckeyes were able to hire some guy named Chip Kelly away from UCLA to call their plays this fall.