Making a $10 million NIL budget to keep the Buckeyes competitive finally paid off. Ryan Day worked really hard when it came down to revamping the Buckeyes. Grabbing solid players like Will Howard and Quinshon Judkins brought in results that no one had thought about. Going into the 2024 season, Ohio State opened with a massive 52-6 win over Akron. Howard locked in 3 TDs during the game and Jeremiah Smith followed close with 2 TDs. This not only made the team the new fan favorites, but it also managed to catapult them into the top rankings on Reddit.

The Official /r/TheB1G Week 2 Power Rankings list posted on September 12th had the Buckeyes on the No. 1 rank as per fan votes. With 72(68) points and an average rank of 1.03, Ryan Day and his boys are ruling the power rankings. This is well deserved. Day has been pushing the team to do their best since the start. Even during their second game against WMU, the Buckeyes managed to end Week 1 with a 56-0 victory over the Broncos. Howard, Judkins, and Smith showed pure domination, and the team locked in 410 passing and 273 rushing yards. Day has managed to cultivate what ESPN called a ‘national championship or bust’ roster. However, it would be a big fat lie if we say this is the best current story in CFB. On the same power ranking list on Reddit, an unexpected team is standing in the 2nd spot. Enter USC Trojans. We still remember how, during the SEC Media Days, Paul Finebaum had called out Lincoln Riley and his 2023 coaching as the “worst coaching job of the year”. Well, look at them now.

Riley and the Trojans have managed to break Finebaum’s prediction regarding the team “getting any better.” The season opener saw the Trojans grabbing a surprise win over LSU with 27-20 on the scoreboard. Following this, the team dominated against the Aggies and grabbed a 48-0 win. While old Trojans fans will still miss the Caleb Williams era, Miller Moss and Riley’s new defense is here to fill the void. However, while the Buckeyes and Trojans have become the next big thing in Big 10, the King of the Hill, on the other end, has fallen.

Sherrone Moore and the downfall of the Wolverines

Standing in a rough 6th spot on the rankings list, things are not going well for Moore and his team. While Michigan did start with an amazing 30-10 win over Fresno State, fans would wholeheartedly agree that the 15-0 team that they saw last year is not here anymore. The Wolverines lost their second game to the Longhorns, and it proved that when faced against one of the top national contenders, Moore and his roster are not on the same level.

The JJ McCarthy and Jim Harbaugh era is over and Moore has to face the reality. No doubt, Sherrone Moore is a solid offensive coordinator, but when it comes down to being the HC, he ain’t the best pick. Fans should’ve caught onto this long back when Moore took WAY too long to decide who the starting QB will be for the Wolverines. Also, despite having a strong contender like Alex Orji, for some odd reason, Moore decided to make Davis Warren the starting QB. The empire is falling, and it looks like nothing can save the once-hailed gods of CFB.