The Big Ten looks to remain at the top of the college football landscape in 2024 and keep the national championship north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The conference is home to at least three programs with a real chance to win this year’s College Football Playoff: Ohio State, OregonAnd MichiganBut is there a team in the Big Ten that the former Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer thinks there will be a lot more excitement at the conference this year besides the three listed above?
At a recent appearance on The Herd with Colin CowherdThe former Ohio State head coach shared his thoughts on who will be the surprise team in the Big Ten in 2024.
“They stole the show. People know I’m a Nebraska fan,” Meyer said.
Shortly before Meyer made his pick, Cowherd said he was leaning toward the Cornhuskers as well. After both experts agreed on Nebraska, the three-time national championship coach took a moment to explain why he calls Nebraska the surprise team of the Big Ten this year.
“If I were a player, I would love to go to Nebraska,” Meyer said. “It’s the history, the stadium and the fans; (they) are unbelievable. We’ve coached there and they’ve been really good for several years. I was shocked when I was on the sidelines a couple of times when we played them. You’re talking about a team that didn’t look like a Nebraska model.”
“I just think that he (Matt Rhule) recruited well. They got transfer quarterback Dylan (Raiola), who is a really good player. I like their coach. Their coach knows how to win, he’s won at every level. There’s a difference between winning and not winning at every level. And that’s why I have a lot of respect for Matt Rhule. So Nebraska would be my team; they’re not good enough to win, but they’re good enough to make a splash.”
Nebraska has experienced many surprises this offseason, but perhaps the most significant surprise was the transfer of the 5-star quarterback Dylan Riola from Georgia to Nebraska. This move immediately gave Rhule and the Cornhuskers stability at the quarterback position, not just for 2024, but for the foreseeable future.
Rhule is also known for his ability to quickly turn around college football programs. At both Temple and Baylor, his two previous stops at the college level, he turned both programs into conference title contenders, which earned him the opportunity to coach in the NFL. If Nebraska’s second-year head coach can leverage the success of previous ventures, Meyer and Cowherd will have hit the nail on the head when it comes to Nebraska being the Big Ten’s surprise team in 2024.
