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There are 39 days until the first college football Saturday of the 2024 season. But an announcement yesterday gives us an even earlier date to circle on our calendars …
We’ll have more on that below, but first, let’s preview this week’s Big Ten media days.
Big Ten Storylines
Day and Gabriel in the spotlight
Conference media days continue this week with the revamped 18-team Big Ten in Indianapolis. In preparation, a group of The Athletic’s Big Ten writers joined to preview the storylines and players to watch. Here are my three biggest takeaways:
- Even with four new coaches in town, Ohio State coach Ryan Day will have the spotlight on him this week. The Buckeyes’ historic offseason inspired plenty of buzz around the program, and it’s almost time for all of the hype to be put to the test on the field. Questions about NIL, new OC Chip Kelly and putting together a roster that’s built for a must-win season will be top of mind for Day, The Athletic’s OSU writer Cameron Teague Robinson said.
- Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel likely will be a heavy favorite for offensive player of the year. The former Oklahoma QB and Heisman Trophy candidate (BetMGM’s odds have him tied with UGA’s Carson Beck for the lead) will be in attendance with the Ducks and will be a player to watch both in Indianapolis and on the football field this season. Many of The Athletic’s Big Ten writers selected Ohio State and Oregon as locks for the 12-team CFP. And Oregon made sure to make its entrance a big one … with a giant Duck floating on the White River in downtown Indy.
Oregon made a big splash entering the Big Ten media days in Indianapolis. (Courtesy of Chris Dion on X)
- There are a few candidates for under-the-radar teams to watch. Nebraska is in desperate need of a successful season and might have the player (true freshman QB Dylan Raiola) to pull it off. Indiana’s new coach, Curt Cignetti, is a proven winner (IUP, Elon, James Madison) — and he’s not afraid to flaunt it. The Hoosiers also welcome a proven QB in Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke. But, does Rutgers deserve serious consideration in this category? Just take a look at the Scarlet Knights’ schedule, or rather, who they miss in 2024. No Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan or Oregon! Don’t mess this up, Rutgers.
Read the full Big Ten media days preview here.
ACC media days are also this week. We’ll dive into the storylines from Charlotte on Thursday.
Group of 5 Survey
Favorite to make the Playoff?
Let’s talk some Group of 5 football, shall we? For the fifth consecutive year, The Athletic conducted a G5 reader survey to learn more about what fans like, dislike and want to talk about. As Chris Vannini writes in this year’s results analysis, “Everyone seems content for now, no one is truly upset and Sun Belt fans remain the happiest.” Even as the financial divide between the G5 and Power 4 widens, the new 12-team field solves the biggest gripe of all for G5 fans — a guaranteed path to the CFP.
Here are a few other survey results that I found most interesting. Read the full story here.
Which Group of 5 team will make the CFP this year?
Memphis is the early favorite with 16.3 percent of voters picking the Tigers. The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman also picked Memphis in his early 12-team CFP projection, citing the team’s impressive returners (senior QB Seth Henigan, senior WR Roc Taylor) as well as incoming transfers like former South Carolina leading rusher Mario Anderson.
Boise State (13.6 percent), Tulane (13.1 percent) and Liberty (12.3 percent) are not far behind in the race for the G5 bid. And one team I’m surprised to see earned less than 2 percent of votes is UNLV. The Rebels are coming off a breakthrough 9-5 campaign in coach Barry Odom’s first year. There’s a question mark at QB after Jayden Maiava’s transfer to USC, but other key returners on offense and defense could help carry over the momentum.
Will the 12-team CFP bring a bigger spotlight to the G5?
This result surprisingly shifted from one year ago. The number of voters who think the expanded CFP will bring a bigger spotlight to the G5 dropped from 75 percent in 2023 to 52.3 percent this year. On the other end of the vote, 47.7 percent of voters don’t think the Playoff will bring a bigger spotlight, up from 25 percent of voters last year. Maybe there’s skepticism about how far the G5 will survive it in the 12-team field. I still side with the “yes” vote. Just take a look back at the first survey question about the favorite to earn the G5 bid … the race feels fairly open. The uncertainty makes for a more intriguing race than the ones we’ll see in some Power 4 conferences with obvious front-runners.
Read the rest of the survey results here (and thanks to everyone who voted!).
Netflix on Stalions
‘Sign Stealer’ documentary coming next month
Back to that date to circle …
On Aug. 27, Netflix will release its new documentary “Sign Stealer,” which will tell the story of Connor Stalions, the former Michigan staffer implicated in a sign-stealing scandal that rocked college football last season. According to the Netflix announcement, the documentary will be “told directly by viral villain Connor Stalions.” Stallions resigned from his position at Michigan in November and has not spoken publicly about his role in the scandal.
I’m super intrigued to see what we learn in this documentary. Will we get answers to all of our burning questions (was that really Stalions on the Central Michigan sideline?) or will we get a fluffy retelling of the details we already know? Only 35 days until we find out!
Quick Snaps
Alabama will name its football field at Bryant-Denny Stadium “Saban Field” to honor retired Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban. A ceremony to dedicate the field name is expected to be held on Sept. 7, when Alabama hosts South Florida.
The Mountain West and Pac-2 (Oregon State and Washington State) agreed to a one-year football scheduling agreement for 2024. But what does the future look like? That’s becoming more and more unclear.
It has been a week since EA Sports’ early release of College Football 25. That must mean you’ve had plenty of time to get the hang of things, right? If not, Cameron Teague Robinson shares his best strategies, tips and tricks to winning.
You can buy tickets to every college football game here.
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(Top photo: Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)