It seems like there are more big games in 2024 than ever. And intrigue is at an all-time high thanks to the perfect storm of major conference realignment and the expansion of the playoff to 12 teams.
CBS Sports Analyst Josh Pate has named the top 10 games of the season and three games involving Big Ten teams have made the cut.
In chronological order:
September. 7: Texas at Michigan
Texas vs. Alabama has arguably been the biggest non-conference game of the past two seasons. Now the Longhorns start a two-year series with the Wolverines. Pate says, “Week 2 has maybe the premier out-of-conference game in America this year – Texas at Michigan. It’s what college football should be. You should load up your conference schedule with quality teams and then you should play at least one of these out of conference.”
Pate says we’ll learn a lot about Michigan in this game, “If you stand up against what Texas is going to throw at you offensively this year, you ought to feel really good about whatever the rest of the sport can throw at you. You’ve got a lot that you think you know about each team. This is where you find it out.”
October. 12: Ohio State at Oregon
A date that’s been circled in Eugene, Oregon since the schedule was announced. This game promises to be the best ‘Old’ Big Ten vs. ‘New’ Big Ten tilt. Pate explains, “These are the top two teams … as far as odds to win the Big Ten.”
A knock on teams from the west coast is they’re not physical enough. Pate says we’ll find out about the Ducks in this game, “The physicality challenge for Oregon, the thing that everyone’s talking about, how is that high-flying offense going to fit in the ultra-rugged Big Ten? That stuff is usually overblown, probably is here. Oregon may be the most physical team in the Big Ten. How do you like that?”
Pate says it should be one of the best atmospheres of the year, “Autzen will be an absolute spectacle during this matchup. They’ve waited up there for a while … to get one of the big boys. And they get Ohio State served up to them in year one.”
November. 30: Michigan at Ohio State
Will this late season game still be relevant when these two rivals clash? Pate says, “Just thinking about the dynamic that could be setting itself up. Certainly, there’s one world where Michigan tails off a little bit and they’re a three-loss team already by the time this game happens and Ohio State is favored by 15.5. There’s another world, where Michigan doesn’t fall off a whole lot. … We’ve got Big Ten championship implications. We’ve got playoff implications. … It’s not some afterthought.”