Ohio State football Buck'Eyeing' the Big Ten: Washington Huskies

On August 4, 2023, The Big Ten expanded yet again, adding Oregon and Washington to the conference. Those two teams, with previously announced additions of UCLA and USC, brought the conference total membership up to 18.

While adding in the four teams, The Big Ten had also instituted a new football scheduling policy that would rotate opponents from 2024 through 2028. It was against this backdrop that I contemplated looking at the various teams that Ohio State will not be playing in 2024, while also wondering what kind of season those teams may have. After all, it would not be impossible for one of those teams to wind up in The Big Ten Championship Game, depending on that team's respective talent level and schedule difficulty.

Before I go too much further, here are the teams that I have already previewed, listed alphabetically below. If you want to go back and look at any of these teams, simply click on the team name, and the link will take you there.

Illinois Fighting Illini was first, Maryland Terrapins was second, Minnesota Golden Gophers was third, Rutgers Scarlet Knights were fourth, UCLA Bruins were fifth, and the USC Trojans.

I realize that I am being repetitive with this phrase, and I promise that this will be the last time you will see it in one of these articles, until Ohio State plays at Oregon on October 12th. Here goes ~ This is going to be an adjustment for me, I will not lie.

The Washington Huskies come into The Big Ten with as much disruption as any of the other West Coast teams making this historic move. Like their longtime rival UCLA, Washington comes in with a brand new coach (Jedd Fisch), while also having to deal with significant personnel losses on both sides of the ball.

Next Scheduled Regular Season Game Against Ohio State: Ohio State will make the trek out to Husky Stadium in 2025. The date and time of the game has not yet been announced.

Key Personnel Losses From 2023: Okay, deep breath here. Washington lost 10 players in the 2024 NFL Draft. Even more notable was that 3 of those players were selected in the first 20 players selected overall. Washington lost the following ~

- QB Michael Penix, Jr. (1st round, Atlanta Falcons - qualified as THE shocker pick of the first round, but I do not want to digress too much)

- WR Rome Odunze (1st round, Chicago Bears)

- OT Troy Fautanu (1st round, Pittsburgh Steelers)

- WR Ja'Lynn Polk (2nd round, New England Patriots)

- OT Roger Rosengarten (2nd round, Baltimore Ravens)

- OLB Bralen Trice (3rd round, Atlanta Falcons)

- WR Jalen McMillan (3rd round, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

- LB Edefuan Ulofoshio (5th round, Buffalo Bills)

- S Dominique Hampton (5th round, Washington Commanders)

- TE Devin Culp (7th round, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

The talent losses would be difficult for any team to shrug off - a starting quarterback, 3 wide receivers, both starting offensive tackles, a starting tight end, a starting linebacker, and a starting safety. Add in the upheaval of losing your head coach, bringing in a new head coach, then trying to assimilate into a brand-new conference. Oof.

2024 Schedule Outlook: Washington faces Weber State (August 31st at 11 pm ET on The Big Ten Network), Eastern Michigan (September 7th at 3:30 pm ET on The Big Ten Network), and Washington State in The Apple Cup (September 14th at 3:30 pm ET on Peacock) for their non-conference portion of the schedule. (Like I wrote up above, it is going to be an adjustment, thinking of Washington/Washington State as a "non-conference game".)

The Big Ten conference portion does not start off too difficult, with Washington hosting Northwestern on September 21st, then traveling to Rutgers for a Friday night game on September 28th (8 pm ET on FOX). It is when the schedule flips to October and November that the nostalgia from previous seasons and present season challenges start to develop.

Washington hosts Michigan on October 5th for a rematch of their national championship battle from last season; this should have some spice. Washington will face Iowa in Iowa City for the first time since the 1964 season, when the Huskies go on the road there on October 12th. Washington will make its first trip to Memorial Stadium to face Indiana on October 26th for the first time since September 23rd, 1978, then come home to face longtime rival USC on November 2nd.

On November 9th, Washington will make its first-ever trip to Beaver Stadium to face Penn State in the Nittany Lions' "White Out" game. Kickoff has not yet been set, but this will bear watching, as it will probably be a 3:30 pm or 7 pm ET kickoff. Even if it is a 3:30pm ET kickoff, it will be dark by the time the game concludes.

On November 15th, Washington hosts UCLA for a Friday night game (9 pm ET kickoff) on FOX, then gets a week off before going to Autzen Stadium to finish up the regular season at Oregon on November 30th. A rough initiation into The Big Ten, without a doubt.

Prediction for 2024: Washington has too many key positions to replace to be considered a factor for The Big Ten Championship Game, as well as The College Football Playoffs. It would not surprise me if the Huskies started out strong in their non-conference and early conference match-ups, then began to lose steam by the end of the season. A bowl team, but more near the middle of the conference, versus up at the top. Jedd Fisch is a good coach and will have the Huskies competitive this season.

Look for the eighth and final part of the series next week, as we look at how the 2024 season may shape up for the Wisconsin Badgers. As always, let me know what you think, and thanks for reading.