Spring football is over. The transfer portal is closed. The calendar reads June. You know what that means? College football is almost here. It has now been five months since Michigan took down Washington in the national championship game in Houston, and we have made it through the hardest part of the offseason. We are well past the halfway point, and now, there's nothing but excitement to get us to the finish line. We are less than three months away from the start of the college football season, and Wisconsin football is ready. Badgers fans can't wait to see their team take the field for the first time.
The 2024 college football season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting seasons in a long time, and it's because of all the changes that are coming to the game in 2024. Let's start with the expanded College Football Playoff.
It's going to be interesting to see how the first year of the new 12-team College Football Playoff goes. The four-team playoff era is over, and having eight more teams make it is going to make a huge difference.
First of all, college football fans can breathe a little bit easier during the regular season. There's no worse feeling as a fan than seeing your team lose a huge game in the first weeks of the season before conference play even starts. In the four-team playoff era, that's as demoralizing as it gets. You know that one more loss is the nail in the coffin, and even with one loss (or in Florida State's case, zero), there is no guarantee that you will make it. Now, power five teams that go 10-2 should be pretty safe, and even some 9-3 teams will likely be able to make it.
The other big change is more football and a longer season. The College Football Playoff committee recently released the schedule for the 2024 playoff, and it is going to be an exciting month. Instead of three total playoff games played in the span of a week, we will get to see 11 games spread out over the span of a month. That is going to be a lot of fun.
Another huge change to the college football world this year will be with the new conferences. The Pac-12 is gone as everyone except for Oregon State and Washington State found a new home. USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are now in the Big Ten, Cal and Stanford moved to the ACC, and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are in the Big 12.
The Big 12 did lose two teams, however, as Oklahoma and Texas are making the move over to the SEC.
All in all, big changes are coming to college football, and it should make for an exciting season. Things are going to look different, and not everyone is a fan of the new changes, but there is going to be more football and more good matchups. That's a plus.
Wisconsin football has an important season ahead of them
We are going to discuss a potential breakout star for the Badgers, but first, let's take a look at how the Wisconsin football team has gotten to where they are right now.
It was a bit of a surprise when Wisconsin moved on from Paul Chryst in 2022. The Badgers had a lot of success with Chryst and they competed for/won the Big Ten West quite often. They didn't have a very good year in 2021 and 2022 got off to a shaky start as well, and Wisconsin wasted no time to move on. They went and hired Luke Fickell from Cincinnati, and it was looked at as a home-run hire.
Luke Fickell was one of the hottest names in the coaching market when he came to Wisconsin. He had been fantastic at Cincinnati as the Bearcats were consistently ranked, and he even took them to the College Football Playoff. Cincinnati is the only non-power five team to ever make it that far, and now that the playoff is expanding, they can always say that they were the only team to do it during the four-team era. Fickell made that happen, so the Badgers got just about the best coach that they could've asked for.
Year one didn't really pan out in Madison, however, but you can't judge a head coach based on one year at a school. It wasn't all bad, either. Wisconsin football finished the season with a 7-6 overall record and a 5-4 mark in Big Ten play. They played LSU in their bowl game and dropped that one to finish out the season. It could've been worse.
It wasn't a great year, but now the focus is on the 2024 season. The Big Ten is expanding as Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA are joining the conference, and there will no longer be divisions. Not to take any credit away from Wisconsin, but some of their Big Ten title appearances were just because they played in the worst division in college football. The Big Ten West is no longer a thing, and getting to the top of the Big Ten will be extremely difficult.
This is a big season for the Badgers, and they need people to step up. Here is one player that could be ready for a breakout season.
Tucker Ashcraft, TE
There is a certain brand of football that is played in the Big Ten, and Wisconsin football embodies it as well as anyone. They are going to play smash mouth football, and that means that they like to utilize their tight ends. Yes, a lot of that utilization is in the run game, but when teams like the Badgers do pass, they like to get their tight ends involved.
Tucker Ashcraft is expected to be the starting TE for the Wisconsin football team in 2024. He just played his first season with the Badgers in 2023, and it was a quiet one. He hauled in eight receptions for 86 yards and he had one touchdown.
As the starting TE on a team like Wisconsin, Tucker Ashcraft could be poised for a big season. The Badgers also brought Tyler Van Dyke over from Miami this offseason, so they should have solid quarterback play.
All in all, the recipe is there for Tucker Ashcraft to have a big season, and the Badgers will need him to be good if they want to have a successful year. They use their TEs a lot, so he will have a good opportunity to put up good numbers.
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