Kirk Herbstreit's dark horse College Football Playoff pick turns heads

There's plenty of room to compete for the expanded College Football Playoff, but Kirk Herbstreit's prediction out of the Big Ten would be interesting, to say the least.

College football analyst Kirk Herbstreit thinks an expanded playoff and a better roster could put one Big Ten team in the conversation. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

It's prediction season as the 2024 college football season draws closer, and with an expanded playoff set to host 12 teams in the run up to the national title, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit suggests that a dark horse can easily come out of the Big Ten and make a little run.

Who could that team be? One option might be Rutgers, coming off a 7-6 season that included a win in the Pinstripe Bowl, but whose schedule could pave a way towards something special.

"It's weird, you think about the Big Ten, obviously, what is there now, 18 teams? You go down your list, a lot of it comes down to the schedule," Herbstreit said on The Pat McAfee Show.

"Someone is going to come out of that conference that you really didn't expect, whether that's an Iowa, whether that's a, who knows. Whoever has the most manageable schedule. Rutgers has a schedule that's, by Big Ten standards, and this Big Ten world that we're in, they can make a little bit of a run."

Rutgers' schedule does look easier than last season's did: the Scarlet Knights played four ranked teams, losing them all, to Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, and Penn State.

But they pulled out a big win against Miami at Yankee Stadium to finish above .500.

This time around, Rutgers doesn't play any of those four teams, although there are significant road tests against ACC up-and-comer Virginia Tech and new Big Ten member USC.

While the Knights' passing offense was meager a year ago, the team picked up transfer quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who will pair with returning tailback and Big Ten leading rusher Kyle Monangai.

That's alongside an expected 10 returning starters from a defense that was top 20 nationally.

Rutgers still faces a long road ahead, with +10000 odds to win the Big Ten title and +80000 odds to win the national championship.

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