T.J. Birkel 
UCLA vs USC
It’s a brave new world, isn’t it? When Nebraska joined the Big 10, it was a bit odd to some fans, but at least felt like something of a good fit, from the standpoint of our football pedigree matching with the top end of the conference, as well as simple geography. It seemed a little weirder when Rutgers and Maryland joined a few years later, but there was regional precedent to the move with the addition of Penn State in 1993, and of course it was a strategic play for the conference to expand into the New York and Washington, DC media markets.
Now we’re adding USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington? It all seems so strange. Will it be hard for Washington to get the blood flowing when they play the likes of Northwestern, Indiana, and Purdue? Is Rutgers vs. UCLA a matchup America is dying to see?
If you want to look at it through an optimistic lens, I would say this: in the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics, you want to have a seat at one of the good tables, and Nebraska currently does. The Big 10 and the SEC are the place to be right now, both from a financial standpoint and a stability standpoint. It’s nice to be in a conference that will likely get three to four teams in the playoff every year, and the $60+ million annual check doesn’t hurt either. Furthermore, while part of me misses the college football of our youth, the reality is it’s never coming back. So we might as well embrace the new world! Oregon will play Ohio State and Michigan this year. Those games will be must-see TV. Nebraska plays at USC this year, and at UCLA next year. Los Angeles in November, anyone? I’m excited to see the emerging rivalries and exciting matchups that will result from the new conference.
In that spirit, let’s welcome our West Coast brethren with open arms, by ranking each one’s football teams as we head into the 2024 season.
1) Oregon. As listeners to the Common Fan podcast know, I married an Oregon Duck. My wife and her family are big Duck fans, and as such, I’ve watched quite a few Oregon games over the last 15 years. I’ve also been to Eugene for several games; the Huskers don’t play there until 2026, but it’s a great college town and a fun stadium that I highly recommend Husker fans check out when the time comes.
Now, onto the 2024 Ducks. I genuinely found it odd when Oregon was talked about as a “stepping stone” program at times since Chip Kelly left. Chip left for the NFL, and it’s hard to blame any coach for trying their hand at the next level. Willie Tagart spent one year at Oregon before bolting for Florida State (to disastrous results), while Mario Christobal stayed for five years before taking the job at his alma mater (Miami). But in the era of NIL, revenue sharing for players, and especially now that they’re in the Big 10, the Ducks are going to be a beast for the rest of the conference to contend with. I’ve always thought Oregon was a great long term job for the right coach; it was true before and it’s even more so now. And Dan Lanning appears to be that coach.
Lanning is a dude. I absolutely loved watching his open disdain for Colorado last year, as the Ducks completely manhandled Coach Prime’s overmatched prima donnas. As a former defensive coordinator at Georgia, he preaches physical football and tough defense, which all Husker fans can appreciate. With their national brand, Nike uniforms, and devoted fan base, Oregon consistently recruits at a high level. Combine top notch talent with Lanning’s old school approach, and the Ducks will give the Big 10 everything it can handle for years to come.
2) USC. I’m probably not giving them enough credit, but I’m in “I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it” mode on Lincoln Riley’s Trojans as they move to the Big 10. After going 11-3 in his first year at USC, Riley’s squad slipped to 8-5 a season ago.
We know Riley is a good coach. He inherited the keys to the Cadillac in taking over at Oklahoma when Bob Stoops retired and, to his credit, kept the Sooners winning at a high level. In Riley’s five years at the helm in Norman, Oklahoma won the Big 12 four times, and appeared in the College Football Playoff three times. He also coached back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners during that span: Baker Mayfield in 2017 and Kyler Murray in 2018.
What remains to be seen is whether Riley can build a playoff-caliber program on his own. He’s already had to make drastic changes to his coaching staff, firing then-defensive coordinator Alex Grinch before the 2023 season was even over. There’s going to be an adjustment to the Big 10 (although Riley projected plenty of confidence with his comments at Big 10 Media Days). Being that it’s USC, they will continue to get high level talent. And I do believe this will be one of the more difficult games on the schedule for Nebraska in 2024. But are we talking a USC team that’s closer to the 8-5 squad from last year, or the national championship-caliber type of team they envision themselves to be? The Trojans are in a better spot than Washington or UCLA as their inaugural Big 10 season nears, but let’s see how they fare in the most physical, best-coached conference in the country.
3) Washington. The national championship game that took place on January 8 of this year probably feels like a decade ago for Husky fans. Transformational head coach Kalen Deboer left for Alabama. The 2023 Husky team that made it all the way to the national title game (where Michigan probably stole their signs) lost dozens of players to the transfer portal or NFL draft. Quite remarkably, the Huskies were just recently left out of the AP Top 25, less than nine months after playing for the big one.
Enter Jedd Fisch, who takes over as Washington’s head man after three seasons in the same role for the University of Arizona. Fisch initiated quite the turnaround in Tucson, going 1-11 in 2021, 5-7 in 2022, and 10-3 in 2023. Husky fans are hoping he can bring some of that Wildcat magic to Seattle, while skipping the whole rebuilding part. My guess is Fisch ultimately has success at UW, but amidst so much change going into their first season in the Big 10, year one might be a bumpy ride for the Huskies.
4) UCLA. We should not judge new Head Coach Deshaun Foster too harshly for his poor performance at Big 10 media days. What I wonder about UCLA, though, is just how hard it is to win there. Chip Kelly had mixed results, and ultimately left for a self-imposed demotion as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. That may say more about Kelly’s disdain for the new world of college football than anything else, but even so, we’re talking about a guy who had massive success at Oregon not long ago having a very hard time making it work at UCLA. His record there was 35-34, and he had as many losing seasons as he had winning seasons.
Enter Foster, a first time head coach who has never even been a coordinator. Husker fans know full well the perils of young head coaches learning on the fly. Navigating the new Big 10 is going to be a daunting challenge, even for the conference’s best and most experienced coaches. Having to figure out how to be a head coach while also learning a new conference will be a tall task for the young Foster.
What’s more, things at the university’s athletic department seem to be a bit of a mess. The department had a deficit of over $36 million for the 2023 fiscal year, marking the fifth consecutive year the school operated in the red. Their long time associate athletic director responsible for fundraising just resigned earlier this year, not without some controversy. The new, fat checks from the Big 10 should help, but even if their fiscal challenges get resolved, there doesn’t seem to be a short term, easy fix for the apathy that seems to have taken hold among the fan base.
Add it all up, and the weather might be the only bright spot at UCLA for the foreseeable future.
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