Before the new-look Big Ten's first football season with 18 teams kicks off in 2024, 247Sports polled its deep roster of insiders for a program-by-program breakdown. The Big Ten Survey asked a handful of questions, including, "What issue keeps your fan base up at night?" Here's a roundup of the answers.
Illinois
Jeremy Werner, Illini Inquirer
If Bret Bielema can't do it, who can? Bielema has been a successful Big Ten coach and had a few good years in the SEC. He's a strong and organized CEO, great marketer and has hired some impressive staffs at Illinois. He's a no-doubt improvement over the past three decades of Illini coaches, particularly Tim Beckman and Lovie Smith. His athletic director, Josh Whitman, also has poured resources into Bielema to make this work.
So far, Bielema has made strides to improve the program, taking it from overmatched in the Big Ten to frisky and competitive. But the Illini took a step back last season, so there's still a question of whether the program can truly leap to a consistently successful Big Ten program similar to Wisconsin or Iowa.
The Illini have developed well, but their recruiting rankings have ranked toward the bottom of the Big Ten despite a sensible recruiting approach by Bielema and his staff. So can Bielema out-develop and out-coach his peers to get Illinois to the middle tier of the Big Ten and potentially more?
The program has always been called a "sleeping giant" given its stature in a talent-rich area. But if Bielema struggles to truly awaken it during the next several years, some Illini fans will question if anyone can.
Indiana
It's really the same issue that's plagued Indiana for decades: This is arguably the hardest Power 4 program to win at, for myriad reasons. The Hoosiers' losing history can't be overlooked, and it makes the job even harder no matter who the head coach is.
That said, Curt Cignetti has completely flipped the vibe and perception of the program since his arrival.
Cignetti has IU fans buying in again, and he's captured the attention of those not within the IU fan base. The 2024 season has a completely different feel — a positive one — with Cignetti at the helm.
Of course, the Hoosiers will have to prove it on the field this fall. But it's hard not to look at this offseason as a success.
Iowa
What if the Tim Lester experiment doesn't work out? Is Iowa just broken on offense?
The main concerns with Iowa's offense this fall are quarterback play and wide receiver, two positions the Hawkeyes have struggled to recruit the last few seasons. Will Iowa ever be able to fix it?
Maryland
Winning a big one. Locksley, entering his sixth season, has made major improvements to the program. But they haven't been able to pull off a breakthrough win against one of the conferences top teams, falling just short of upsets against Michigan in each of the past two seasons and throwing a couple of scares into Ohio State.
The fans are desperate for the sort of win they can brag about.
Michigan
Sam Webb, The Michigan Insider
Not much these days. It's almost eerie. The concern used to be over whether Jim Harbaugh would sign an extension, but now that Harbs is with the Chargers, Michigan fans don't have that one thing they're all obsessing over.
One thing that might make some toss and turn a bit is the pacing of their NIL initiatives. Some worry whether Michigan is moving fast enough to keep it among the elites. But given what some members of the football team have been saying lately, those concerns are becoming outdated.
Michigan State
Stephen Brooks, Spartan Tailgate
Probably the idea that, in this new landscape, MSU has a ceiling of simply reaching the playoff, but never winning it. One could argue that was true in the four-team model, though MSU's 2013-15 run serves as evidence the Spartans were on the doorstep. The highs of the Dantonio era showed what was possible in East Lansing, and I do detect an underlying concern that the Spartans will never reach those heights again.
Will they spend enough? Will they recruit well enough? Is Smith the guy to do it? For a young coach, Smith's resume is impressive, but he's also not a proven winner at the highest level.
MSU fans, after a taste of greatness and especially after the mostly lukewarm decade since, are afraid the best they'll ever be is a good program, not a great one.
Minnesota
Ryan Burns, Gopher Illustrated
P.J. Fleck's passing game. It's not a secret that the passing game has been an issue for most of Fleck's tenure. The only year you can point to in the last seven that the passing game was efficient and explosive was 2019, when Tanner Morgan exploded for 30 passing touchdowns with two NFL receivers in Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson.
Outside of that, there have been too many Monday news conferences in the past few years when Fleck has talked about inconsistencies with the quarterback's accuracy, drops from the pass catchers, or missed assignments in pass protection.
It all goes hand-in-hand, but the stats haven't been kind with the aerial attack. Minnesota hasn't ranked higher than 122nd in pass attempts in the past three seasons, which is how the Gophers averaged a putrid 143 passing yards a game last year.
There's hope with New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer now taking the snaps, but it's also on Fleck to not pull the plug on the passing game the moment things go poorly.
Nebraska
As previously mentioned, Nebraska hasn't been to a bowl game since 2016 — the coaching matchup that day was Mike Riley (Nebraska) and Butch Jones (Tennessee). Nebraska is on its fourth head coach in the Big Ten era and the question that always seems to be following Nebraska is when things will turn.
A number of staffs has tried and failed to get Nebraska consistently back to the winning column in recent years, and it's an understatement to say that Nebraska fans are growing impatient.
Northwestern
Jacob Epstein, The Daily Northwestern
Quarterback has been a concern for the past few seasons, especially with a lack of continuity under center. Northwestern has started a transfer quarterback in every opener since 2018.
This trend will likely continue in 2024, with former Vanderbilt and Mississippi State quarterback Mike Wright being the presumptive QB1. Hopefully for Northwestern, the new hire in offensive coordinator and QB coach Zach Lujan will signal a marked shift, where the Wildcats will finally be able to recruit and develop a QB from his high school days into becoming the team's eventual starter.
For now, the fan base awaits the answer to a more immediate question: Is the price Wright?
Ohio State
Beating Michigan, for sure. That was always the M.O., then after the Buckeyes posted a 17-2 record against the Wolverines from 2001-19, many took it for granted.
Zero Buckeye fans are taking it for granted any longer. The ultimate goal is to win the 2024 national title. But the first goal is to beat Michigan in Columbus.
Oregon
That's a hard one. The program is well-run and, for the first time in about a decade, longevity at the top seems to exist. If there's a level of insecurity, it's about the program's lack of history — and, more specifically, the lack of a national championship trophy in the trophy case.
Penn State
The receiver spot. Production was frustratingly lacking there last year and Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming is the lone experienced newcomer in a room that doesn't feature anyone with 600-plus yards in their PSU career.
Meanwhile, lead 2023 receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith left for Auburn this spring. Second-year position coach Marques Hagans is facing pressure, and this is viewed as a dynamic that can really help/hurt quarterback Drew Allar's development.
Purdue
Purdue plays at Ohio State with home games against Notre Dame, Penn State and Oregon. That leaves little room for error against the rest of the conference. At Wisconsin, at Indiana and at Michigan State are big winnable swing games that the Boilers will need for bowl eligibility.
Rutgers
It's been the ineffectiveness of the passing game. Last season, Gavin Wimsatt threw three pick-sixes at critical points in games against Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin. Up until those moments, Rutgers was in a good place to, at least, push for an upset. Even when Rutgers has experienced success, it has not been because of a prolific passing game.
That has led to a less exciting offense, especially when the coaching staff was sometimes calling running plays on third-and-long by the end of last season. The inability to establish a downfield passing game has been a shortcoming for Rutgers for quite some time.
UCLA
Tracy Pierson, Bruin Report Online
Nightmares of Chip Kelly. Half-joking. For the upcoming season, there's worry about the new coaching staff and if it can actually field a good team with good schemes.
There's concern over whether this could be too big for Foster, who went from being a running backs coach to the main guy, with no head coaching experience. I think for any of the Pac-4, there's concern about how the Pac-12 brand of football — which has always been about potent offenses with a high level of quarterback play — matches up against the traditional, defense-emphasized Big Ten teams.
There are worries about making longer road trips to places UCLA fans have never been. But that's what makes this all an adventure, right?
USC
For me, I am just about to book travel for my staff and that has had me worried for a couple of years. For the fans, it is all about the defensive side of the ball and overall toughness of the team.
Entering the Big Ten, the fans don't want to see teams that average 25 points putting up 40 on the Trojan defense or having a low-scoring game where USC gets pushed around on the lines of scrimmage because of lack of toughness.
Wisconsin
I did a little bit of crowdsourcing just with some friends and family in the area, and the "issue" that likely popped up the most was strength and consistency along the defensive line — and their play.
Well, in comes EJ Whitlow, known to be a very strong developer along the DL in his respective history thus far. And between Whitlow and Luke Fickell, along with stacking increased recruiting classes, I see this being more of a strength in the very near future.
Fans are also worried about injuries after last year, but the Badgers are sitting well with more depth in 2024 now, too.
