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The 2024 Big Ten football season will be unlike any other in the conference’s rich history, welcoming in a West Coast contingent that expands the league’s membership to 18 teams.
The additions of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington have not only loaded up the schedule with even more high-quality matchups, but they’ve created a new scenario for the Big Ten title race. When the first Big Ten Championship Game was held in 2011, the conference had 12 teams divided into “Legends” and “Leaders” divisions. The 2014 expansion that brought in Maryland and Rutgers sparked a reorganization to a more geographically focused East and West divisions. Now, divisions have been cast aside, and starting in 2024 the title game will be decided by conference winning percentage and tiebreakers with all 18 teams competing for two spots.
It was announced earlier this week that the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game of the of the 18-team era will be broadcast on CBS and Paramount+. That sparked conversation about what the game, and more specifically the matchup, might look like when we do get to the first Saturday in December. We decided to break it down by predicting the five most likely Big Ten Championship Game matchups for 2024.
Reaching the Big Ten title game for a fourth consecutive season would be quite a statement for Michigan in the wake of losing coach Jim Harbaugh and 13 NFL Draft picks from last year’s national title team. In this specific scenario, it would also likely mean a fourth-consecutive win against Ohio State. That comes comes with its own set of “what ifs” and hypothetical drama, especially because a title game appearance by Oregon likely means both teams here would have defeated the Buckeyes on their path to Indianapolis. Coach Dan Lanning and…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2024-big-ten-championship-game-ohio-state-oregon-leads-five-most-likely-matchups-for-new-18-team-title-race/
Author : Chip Patterson
Publish date : 2024-05-19 14:21:39
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