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 its roster will be better and more complete than a year ago, we are pretty certain 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 past 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 Hawkeyes.

With Jalon Daniels, Kansas will feature one of the best quarterbacks in college football this fall. Now, can it keep him healthy for 12 games and become a real threat in the new-look Big 12?

It seems absurd but Nebraska hasn’t played in a bowl game since the end of the 2016 season when it lost to Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. In the 2023 coaching carousel, I walked away most impressed with the hire of Matt Rhule and expect the Cornhuskers to end that bowl 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. It lost head coach Jedd Fisch, who left for Washington, but it does bring back quarterback Noah Fifita, who has the expectation of a Big 12 championship in 2024.

Will Howard is off to quarterback Ohio State, and highly touted Avery Johnson arrives to call the signals 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 among as the conference favorite for 2024. Oklahoma State returns much from a team that beat both Oklahoma and Texas A&M while managing to lose at home to South Alabama.

Few teams have used name, image and likeness licensing 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 the Sooners 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 College Football Playoff spot?

Quarterback Nico Iamaleava is 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 pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

USC was undefeated when it 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 its defensive line but is excited about the Miller Moss era at quarterback entering Year 3 under Lincoln Riley.

LSU is reworking its defense as Brian Kelly cleaned house on the defensive side of his coaching staff following last year’s struggles. How the Tigers defense bounces back is a huge question, but how it replaces Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock are equally huge questions.

Clemson resolved their quarterback struggles as 2023 went on: Cade Kubnik improved 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 its 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, which ranked the Irish fifth in its latest ranking earlier in the week. The defense should be one of the nation’s best, and although the offense likely will not be elite, the Irish will not 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 fulfill the high expectations in 2024 and help the Nittany Lions finally take that next step again?

Michigan has to replace the 13 players it 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 following 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 its 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 a portal move as there was this offseason. Despite the Midwest stereotypes about teams from the Pacific coast, Oregon will be one of the most physical teams in the Big Ten this year.

Texas returned to glory in 2023, earning its first spot in the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns will be back as a force again in 2024 with Quinn Ewers still at quarterback and key portal additions such as defensive end Trey Moore (UTSA) and safety Andrew Mukuba (Clemson).

Despite losing to Alabama in last year’s SEC championship game, Georgia is the model-program in college football. Kirby Smart has to restock after losing a large amount of talent to the NFL draft. Having one of the nation’s best quarterbacks, Carson Beck, means 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 its 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 hired some guy named Chip Kelly away from UCLA to call their plays this fall.