Big Ten Conference Preview - 2024

There are fine margins within the Big Ten Conference which makes it another one of the most competitive conferences in the country.

In last season’s NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament, only one team from the Big Ten Conference earned a spot (Indiana), which was surprising compared to the four teams that made it during the previous season (Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers, and Ohio State). Three of those teams in 2022 won their first round match and Indiana ended up making a run to the College Cup final.

For those unfamiliar with the competition, the Big Ten is a conference that has seen big shifts in the table year-over-year. For example, Maryland went from first place in 2022 and undefeated in conference play to winless in their 2023 conference campaign. To make the NCAA tournament, there are two stages of challenges that the Big Ten provides. First, you have to perform well in a conference where there’s no such thing as an easy win, then, you have to make your way through the Big Ten tournament, which has been consistently dominated by Indiana, who have won four of the last six championships.

Similar to the ACC who welcomed in new teams to their already competitive conference, the Big Ten is doing the same as the University of Washington and UCLA have since joined. This will make a difficult conference that much more difficult… I haven’t looked at who Washington have added, but the change of scenery might do them some good after a season where they failed to outscore their opponents on the way to a disappointing 5-6-7 record. The Huskies aren’t to be taken lightly just because of that recent poor season. As a reminder, they went 18-2-2 in 2021, losing to Clemson in the College Cup final, and 15-2-3 in 2022. UCLA is also a top program, having won four national championship titles in the past.

Here's a comparison of where each of the original teams stood at the end of the past three seasons:

Indiana University

With that introduction, Indiana University leads things off as one of the most impressive programs in the country. It’s not just the recent conference championship titles that I mentioned, it’s the 16 total along with the 8 national championship titles since 1982.

You can’t talk about Indiana soccer without talking about Jerry Yeagley. Over the course of his 30 years as the coach of the program (1973-2003), he never had a losing season and won 6 of the school’s 8 National Championships. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame as a result of his success. His son Todd has since taken over after appearing for the Columbus Crew over 150 times before turning to a career in coaching. His connection to the Crew is evident in the recruiting as well.

A couple of the notable names from the 2003 and 2004 National Championship winning seasons were Drew Moor and John Michael Hayden. Moor made over 400 MLS appearances while winning two MLS Cups and a Supporters' Shield. Hayden has been the head coach of the University of Louisville since 2019. The list of notable alumni is long and there has been a lot of success in life after Bloomington, so they’ve consistently recruited well and will continue to do so.

This offseason was highlighted by two huge incoming transfers. Indiana forward Samuel Sarver finished second in the conference behind Peter Mangione with 8 goals and 6 assists, but coming in third was Northwestern’s Justin Weiss. The native Long Islander started nearly every match at Northwestern and made the All-Conference First Team twice, most recently going 7 and 7 for goals and assists in 2023. Weiss travels to Bloomington as a graduate student and becomes yet another top weapon for Yeagley. He’s tabbed to be the replacement for guys like Karsen Henderlong and Maouloune Goumballe who finished 5th in points for the Big Ten conference and is now with Sporting Kansas City II in MLS NEXT Pro. Henderlong signed with USL Championship side Indy Eleven.

The other transfer is former Louisville wing back Quinton Elliot and I’ll give you one guess as to which MLS academy he came from… Elliot left the University of Louisville over the winter to join some familiar faces from his time with Columbus Crew 2. He’s been a highly regarded player since arriving in college, but after the recent Crew 2 signing of Owen Presthus, it appears that Elliot might be available if the organization officially decide he’s a surplus to their needs going forward. I imagine this season will be important for Elliot’s personal ambitions. One of his teammates from the 2022 season joins Indiana as a freshman. Soon-to-be 19 year old Jack Lindimore adds to the depth in the center of defense with a few years of MLS NEXT Pro experience.

As mentioned, Sarver had a great junior season and his team will call upon him again to make a significant impact. He picked up an All-Conference First Team award in the fall and then over the summer, he was chosen as the NPSL Young Player of the Year for his contributions to Akron City FC. His play has been described as dynamic and relentless, and he’s been doing it for years. He’s a product of the Columbus Crew academy and has been called up to the U17 US National Team in the past as well.

Unanimous All-Freshman Team selection Collins Oduro will be an important component of the Hoosier attack from the wing. As a freshman, he scored 5 goals and provided 2 assists. If he can follow up his performances with a successful sophomore season, he’ll be on the radar come draft time. Oduro isn’t just a random player that burst onto the scene either. He came into Indiana as the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022.

Midfield general and Toronto FC draft pick Patrick McDonald returns after an undefeated summer back at Salem City FC before heading up to get some valuable training with Toronto FC. He’s also coming off a First Team selection from last season. His center midfield partner will change though because of the departure of Hugo Bacharach. In the first half of last season, it was Jack Wagoner, and now with the addition of Luke Jeffus from Tulsa, it’ll be interesting to see the midfield pairings throughout the season. Jeffus began his college career on the 2021 Tulsa side that went 16-2-1 and included Alex Meinhard, Malik Henry-Scott and Til Zinnhardt. Before starting his graduate year in Bloomington, he spent the summer with Asheville City SC, who made it to the USL League Two National Semifinals. Seth Stewart will also be in contention after a summer with Bavarian United in the Milwaukee area.

Toronto FC also drafted Indiana captain center back Joey Maher, who will return to college for another season, but wearing a new jersey as a graduate student back in his hometown area with Saint Louis University, leaving younger brother Josh Maher behind as he remains with the Hoosiers. Oldest brother Jack was drafted from Indiana in 2020 by Nashville SC where he’s now in his 4th season. Jansen Miller rejoins the back line as the most experienced defender in the bunch. In USL League Two, he recently helped Ocean City Nor’easters win a divisional title. Vancouver Whitecaps defender Joel Demian is also in the rotation.

The Hoosiers started the season with 11 goals in their first 12 games but turned it on in the second half with 24 goals. The defense was stout throughout, recording 9 clean sheets and only 19 goals against in the 24 contests. Across a few of the major goalkeeping categories, JT Harms was credited with those clean sheets and a GAA of .783 to finish as a top 15 goalkeeper in the nation. The Columbus Crew academy product will go into his last year of eligibility before finding an opportunity in the professional level. I imagine he'll be further in demand if he can help lead his team to a College Cup final as he did in 2022.

Indiana is always a dangerous team, especially in tournaments, and this team is towards the top of the national contenders list. They made it to the NCAA national quarterfinals and lost to the College Cup finalist Notre Dame in a penalty shootout, so they were right on the doorstep and they’re an early season favorite to do it again.

In – Holden Brown (Indiana), Easton Bogard (Chicago Fire), Quinton Elliot (Louisville), Drew Gaydosh (--), Charlie Heuer (Chicago Fire), Miles Imparato (Chargers), Luke Jeffus (Tulsa), Nolan Kinsella (--), Jack Lindimore (Columbus Crew), Josh Maher (St. Louis City), Michael Nesci (Chicago Fire), Drew Thompson (Indy Eleven), Justin Weiss (Northwestern)

Out – Maouloune Goumballe (Sporting Kansas City II), Hugo Bacharach (Minnesota United), Karsen Henderlong (Indy Eleven), Brett Bebej (--), Quinten Helmer (--)

Transferred – Joey Maher (Saint Louis), Logan Oliver (Pittsburgh)

Penn State University

Tied in their regular season conference record and meeting Indiana University in the Big Ten Tournament Championship was Penn State. I was surprised they didn’t end up making the NCAA tournament after the kind of season they had. They were unbeaten against ranked teams, but three of those games were draws, if that’s worth noting, and maybe that’s what held them back a little.

The Nittany Lions lost a few top players over the off season, but many are also returning.

Most notably, they’ll be without captain midfielder and conference points leader Peter Mangione who eventually signed with FC Cincinnati 2. Along with Mangione, fellow captain Femi Awodesu also went undrafted in the MLS SuperDraft last December, but eventually earned an opportunity with Houston Dynamo 2 who ended up bringing in quite the cohort of college players over the winter.

I have a feeling that the 2024 team might be even more competitive. They only allowed 15 goals last season, finishing 12th in the nation right behind Indiana in GAA. The roster is basically the same and the players that have left the program have been swapped out for a likeness or have potentially even been upgraded.

In the midfield, it’s a who’s who of talented players. Minus Mangione, there are still several big time midfielders such as Freddie Bell, Caden Grabfelder, Sean Bettenhausen, Van Danielson and Ben Liscum. All of which played almost half or more of the season’s possible minutes.

They’ve also brought in two of the Ivy League’s best as graduate students. Brown’s Kojo Dadzie and Penn’s Michael Hewes are both coming off All-League First Team awarded seasons. Dadzie had 7 goals from the wing position and will likely take over for Samson Kpardeh and the now professional Liam Butts. Aboubacar Camara was supposed to join the attack, but I’m not sure what happened to the transfer because he’s not listed on the roster. He was originally announced to take over the number 9 shirt, but Atem Kato retains it. Camara looked good over the summer with Philadelphia Lone Star, and he led the Louisville Cardinals in goals during his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons before transferring to Kentucky. Chase Oliver ended his tenure at Wake Forest with his undergraduate degree and headed up north to play one last season with the Nittany Lions. Already having gotten some minutes with his new teammates over the spring, we’ll see what the chef can cook up in this new environment.

Penn State lost their starting right back and minutes leader Alex Stevenson, but his replacement looks like it’ll be someone who is familiar with the flank from last season and that’s Morgan Marshall. He and Stevenson often operated on the right side of the pitch together. Over his two seasons in MLS NEXT Pro with FC Cincinnati 2, he appeared 34 times and nearly half of those outings were at right back.

Center back pairing Momo Cisset and Samuel Ovesen are back as well. Everybody’s been talking about Cisset as one of the top players in the country to keep tabs on this season and that was before he became an Olympian this summer with Mali. After going unbeaten in U23 international friendlies leading up to the Summer Games, he was called up again to represent his country in the prestigious event. In his freshman season, across his 14 starts, it was more common for a Cisset led defense to achieve a clean sheet than it was to concede. He helped his team earn 8 clean sheets in those starts.

Kris Shakes ended up out west with New Mexico United, so the goalkeeping competition is on for incoming transfer Andrew Cooke, former Philadelphia Union freshman Jonathan Evans and Swedish sophomore Fredrick Grundin.

I’m excited about their upcoming season and they’ll certainly look to be a threat in the Big Ten title race as well as secure a place in the national tournament at the end of the year.

In – Chase Oliver (Wake Forest), Malick Daouda (CF Montreal), Christian Dionne (Connecticut), Andrew Cooke (Colgate), Jack Bonas (Villanova), Kojo Dadzie (Brown), Michael Hewes (Penn), Tyler Flowers (New England Revolution), Bryce Flowers (New England Revolution), Conor Clair (Philadelphia Union), Sebastian Delacruz (Weston FC), Jonathan Evans (Philadelphia Union)

Out – Femi Awodesu (Houston Dynamo 2), Peter Mangione (FC Cincinnati 2), Kris Shakes (New Mexico United), Liam Butts (New England Revolution II), Owen Elliott (--)

Transferred – Kaleb Alva (--), Diego Diaz (Temple), Cohen Weaver (Bucknell), Quentin Flowers (IUPUI), Samson Kpardeh (--), Ryan Aiken (--)

Michigan State University

Michigan State is most recently coming off a spring season in which they hoisted the inaugural College Spring League trophy after taking down powerhouse Marshall University in the championship game in Columbus, Ohio. A fall season ago, they also finished third in the Big Ten Conference with good defensive efforts throughout and they hadn’t experienced a loss until the second to last game of the regular season. The Spartans went 7-2-7 overall and in 13 of those 16 games, they held their opponent to one goal or less. With only 23 goals scored throughout the year, nearly half of their games resulted in draws though. It was a respectable season, but there will definitely be feelings within the program that they can achieve more.

They’ve been on an NCAA tournament drought ever since their 2018 NCAA College Cup run and it sounds like there was increasing frustration that has since been overcome. During this extended dip in form, Michigan State went 3-12-3 (2019), 4-7-0 (2020) and 6-9-2 in back-to-back seasons (2021-22). Apparently, there was noticeable negativity and finger pointing around the locker room in 2022, but that looks to be a thing of the past and the environment has become much more positive lately, and it’s been showing in the recent results.

One of the neat features of Damon Rensing’s roster is that 20 of the 28 players are either originally from, or have ties to the state of Michigan.

The only All-Conference First Team selection was one of those Michigan natives Jonathan Stout. The winger is a top contributor to the Spartan attack with 5 goals in the fall season before sharing the Golden Boot title with Alvaro Garcia Pascual and Stefan Dobrijevic for the College Spring League with 4 goals to his account. He most recently helped Midwest United clinch a playoff berth in USL League Two over the summer.

I was able to see a couple of the others in person since they made their way to North Carolina for their USL League Two summers. Cristiano Bruletti and Jake Spadafora both had good showings during their time with Salem City FC and Charlotte Eagles. For Bruletti’s early days in college, the recently turned 20 year old attended the University of South Carolina where he garnered 2 goals and 2 assists in his 1,204 freshman minutes before eventually moving back to his home state. In the fall, he added another 1,209 minutes of midfield experience. After jumping into the Salem City line up as the replacement for Patrick McDonald, he scored a great goal in what I think was his first game with the club. His team will be counting on him again as the program looks to make the next step. Spadafora has also seen success in his early college career. Since 2022, he has earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team recognition as well as an All-Conference Second Team award as a sophomore. Throughout his childhood, he moved a few times before landing an opportunity with the Philadelphia Union organization on his way towards attending Michigan State.

Other top returners to keep an eye on are right back Jeremy Sharp and Irish scoring leading attacking midfielder Sean Kerrigan, who was also with Salem City FC a couple months ago. Sharp had three goals for nearby Union FC Macomb, so let’s see if he can improve upon his goal and 5 assists from the 2023 season. With the departure of Elijah Howe, Josh Adam should be back in the starting eleven at center back or Josh Mason will see increased opportunities.

Serving behind Sharp, Adam, Mason and Eby in goal is recent College Spring League MVP recipient goalkeeper Zac Kelly. I should also probably mention that Will Eby was a unanimous selection for the All-Freshman Team last season.

Mohamed Saad is an important addition to this team and I’d be surprised if he wasn’t named the starting center forward. As I’ve said in other articles, just because somebody comes into college as an MLS NEXT product doesn’t guarantee they’ll get meaningful minutes in college nor ultimately make it to the professional level, but in this case, for a team that need a true number 9 to lead the line, I expect he’ll get opportunities as a freshman. He comes into Lansing with a couple of goals in NEXT Pro over the spring against Huntsville City and Toronto FC II. Saad has been with Columbus Crew 2 for the past two seasons.

Only one team was able to beat Michigan State and that was Ohio State, twice at the end of the season, so the Spartans can hang with anybody. I think the Big Ten will end up with multiple teams in the NCAA tournament at the end of the season and Michigan State could be one of them.

In – Ryan Van De Winkle (Loyola Chicago), Shion Soga (South Florida), Mohamed Saad (Columbus Crew 2), Brandon Munson (Tampa Bay United), Jake Grekowicz (Nashville SC), Levin Gerhardt (CSUN)

Out – Jack Zugay (Duke), Chase Inscho (--), Elijah Howe (--), Greyson Mercer (--), Jacob Cromer (--)

Northwestern University

Northwestern ended up finishing 4th after going unbeaten in the first 12 games of the season. They fell to consecutive 2-1 losses against Penn State and Michigan State before beating conference leader Indiana in the second to last regular season match. The Wildcats slipped up again though, having lost in back-to-back contests to the Michigan Wolverines which dashed their hopes of a national tournament opportunity, ultimately registering a 10-4-3 record. It was a big improvement from the season prior when they went 3-9-5.

Of the three First Team selections from Northwestern, the one who won’t be returning after having graduated will be Justin Weiss. The other two will be coming back after leading the team in minutes. Midfielder Collin McCamy and central defender Nigel Prince will continue to play important roles in a team that will hope to contend in the Big Ten. 

Like Penn State’s Momo Cisset, a lot of attention will be paid to Fritz Volmar as one of the top young prospects at the college level. He was a staple in the line up as the left wing back, starting all but one match while playing the third most minutes in 2023. His performances saw him become a unanimous All-Freshman Team selection, and over the summer, he was called up to the United States U20 Men’s National Team for the Concacaf Championships.

Joining McCamy in the midfield once again will be Jason Gajadhar, who notably was named to the All-Freshman Team in 2022. Joe Suchecki transferred in from Maryland as well. During the summer, he played at Manhattan SC with new teammate and former NYCFC academy midfielder Tyler Glassberg.

Not only is the back line intact but they’ve also welcomed in experienced veteran Bryce LeBel on top of it. The former Louisville and New York Red Bulls defender made his professional debut at 16 years old and will team up with a back line that all made their professional level debuts as teenagers — Prince for Atlanta United 2 (2021), Volmar for St. Louis City 2 (2022) and Clagette for Atlanta United 2 (2019). Reese Mayer is also back as a graduate student, so I could see the formation going to a 3-5-2 with “Thaggard and Thad” up top. Protecting the net will likely be Rafa Ponce de Leon. In his three starts last season, he only allowed one goal while going unbeaten.

It won’t be the same old conference, so that’ll be the test for an aspirational Northwestern team. The defense will need to continue to show its strength and the attack will have to make up for the loss of Weiss.

In – Joe Suchecki (Maryland), Bryce LeBel (Louisville), Thaddaeus Dewing (Air Force), Luke Shreiner (FC Dallas), Joel Ineh (FC Cincinnati), Aidan O’Neill (FC United), Michael Ramirez (Chicago Fire)

Out – Jackson Weyman (--), Ugo Achara Jr. (--), Rom Brown (--), Justin Weiss (Indiana)

University of Michigan

Michigan haven’t made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and they only had a 5-6-7 (.472) record this past season, but don’t let that distract you from what Chaka Daley has going on in Ann Arbor.

Looking at their record, you might not realize some of the successes of a team that is undergoing a rebuild of sorts.

There was no way of knowing that both Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and California Baptist University (CBU) would have ended up making the NCAA tournament, but at the start of the season, Michigan welcomed the Southern California teams into U-M Soccer Stadium. Michigan was able to draw their opening match against LMU who ultimately reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament having overcame UC Irvine, UCLA, and James Madison. A few days later, Michigan went on to beat California Baptist with goals from Alex Waggoner and Bryce Blevins in a 2-0 victory. CBU ended their season with a second consecutive conference title and a First Round win over San Diego in the NCAA tournament before losing to Marshall.

The Wolverines followed up those performances with a 1-1 draw against the 9th ranked University of Akron. They achieved the stalemate despite playing with 10 men for the last half hour of the match. For the next few weeks though, it was tough sledding, as they dropped three of the four next matches with the other being a draw. From there, Michigan had a bunch of conference draws, three of which were scoreless. Given the challenging opponents and being out shot on each of those four occasions, there are some positives to take away, one being their defense held strong despite some fresh faces in the back.

After two big losses against eventual College Cup finalist Notre Dame and Big Ten joint front runners Penn State, Michigan put up a good fight to close out the season. They took care of Cleveland State before beating Northwestern twice, which pretty much derailed the Wildcats outside hopes of an NCAA tournament appearance. They even gave Indiana problems in the Big Ten tournament. By the end of the season, Michigan had only lost one conference game. This statement is true for a lot of teams, but going forward, they’ll need to figure out ways to turn some of these draws into wins, and a loss or two into draws.

Some of these achievements are even more impressive when you consider the fact that Daley started at least six freshmen in every match in this latest campaign. Traditionally, many freshmen around the country tend to have limited roles, so this group of teenagers were able to gain valuable experience. Selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, Matthew Fisher played the fifth most minutes for the Wolverines with 1,343. Fisher arrived from Sporting Kansas City where he was a captain of the U17 and U19 teams. Having signed an academy contract with the second team in 2022, the fullback made his professional level debut as a 17 year old under coach Benny Feilhaber. He contributed 3 assists in his first season in Ann Arbor.

Goalkeeper Isaiah Goldson also made the All-Freshman Team. The Toronto FC academy product took over the starting job five games into the season before holding 5 clean sheets across his 13 starts. In front of Goldson was starting center back Will Baker. The 6’4” freshman from Frisco played 1,502 minutes leaving him second on the team in that category. Baker made several MLS NEXT Pro appearances with North Texas SC before making his way to the University of Michigan.

On the attacking side of things, Alex Waggoner was one of the top performers as he led the team with 6 goals and 20 shots on target. Waggoner joined the Wolverines from New Mexico United as another teenager who made his professional level debut ahead of his collegiate career. Last summer, he made 14 USL Championship appearances while scoring two goals. Unfortunately, he won’t be back in 2024 as one of the recent trends of this team has been the departures of center forwards. Nicholas Kaloukian did the same prior to Waggoner. It looks as though it’ll be Grayson Elmquist as he returns to his home state after a freshman year with Xavier. Throughout their team trip to Italy, he featured up top against Italian opposition. He was a star for the Indy Eleven Academy since 2021 where he helped win USL Academy Cup National Championships and an Academy Cup before going on to college.

Duilio Herrera was another one of the consistent freshmen starters, having made 14 starts and 18 appearances. It shouldn’t be too surprising that Herrera also follows the trend of Fisher, Baker, and Waggoner. He had played two professional level seasons in the USL Championship with Rio Grande Valley FC Toros from 2022-2023. Joao Paulo Ramos added 2 goals and an assist as well for the Maize and Blue. He played for Atlanta United’s U17 and U19 teams. During the College Spring League season, freshman midfielder Kyle Pierson popped up on the stat sheet with a couple goals. Pierson won the Gatorade Player of the Year and Mr. Soccer awards in his home state of Michigan in 2022 but didn’t make an appearance in 2023 for Daley.

As a Bryce Blevins fan, everybody probably knew I was bound to mention the stalwart midfielder. The captain grew up with quite a few years of experience over in Europe during his youth, most notably with Liverpool FC from 2013-2016. He’s a crafty and technical player who can play in nearly any midfield role. With a futsal background as well, he also has some flair to his game. When it’s all said and done, it’ll be interesting to see where he ends up and this summer, he was training with Charleston Battery with Jason Bucknor, so the USL route might be possible. I feel like he’s been slightly overlooked due to the average team performances over the years, but Blevins will be available for any team that decides to add him, after having gone undrafted in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. In his final season of college eligibility, I’m sure he looks to make it a memorable one.

Upperclassmen Jason Bucknor and Nolan Miller add a great deal of experience and quality as well. Both have MLS academy experience between Inter Miami and Columbus Crew, respectively. It’s kind of funny to consider a 19 year old a veteran player, but after two straight seasons leading the team in minutes played, Nolan Miller is a defensive leader.

With the departure of starting left back Moshtaba Al-Hasnawi, I don’t know if it’ll be Matthew Fisher moving over from his usual right back position, or one of the midfielders or defenders adapting to the role. Bucknor has been pushed forward in the line up lately, but has wing back experience and shows up on either flank at times.

Quin Rogers is returning with Blevins for a fifth year. He’s been a consistent starter for Chaka Daley as well. Senior attacker Michael Leon has the pace to be dangerous, so he could be a wildcard for the Wolverine attack if he pairs well with Elmquist. Another player that I hope to see more of in year two will be Murphy Parker. Growing up as a Newcastle United fan, his father Scott Parker was one of my favorites ever since the match where he lost a tooth against Arsenal back in 2005.

There are a lot of questions about this team going forward. With many talented young players and a good foundation having been built in 2023, the teams still need to take the field. It’s really anyone’s guess as to how the 2024 season will turn out for the teams of the Big Ten Conference, but Daley will have plenty of options when setting up his team.  

In – Rocky Perez (South Carolina), Beto Soto (Marquette), Pierre Lurot (Indianapolis), Grayson Elmquist (Xavier), Kamau Brame (Austin FC), Alen Bean (Bethesda SC)

Out – Bode Saul (--), Moshtaba Al-Hasnawi (New England Revolution 2), Riley Ferch (--), Erik Josson (--)

Rutgers University

Finishing with an equal conference record was Rutgers University.

As one of the stars of the team, Curt Calov initially joined Syracuse University in 2021 after winning a bunch of awards for his contributions at Delbarton High School. He was most notably named to the 2020 United Soccer Coaches All-America Team during their state championship winning season. During his freshman year with the Orange, he finished third on the team in points behind Deandre Kerr and Manel Busquets. Kerr has since made over 70 appearances for Toronto FC. Busquets is playing back in Spain with Segunda Federación side Torrent CF under manager Vicente Mir.

In 2022, Calov helped Syracuse win both the ACC Championship and the NCAA Division I National Championship after achieving a 19-2-4 record. In mostly substitute appearances, Calov once again finished top five in points behind teammates that have since gone to the professional level. Nathan Opoku (Leicester City), Levonte Johnson (Vancouver Whitecaps) and Jeorgio Kocevski (Orlando City) were those players. The creative attacking playmaker ended his time with the Orange by transferring to Rutgers University after totaling 8 goals and 8 assists in 1,868 minutes.

Back in his home state, Calov is working towards replicating that kind of success in the Big Ten Conference. Rutgers recently spent time in Spain during the spring as they look to be more competitive in this 2024 season. In 2023, they went 5-8-3. The team will likely need him to have his best season yet if they hope to improve. The highly technical and influential midfielder has great control of the ball in possession and on the dribble. Over the summer, Calov apparently went on a trial with Chicago Fire FC as well, so MLS clubs have been taking a closer look at him. Teams will have another opportunity to see him at Rutgers this fall as he enters his senior year where there will be added pressure to help lift this team.

After seeing more of him at FC Motown STA in USL League Two, the biggest departure from Rutgers is arguably Jason Bouregy who was a star of the division. He joined Villanova University as a graduate student after scoring 9 goals to finish top 20 in the league from the midfield. Leaving after only one season with Rutgers, former Philadelphia Union II winger Luciano Sanchez decided to pursue a career in Serbia and he’s now with FK Mladost GAT. Jace Orvos is also playing professionally in Hungary as another former college player who made his way to Europe. Matthew Acosta sought a step up in the form of a transfer and moved down to Chapel Hill to compete in the ACC.

Illia Tyrkus played with New York Red Bulls II in the USL Championship back in 2022 before moving under FC Cincinnati over a year and a half ago and Lenny Aviles might be another freshman to highlight as well.

Cole Cruthers is impact player that I thought had a great freshman season two years ago, so I’ll be seeing how he performs now that he’s an upperclassman. He’s a classic deep lying central midfielder from the Portland Timbers organization who patrols in front of the back line, connecting the defense to attack. Ciaran Dalton made 11 appearances for Hudson Valley Hammers this summer which adds a good amount of experience in a highly competitive division in USL League Two. He’ll look to get back on track with the kind of form that earned him a Big Ten All-Freshman selection back in 2022.

There were a lot of players coming and going since the last fall, but I have a feeling that Rutgers will improve upon their 2023 record.

In – Arnar Adalsteinsson (--), Scott Godden (Leeds United), Antony Morano (--), Lenny Aviles (PDA), Thomas Angelone (--), Dylan Carlson (--), Illia Tyrkus (FC Cincinnati), Eddie Krupski (PDA), Matty Lynch (Pennington), Kristofer Arnarsson (--)

Out – Saahb Kular (--), Cole Sotack (Rider), Gabriel Addo (St. Bonaventure), Jason Bouregy (Villanova), Nick Spittle (--), Jackson Temple (--), William Baker (Rider), Sam Delgado (William & Mary), Matthew Acosta (North Carolina), Luciano Sanchez (FK Mladost GAT), Colin Beasley (--), Jace Orvos (Cigand SE), Chris Tiao (--)

University of Maryland

The University of Maryland can’t be counted out due to one bad year. It was actually very uncharacteristic as the Terrapins had made NCAA tournament appearances in 22 straight seasons leading up to 2023. They’ve also won four national championships, three of which were under Sasho Cirovski who has been leading the team for over 30 years. It’s also a program that consistently produces professional players. Current fans of the MLS will recognize the likes of Ben Bender, Joshua Bolma, Jacen Russell-Rowe, Dayne St. Clair, Zac MacMath, Eryk Williamson, Donovan Pines, Chase Gaspar, and many more. Most recently, the Colorado Rapids selected Kimani Stewart-Baynes after he was given a Generation Adidas offer as a freshman.

The first player on the current roster is somebody who was mentioned in the same conversations as Stewart-Baynes when teams inquired about the electric Canadian winger ahead of the SuperDraft. During that time, Cirovski also made a point to bring up Kenny Quist-Therson to scouts, or at least that’s how the story goes. As a coach that has seen many professional players roll through his program, with that early backing, people might be paying closer attention to the Maryland native to see how he performs. He’s a versatile midfielder that can play a variety of roles, but I think he’s at his best in box-to-box positioning.

Nearly half of the roster in 2024 will be new to College Park as Cirovski brings in 11 players, 9 of which are freshmen. Based on some of their resumes, I’d expect them to get opportunities, so Maryland should be an interesting team for a few reasons. Obviously, they won’t go winless in the conference competition again, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of season they’ll ultimately end up producing. Other than that, who will emerge as the next top freshman? It would have likely been wide playmaker Owen Presthus who had originally committed to Maryland after having lit up MLS NEXT Pro this summer with a goal and 8 assists. Unfortunately for Terrapin fans, he ended up signing a professional contract with Columbus Crew 2 on August 8th and won’t be going the college route after all. His father was on the D.C. United teams that won the MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield trophies back in 1997 and 1999.

Another player with an inspirational father is Jace Clark who makes the short commute from his home city of Baltimore. Over the course of three seasons, the defender made 28 total appearances for Loudoun United in the USL Championship from 2021-23. Between joining the team ahead of the spring season and then spending his summer up with Cedar Stars Rush in USL League Two, he has already started to acclimate to the college level.

Lukas Michelbrink was expected to join the Terps, but it looks as though he signed a professional contract with his boyhood club of Hertha BSC this summer. Even though that would’ve been a great international addition, Cirovski will at least have the services of Danish forward Mikkel Lejbowicz. He grew up in the youth system of notable club FC Nordsjælland and scored 9 goals in 20 appearances as a winger for the U19 team back in the 2021-22 season. German midfield pairing Alex Nitzl and Leon Koehl are back. Besides the center back pairing, Koehl played the most minutes. In case you missed hearing about Nitzl’s resume, it includes playing for the U17 and U19 teams of Bayern Munich and the U19 team of TSG Hoffenheim. He also made appearances in the 2017 U17 World Cup. Koehl is from the Bayer Leverkusen U17 and U19 ranks.

Sasho Cirvoski mentioned that Presthus, Clark and Lejbowicz are expected to make an immediate impact. He also used those words when commenting on incoming transfer Max Rogers who joins the team as a graduate student after being an All-Ivy League First Teamer.

Some of the returning veterans include Mati De Jesus who was instrumental for one of my favorite summer season clubs Annapolis Blues in the NPSL. Highly experienced German center back Bjarne Thiesen will give it one last go in his final season of eligibility. He was once named as a United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-American a few years ago. In a three way tie for the most points on the team in 2023 was Luke van Heukelum with 4 goals and 5 assists. Stefan Copetti and Kimani Stewart-Baynes were the others, but are no longer with the Terps.

Two of the three goalkeepers that shared the workload last season have also left the program. Graduate transfer Hudson Blatteis joins the team from Brown University where he had 6 cleans sheets in his 10 starts. That’s something that Maryland would love to see continue if Blatteis earns the starting spot. They only managed 4 clean sheets all season last time out. When you dig into the results, the defense wasn’t that bad in 2023. There were only two games that they conceded more than 2 goals.

They should have plenty of options to test out as they work to get back to the NCAA tournament. The University of Maryland hasn’t missed consecutive NCAA tournaments since 1993, so of Cirovski’s 31 seasons, he’s only missed the NCAA tournament a remarkable three times… With that history of success, teams won’t underestimate them, and neither should fans. Anything can happen, but history implies that they’ll figure it out and contend.

In – Hudson Blatteis (Brown), Jace Clark (Loudoun United), Mikkel Lejbowicz (FC Roskilde), Laurin Mack (SC Freiburg), James Michel (Baltimore Armour), Alexi Mihalek (Tampa Bay United), Max Rogers (Yale), Aidan Sheppela (Seacoast United), Travis Thompson (NYCFC)

Out – Stefan Copetti (--), Kimani Stewart-Baynes (Colorado Rapids), Joe Suchecki (Northwestern), Kento Abe (--), Justin Harris (--), Tyler Prebenda (North Florida), Henrik Sakshaug (Houston Christian), Mikah Seger (--), Jamie Lowell (Marist), Jack McDaid (Columbia), Joe McDaid (Columbia), Seungeon Kim (--), Owen Presthus (Columbus Crew 2)

Ohio State University

Back in 1994, Todd Yeagley saw his teammate Brian Maisonneuve win the Hermann Trophy and now they compete against one another as head coaches ever since Maisonneuve joined the Buckeyes in 2018. In 2023, they equaled Michigan State’s 3 conference wins, but with 4 losses, they found themselves in 7th place at the end of the season.

They won’t want to repeat the kind of start they had in 2023. The offense sputtered early without having a multi-goal game until the 7th game of the season, but things picked up towards the end of the year with three wins before losing in the Big Ten Conference tournament semifinals.

There are a couple players to mention as we look ahead to 2024. On the final day of the College Spring League, I felt as though midfield all-rounder Michael Adedokun was a standout in a 3-0 win over Bowling Green State. Last fall season, he had 3 goals and 2 assists with All-Conference Second Team recognition.

Goals leader Luciano Pechota was one of five players to start every match in which they appeared, and one of two that started in all 18 games. He found the net 4 times from the midfield. At the high school level prior to college, he hadn’t experienced a loss in three seasons while winning the state championship in each. In 2021, United Soccer Coaches named him the High School Player of the Year while also being a two-time All-American as well as a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Ohio. He carried that success onward to Ohio State where he made the All-Freshman Team in 2022 and then the All-Conference Second Team in 2023. Pechota is an exciting and nifty playmaker with high technical ability and if he can help propel the Buckeyes towards a better season in 2024, I could see him being on the draft eligible list. He kind of reminds me of Braian Galván, formerly of the Colorado Rapids.

The other consistent starter was Laurence Wootton, who is now pro. He signed with the Chicago Fire organization, but is on loan at Indy Eleven until the end of the season.

The older brother of Indiana defender Joel Demian is Ohio State’s Nathan Demian. Having grown up in Vancouver with an Egyptian father, Demian has experience with both Canadian and Egyptian youth national teams at the U17 and U19 levels prior to college. Soccer tradition runs deep in their family and even their cousin plays for “the team up north” so the Big Ten Conference is something special for them. He didn’t play last season due to injury, but in 2024, he’s healthy again and played during their summer trip to the United Kingdom, so he’ll be back to play a big part in Columbus.

Season long starters Siggi Magnusson and Brayden Durbin will need to be replaced in the line up. Reinforcements have joined in the form of academy experienced freshmen, but for the most part, the roster hasn’t really changed much.

In – Nick McHenry (FC Cincinnati), Johnny Rush (Burton Albion), Nick Skubis (Tampa Bay United), David Ajagbe (Vancouver Whitecaps), Cole Evans (Chicago Fire), Luke Laramore (FC Cincinnati)

Out – Siggi Magnusson (--), Sean Ryan (--), Reed Davis (--), Peter Van Euwen (Bellarmine), Brayden Durbin (--), Owen Sullivan (--)

University of Wisconsin

The University of Wisconsin is a little bit more of an unknown for me personally, but they were tied with Ohio State and Rutgers on points to make up the bottom half of the table with Maryland. It’s a great town of Madison with a great campus, but I can’t admit to know much about the current roster.

Coming off a Big Ten All-Freshman recognized season, midfielder Trip Fleming will continue to be a first choice for the line up. He was the only field player to start every game for the Badgers. It’s not a surprise that he was thrown into the action immediately because in his two seasons leading up to college, he played a total of 39 games in MLS NEXT Pro for Chicago Fire II, contributing 4 goals and 6 assists across over 3,000 minutes. Fleming played his summer ball with the Long Island Rough Riders.

Teammates with Fleming in 2022 was center back Ryan Quintos, and in that MLS NEXT Pro season, he made 22 appearances and played the full 90 minutes in 16 of them. After starting 16 of the matches in defense as a first year player in college, he joined Fleming on the All-Freshman Team in 2023.

Birgir Balvinsson and Tim Bielic were named to the All-Conference Second Team, but only Baldvinsson will return as Bielic has now graduated with a Business Analytics degree.

In 2023, their defense held the opponents to nearly one goal per game, but the Badger offense also only averaged a goal per game. With 7 clean sheets, they achieved a 5-0-2 record in those matches, which showed that if Wisconsin were to be scored on, they struggled. Their record when conceding was 1-5-4.

New striker Omar Stefansson should have some chances to show what he’s got in his locker as the team searches for more offense. He joins after spending three seasons for the Fylkir Reykjavík first team in Iceland.

With some fresh faces in the team ahead of the 2024 season, we’ll have to see how they do in a tough conference. Wisconsin has only made 7 NCAA tournament appearances throughout their history, and the last time we saw them, it was 2017. They do have one national championship title to their history though (1995).

In – Adam Braman (Midwestern State), Ellis Jones (Oklahoma Christian), Roberto Burlew (Northern Kentucky), Matthew Zachemski (Sockers), Julian Kuhr (Gillingham), Omar Stefansson (Fylkir), Liam Chadwick (Cambridge United), Matisse Hebert (CF Montreal), Luke Shrivers (--)

Out – Tim Bielic (--), Nate Crockford (D.C. United), Jack Finnegan (--), Maxwell Keenan (FC Slovan Velvary), Bennett Pauls (--), Shirzaad Ghadially (Texas-Dallas), Cristian Torres-Gale (Edgewood), Mitchell Dryden (Marquette), Ryan Gallagher (Duke)