Non-Bowl Teams That Will Improve Dramatically in 2024
Making a bowl game is a common goal for most college football teams. For starters, an extra game and practice time help a team's development. Not to mention the benefits for recruiting and exposure when playing—and hopefully winning—a postseason bowl game.
However, not every FBS team makes a bowl game each season. But that doesn't spell gloom and doom for all of those squads on the outside looking in. Some of those left out of bowl games this year look capable of turning things around and punching their ticket as soon as next season.
Let's run through some teams that appear to be on track to drastically improve in 2024.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
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This season was an uncharacteristic one for the Demon Deacons under head coach Dave Clawson. Despite entering this season riding a seven-year bowl appearance streak, Wake Forest finished 4-8. It marked the first losing season in Winston-Salem since 2015.
One of the bigger glaring issues was under center, as the Deacs had to replace star quarterback Sam Hartman, who transferred to Notre Dame before the start of this season. His replacement, Mitch Griffis, finished 2023 with just 1,553 passing yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. He completed just 59.9 percent of his passes, too.
Griffis, along with his backup, Santino Marucci, have already entered the transfer portal, so don't be surprised if Clawson gets a signal-caller from the portal this offseason. Some of the bigger names Wake could realistically land include Arizona State's Drew Pyne, Coastal Carolina's Grayson McCall and Texas Tech's Tyler Shough.
Whoever starts under center for Wake next season, there will be plenty of weapons around him. Receivers Jahmal Banks and Taylor Morin combined for 1,270 yards and six touchdowns on the season. Although both are eligible for the 2024 NFL draft, getting at least one of these guys back next year would be huge. Rising junior running back Demond Claiborne, who rushed for 586 yards and five touchdowns on the season, should make a big jump next season.
The biggest reason I think Wake will improve in 2024? Aside from Clawson's first two seasons in Winston-Salem, the Deacs have never had back-to-back seasons below-.500. As long as Clawson is running things, I expect him to be able to turn things around.
Houston Cougars
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Houston's first season in the Big 12 didn't go great. The Cougs finished 4-8 and ended the season with three straight losses. Houston then fired head coach Dana Holgerson after five seasons and a 31-28 overall record.
But Houston's replacement for Holgerson looks like a home-run hire, as it landed Tulane's Willie Fritz on Sunday. Last year, the Green Wave won the AAC and upset USC in the Cotton Bowl to finish 12-2. Although Tulane fell 26-14 to SMU in the AAC Championship Game this week, reaching 11 wins was historic. Until Fritz's arrival in New Orleans, the Green Wave had never had consecutive seasons with double-digit wins.
Now, Fritz will look to turn Houston into a Big 12 contender in a league that won't include heavyweights Texas and Oklahoma, as they're both heading to the SEC in 2024. With Fritz's hire, the Cougars will have the opportunity to move up the standings and try to fill that power vacuum.
Anytime a new head coach arrives at a school, his arrival puts the roster in a state of flux as some players leave the program and others follow the coach to his new home. We'll have to wait and see what some of the key changes will look like in Houston, but with Fritz's hire alone, the Cougars looks primed to make a big jump in 2024.
Washington State Cougars
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Washington State had a roller coaster of a season in 2023. The Cougs got off to a hot start, opening 4-0 to earn a ranking as high as No. 13. But as the season progressed, Wazzu struggled to win close games, and the Cougs amassed a six-game losing skid that mostly included one-score losses.
Following a 56-14 victory over Colorado that ended that skid, the Cougs even hung tough against undefeated rival Washington, ultimately losing on a last-second field goal.
But things will be much different in Pullman in 2024, for a number of reasons. The biggest? Wazzu will no longer be playing against a loaded Pac-12. Unlike most of the conference that jumped to the Big Ten super league starting next year, the Cougs will remain in the Pac-12 along with Oregon State. The two teams recently reached a football scheduling agreement with the Mountain West that would add six games to each of their schedules next year.
The MWC had an overall record of 74-73 through championship Saturday. Washington State shouldn't have a problem reaching six wins playing more games against MWC teams next season.
Head coach Jake Dickert will have a big playmaker to replace in 2024, however, as Cougs quarterback Cameron Ward entered the transfer portal earlier this month. His backup, John Mateer, should compete for the starting job unless Dickert finds a signal-caller from the portal to add to his roster.
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South Carolina Gamecocks
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The Gamecocks took a step backwards in 2023 in Year 3 of head coach Shane Beamer's tenure. South Carolina missed out on a bowl for the first time since 2020, but there is room for optimism in Columbia looking ahead to 2024.
The biggest reason is the Gamecocks' 2024 recruiting class, which currently ranks 19th in the country per 247Sports. It is headlined by 5-star edge rusher Dylan Stewart, as well as 4-stars like OT Josiah Thompson, TE Michael Smith and LB Fred Johnson. All four of these guys are talented enough to contribute immediately next season.
Although the dates of South Carolina's SEC schedule for next season aren't set just yet, the Gamecocks have a pretty favorable home schedule. For starters, South Carolina will get non-conference opponents Old Dominion and Akron early in the year.
The Gamecocks also get home games against LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, Texas A&M and FCS Wofford. Beating Akron, Old Dominion, a Jimbo Fisher-less TAMU and Wofford seems feasible. Pair that with a win over either LSU, Ole Miss or Missouri at home gets South Carolina to five wins.
The Gamecocks unfortunately have to go on the road to play Oklahoma, Alabama and Clemson, but road wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky definitely seem doable. Depending on how the Gamecocks do against their tougher aforementioned opponents, South Carolina could be looking at seven or eight wins with a bowl victory.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
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Matt Rhule's first season as the Cornhuskers' head coach didn't exactly make a huge splash. Nebraska finished 5-7, including ending the season with four straight losses to Michigan State, Maryland, Wisconsin and Iowa.
But as most of the Pac-12 merges with the Big Ten in 2024, it looks like Nebraska might luck out with one of the more manageable schedules in the new conference. The toughest games on Nebraska's schedule include at Ohio State on Oct. 26, vs. UCLA on Nov. 2 and at USC on Nov. 16. The Cornhuskers benefit from playing UTEP, Colorado, Northern Iowa and Illinois at home during the first four weeks of the season.
The Huskers then go on the road to play Purdue, which finished 4-8 this season, on Sept. 28, and get Rutgers at home on Oct. 5. Finishing that slate with just one or no losses looks pretty feasible. To close out the season, Nebraska plays Wisconsin at home on Nov. 23 and at Iowa on Nov. 29. Next season looks like Nebraska's best shot to make a bowl for the first time since 2016.
As far as on-field talent goes, Nebraska will need to take a step forward at quarterback if it wants to play in the postseason. Rhule played three signal-callers this year in Heinrich Haarberg, Jeff Sims and Chubba Purdy. Haarberg finished with 967 passing yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions, along with 477 rushing yards.
Rhule spoke last week about preferring to develop existing quarterbacks on the roster as opposed to getting one from the transfer portal. Haarberg, who went 5-3 as a starter but completed just 49 percent of his passes, will likely need to improve if Nebraska wants to make a bowl game. If he does even slightly, Nebraska's schedule looks like it works out nicely for the Huskers to show some massive improvement in 2024.
Colorado State Rams
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Colorado State looks primed to make a big jump in head coach Jay Norvell's third season with the Rams. CSU finished 2023 just one game short of making a bowl game, going 5-7. Still, it was an improvement from Norvell's first season, as the team notched two more wins than it did in 2022.
The Rams' roster-building paired with their schedule make 2024 look like it could result in CSU's first trip to a bowl since 2017. For starters, CSU's 2024 recruiting class currently ranks 63rd nationally per the 247Sports Composite. That's second in the Mountain West behind UNLV, and ahead of the likes of Power Five foes Colorado, Cal, and Utah. Norvell also recently flipped 3-star ATH Chance Harrison, who had previously committed to Arizona.
Colorado State QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, who started as a true freshman, finished second in the conference with 3,460 yards passing along with 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Aside from CSU's Aug. 31 game at Texas, the Rams' out-of-conference schedule looks pretty manageable. It features Northern Colorado and Deion Sanders' Colorado team at home on Sept. 7 and 14, respectively. The Rams also get big conference games like New Mexico, Utah State, and San Jose State at home. CSU will have to play well on the road against Boise State, San Diego State and Fresno State in order to make a meaningful improvement.
But CSU's roster-building paired with the Rams' momentum heading into 2024 make it look like this could be Norvell's biggest year yet in Fort Collins.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
