This past season in college football was one to remember with many memories being made. There were teams that no one expected to make it to the Top 10 rankings, like Tulane, TCU, and Kansas State, and teams that underperformed like Texas A&M and Florida. As we move onto the 2023-2024 season, let’s look at five teams who could regress heading into this upcoming season.
Ohio State (11-2 in 2022)
Ohio State had what some would call a letdown season. With a blowout loss to Michigan at home and a Missed GW FG by Noah Ruggles against Georgia in the Peach Bowl. Buckeye fans now move onto what could be a not-so-bright future for the team. The Bucks lose Heisman Trophy Finalist QB CJ Stroud and All-American Offensive Tackle Paris Johnson to the NFL Draft along with OT Dawand Jones, DL Zach Harrison, WR Jaxson Smith Njigba, OL Luke Wypler, S Ronnie “Rocket” Hickman, and CB Cameron Brown. This means a new era of Ohio State football will be seen this upcoming season with Redshirt Sophomore Kyle Mccord who is expected to get the keys to the throne of this offense. The Buckeyes should not see a major regression but if they go 10-3 or 11-3 it should not come as a surprise.
TCU (13-2 in 2022)
The Horn Frogs were this season’s cinderella team by shocking the world and making it back to the national championship game for the first time since they won the national championship in 1938 but sadly lost in a blowout to Georgia 65-7. Sonny Dykes took the job from legendary coach Gary Patterson and turned the program around in less than a year. Nobody expected Max Duggan to be the team’s starter as Chandler Morris won the job to start the season. An injury to Morris gave him the chance for Duggan to shine.
TCU will be under new leadership next year as Duggan declared for the NFL Draft alongside Quentin Johnston, Kendre Miller, Tre-Vius Hodges Tomlinson, Steve Avila, and Dee Winters have all also declared for the draft. That left a ton of open positions for Coach Dykes to fill, Dykes was able to bring in former Alabama stars Trey Sanders and JoJo Earle to take Johnston and Miller’s spots for next season, and they were also able to bring in Tommy Brockermyer as well from Bama to fill a need at offensive tackle which seemed to hurt them in the national championship game. To also point out that they lost their Offensive coordinator Garrett Riley to Clemson so it will be a new system for Morris to learn. It is going to be tough for TCU to make another run at the title this season but they should not regress to the point where they are not still contending if they are 10-4 or 9-4 this season it would not be a surprise.
Tulane (12-2 in 2022)
Tulane was also another cinderella team last season as they had their best season since 2020. The Green Wave were able to dominate the American Athletic Conference(AAC) this past season while cruising their way to a Conference Championship. Being led by Quarterback Michael Pratt and Running Back Tyjae Spears on offense and on defense Dorian Williams and Nick Anderson, who both are Linebackers and NFL Draft prospects. With the departures of Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston from the conference this year it should be another easy path to an AAC title for Tulane. But it should not come as a shock if they were to not be a top-ten team again like they were this season. They are losing their star running back and linebackers as well as having to find a new defensive coordinator as Lance Guidry who took the job in January has decided to leave and take the Miami defensive coordinator job. There is no doubt that Tulane is a good football team but being top-ten again this season is hard to see.
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Minnesota (9-4 in 2022)
This past season the Golden Gophers were not a dominant team but they were not a bad team either finishing at a solid 9-4 record and capping off the season with a Pinstripe Bowl win against Syracuse. Minnesota loses one of the best centers in the country in John Michael-Schmitz as well as one of the best runningbacks in Mo Ibrahim. Athan Kaliakmanis takes over the reign at quarterback as legendary Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan played his final collegiate season last year. In 8 games played Kaliakmanis recorded 946 yards 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. There are a few positives for Gopher fans next season as Charlotte transfer wide receiver Elijah Spencer and Western Michigan running back transfer Sean Tyler both will join the program next season. It does not look like the Gophers will be able to repeat their 9-4 season as 4-8 or 5-7 seem to be the most realistic records for next season.
Cincinnati (9-4 in 2022)
Cincinnati has been one of the best college football programs for the past 3 seasons under Luke Fickell. They had a step down this season after going to their first College Football Playoff game in program history. Losing Desmond Ridder, Jerome Ford, and Alec Pierce hurt the development of the program but Fickell was still able to put together a strong season. Then before the Fenway Bowl Fickell took the job at Wisconsin while taking high-level recruits with him. The Bearcats then hired rival Louisville coach Scott Satterfield who they played in the Fenway bowl to take the team into the future. Cincinnati has a long future ahead of them as they join the Big 12 conference this season with a new head coach and a young quarterback going into their first season in a major conference. Cincinnati should not be bad this season but the odds of them going 9-4 again are not that great. 6-6 and 7-5 are records that would not be shocking to see in Satterfields first season.
