Today I will be breaking down and predicting Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington’s schedules this year in their first year in the Big Ten.
I believe Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington’s schedules will end up like this in 2024:
Oregon Ducks Schedule:
Week 1: Vs Idaho - W
Week 2: Vs Boise State - W
Week 3: @ Oregon State - W
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: @ UCLA - W
Week 6: Vs Michigan State - W
Week 7: Vs Ohio State - W
Week 8: @ Purdue - W
Week 9: Vs Illinois - W
Week 10: @ Michigan - W
Week 11: Vs Maryland - W
Week 12: @ Wisconsin - L
Week 13: Bye
Week 14: Vs Washington – W
UCLA Bruins Schedule:
Week 1: Vs Hawaii - W
Week 2: Bye
Week 3: Vs Indiana - W
Week 4: @ LSU - L
Week 5: Vs Oregon - L
Week 6: @ Penn State - L
Week 7: Vs Minnesota - W
Week 8: @ Rutgers - W
Week 9: Bye
Week 10: Vs Nebraska - W
Week 11: Vs Iowa - W
Week 12: @ Washington - L
Week 13: Vs USC - L
Week 14: Vs Fresno State – W
USC Trojans Schedule:
Week 1: Vs LSU - W
Week 2: Vs Utah State - W
Week 3: Bye
Week 4: @ Michigan - L
Week 5: Vs Wisconsin - W
Week 6: @ Minnesota - W
Week 7: Vs Penn State - W
Week 8: @ Maryland - W
Week 9: Vs Rutgers - W
Week 10: @ Washington - L
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: Vs Nebraska - W
Week 13: @ UCLA - W
Week 14: Vs Notre Dame – W
Washington Huskies Schedule:
Week 1: Vs Weber State - W
Week 2: Vs Eastern Michigan - W
Week 3: Vs Washington State - W
Week 4: Vs Northwestern - W
Week 5: @ Rutgers - W
Week 6: Vs Michigan - W
Week 7: @ Iowa - L
Week 8: Bye
Week 9: @ Indiana - W
Week 10: Vs USC - W
Week 11: @ Penn State - L
Week 12: Vs UCLA - W
Week 13: Bye
Week 14: @ Oregon - L
Thoughts on Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington’s Upcoming Seasons:
I’ll start with Oregon, who I have winning the Big 10, and finishing the regular season 11-1. They can definitely go undefeated this year, but I think they slip up near the end of the season when they travel to Madison to play Wisconsin. Camp Randall will be a tough environment, and I think the travel will also give Oregon some setbacks. Oregon’s non-con, however, is much easier. Although they have to play Boise State, who might win the Mountain West, and play their rivals Oregon State on the road, I think an Oregon that is this good won’t struggle. They also play Idaho, which is an easy win. After a bye week in week 4, Oregon travels to UCLA, where they prevail. I think UCLA is the worst out of all 4 of these teams, and Oregon’s fire power on offense will make sure UCLA doesn’t keep up. After that they have two home games against Michigan State and Ohio State. The Michigan State game is an easy win, while The Ohio State matchup might be game of the year. Both teams are absolutely star-studded, but the home-field advantage will put Oregon on top. They then go on the road to Purdue, but the Spoilermakers do not come out. Oregon returns home in week 9 to play Illinois, and anther easy win. The next week, The Ducks go on the road to the Big House. Even though they’re the defending national champions, Michigan is losing a lot of talent, and Oregon takes down Michigan. In week 11, Oregon plays Maryland, another easy win. They then play Wisconsin, which I talked about earlier. After the Wisconsin loss, they have a bye before beating Washington in week 14. They stole cornerback Jabbar Muhammad from the Huskies in the transfer portal, and the rest of Oregon’s defense should limit the Washington’s offense. Speaking of Washington, I have them going 9-3, mainly because of their easy schedule. They don’t play Ohio State, Wisconsin, Maryland, or Nebraska. They also have one of the best non-conference schedules, playing Eastern Michigan, Washington State, and Weber State. All easy wins. They start their Big 10 play with Northwestern and Rutgers, both end in dominant Washington wins, even though they have to go all the way to New Jersey to play Rutgers. After the Rutgers game, they face their toughest test of the season so far, when they host Michigan. I do think Michigan will be a bit worse than what they’re projected to be this season, and Washington gets the win. After beating Michigan, Washington goes back on the road to Iowa. Iowa’s defense should slow down Will Rogers, and Washington loses their first game of the season. After a bye week, Washington takes down Indiana on the road before upsetting USC at home. However, the next week they have to go on the road to Penn State, where they fall in a loud and tense environment. After losing to Penn State, Washington takes down UCLA at home, but lose on the road to Oregon to end the season. Washington should make a good bowl game, and depending on how things shake out, they could be in playoff talks. Next up is USC, and I predict they go 10-2, with losses to Michigan and Washington. Both of those losses are on the road, and we know how load both those stadiums can be. Their non-con is also rough, with games against LSU and Notre Dame. Those should both be close wins, and they also play Utah State, an easy win. In their Big Ten schedule, they have easy wins against Nebraska, Rutgers, Minnesota, UCLA, and Maryland. Penn State and Wisconsin should give them some trouble, but because they’re both at home, USC wins. The last team to talk about today is UCLA. I think they can be a good team this season, but with a new head coach, OC, and DC, along with a hard schedule, I have them going 7-5. They fall to LSU, Penn State, and Washington on the road, while losing to USC and Oregon at home. They do have some easy wins against Hawaii, Indiana, and Rutgers, but games against Fresno State, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska should challenge them. All of the new teams in the Big Ten this year will make a bowl game, and This year will be on of the wildest years in the Big 10.
Sorry for getting this one out so late, but the Wazzu-Oregon State post will be posted Friday and the top 10 way-too-early Heisman candidates will be out Tuesday.