August 07, 2023

I-80 Football Show: 2023 Season Preview - The Middling Tier

2 hours 4 minutes

Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Holy Land’s I-80 Football Show. On this show, we talk about all things Big Ten football and basketball from New Jersey to California. With USC and UCLA joining the conference in 2024 we’ll integrate them in the show getting a head start on the 16-team conference. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.

The PAC 12 has effectively been ended and the Big Ten and Big 12 are the beneficiaries, or the culprits depending on who you ask. Dante and Jordan discuss the impact of Oregon and Washington joining the Big Ten both in football and non-revenue generating sports. Is it naive to think the Big Ten will find a way to fix this scheduling issue as best as possible or will this only hurt non football sports? Plus, how did this happen and how much blame should the PAC 12 hold?

In this episode we discuss Michigan State and Minnesota, two very similar teams that are likely to end up with similar records but for very different reasons. Michigan State is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 5-7 campaign in 2022 but it’s hard to see a positive future with all they’ve lost. They may have their quarterback of the future with Noah Kim or Katin Houser but he’ll have no one to throw to with Jayden Reed in the NFL and Keon Coleman at Florida State. The defense, albeit slightly better in 2022 still hasn't improved their secondary and will rely heavily on continued production from linebackers Cal Holiday and Jacoby Windmon. Can Mel Tucker hit transfer portal gold or finally develop his guys?

Minnesota should be expected to have a step-back year but it is just the ebbs of flows of college football. Despite not being high on them the guys fully expect them to bounce back in future seasons. The same cannot be said about Michigan State. Minnesota is going to have a hard time replacing quarterback Tanner Morgan, Center John Michael-Schmitz, and All-American running back Mo Ibrahim. They are also losing two other starters on their offensive line and will rely heavily on their defense to keep them in games. They should still be a good team but their schedule does them no favors with games against North Carolina, Ohio State, and Michigan.

Lastly, the US Women's National Team was bounced from the World Cup in the round of 16 Sunday morning but Jordan doesn’t think this is a negative. Sure, the coach needs to be fired but the young talent on the team is awesome and will be in their prime in 2027. Enjoy the break because we may be dominant again here soon.

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Follow the show on YouTube: @JordanW330 and @LandGrantPods

Connect with us on Twitter: Jordan: @JordanW330 and Dante: @DanteM10216