Can't Wait For Saturday | New Spartans coach Smith brings a track record as a rebuilder
May 18—***
The Big Ten football season will be here before you know it. Illinois is one of the two Big Ten teams opening Aug. 29 (Minnesota is the other). The rest of the league opens that weekend.
Between now and May 29, I am continuing to count down the 2024 Big Ten race. Feel free to disagree.
New coach Jonathan Smith did the near-impossible, turning Oregon State into a consistent winner aftea rough start to his career. Had the Pac-12 not blown up, it is doubtful he would have left his alma mater for East Lansing. Smith got busy in the transfer portal, bringing in the No. 12 class in the nation according to 247 Sports, including Oregon State quarterback Aidan Chiles.
We can check on Smith's progress when the Spartans visit Memorial Stadium on Nov. 16.
The portal giveth and the portal taketh away. Thirty-eight players left the program, including defensive linemen Derrick Harmon (Oregon) and Simeon Barrow (Miami). The second-third of the schedule is brutal, with consecutive games against Ohio State. Oregon, Iowa and Michigan.
