CFB countdown: 25 questions entering the 2024 season, Part 5

After a tumultuous offseason that led to massive overhaul felt throughout the entire sport, the 2024 college football season is officially upon us.

With significant changes across the landscape, theScore is tackling 25 pertinent questions to get everybody set for kickoff.

After previous installments covered conference realignment, the high-profile coaching changes, some of the nation's most important players, and teams outside the AP top 10 who could make a national title run, the final edition tackles the championship favorites.

5. Can Kotelnicki make Penn State explosive?

It's a safe bet that champagne bottles were popped at James Franklin's house when the Big Ten expanded and did away with divisions as a result. It was a fairly consistent script for Penn State under Franklin the past few years - pound everyone on the schedule not named Ohio State or Michigan, and then get crushed by one of the Big Ten giants. The Nittany Lions unfortunately resided in the same division as the Buckeyes and Wolverines and are a dismal 4-16 against those two programs.

But that's no longer the case in 2024, and while Ohio State remains on the schedule this year, there will be no Michigan matchup in the regular season. That, and perhaps the most important assistant hire in the country, should have both Franklin and the Penn State faithful feeling pretty good about a berth in the 12-team CFP and perhaps even more.

The hiring of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas came with a clear task - drive highly touted quarterback Drew Allar like the Ferrari he projects to be and not the used 2012 Toyota Camry that Franklin treated him as. At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, Allar possesses both the prototypical size and arm strength that grabs the attention of NFL scouts. However, Penn State's offense rarely let him put the pedal down in his first season as starter. He averaged under seven yards per completion, ranking ninth in the Big Ten among qualified passers - a very disappointing finish considering the lack of even average quarterback play in the conference last year.

Enter Kotelnicki, who followed Lance Leipold from Buffalo to Kansas in 2021 and turned the lowly Jayhawks into an offensive juggernaut during his three years with the program. Considering the amount of standout players the Nittany Lions return from a dominant defense, if Kotelnicki can get Allar and the offense cooking, a deep run at the title could be in the cards for Penn State.

4. Does Penix's exit clear way for Oregon?

Nobody is happier that Michael Penix Jr. took his talents to the NFL than Dan Lanning. The former Washington star had been Oregon's kryptonite the past two seasons with a 3-0 record against the Ducks, and those losses proved incredibly costly for Oregon's chances at making a push to the playoff. While Washington still resides on the Ducks' schedule in the first season of Big Ten action for both teams, Penix, coach Kalen DeBoer, and essentially the entire roster have moved on. That, along with a stacked squad and favorable schedule, make Oregon a prime candidate to both make the 12-team playoff and seriously contend for a title.

The two big dates on Oregon's schedule are a home game against Ohio State and a road trip to Michigan. Those also happen to be the only two ranked opponents on the schedule. The Buckeyes will certainly be a massive challenge, but the game is in Eugene, which should level the playing field. A road game against the Wolverines is equally daunting, but Michigan's roster from last season suffered significant turnover. The Ducks will be favored in every other contest on the calendar and should be able to overcome the loss of Bo Nix and Troy Franklin thanks to some excellent work in the transfer portal.

Nix starred with the Ducks, but Lanning didn't just grab anybody out of the portal to replace him. He locked in the Heisman trophy favorite in Dillon Gabriel. The Ducks also added UCLA passer Dante Moore as insurance and grabbed a new explosive weapon on offense with Evan Stewart from Texas A&M. With those pieces joining an experienced offensive line and defensive unit, the Ducks' first season in the Big Ten should be one to remember.

3. Texas or Alabama to avenge semifinal loss?

Texas and Alabama both found themselves on the losing end of the CFP semifinals last season, but they face very different tasks in returning there in 2024. The schools are now conference foes after the Longhorns made the move to the SEC, and Nick Saban no longer patrols the sidelines in Tuscaloosa. When taking that into consideration, it's clear that Texas has the better shot at getting back to the final four.

Thanks to the neutral-site contest with Oklahoma, the Longhorns actually play just four true road games this season, and one of those comes against SEC basement dwellers Vanderbilt. The Week 2 trip to Michigan will be difficult, but Arkansas and Texas A&M provide the other SEC road contests. Steve Sarkisian's outfit also gets to host mighty Georgia, while the Crimson Tide must make the trip to Athens this year. Add in the continuity of both the coaching staff and Quinn Ewers, and we'll take the Longhorns to make another playoff push.

Meanwhile, it's borderline impossible to replace Saban at Alabama, but that's the task awaiting DeBoer in Tuscaloosa. The man has won everywhere he's gone in college, but just winning isn't enough for the rabid Crimson Tide fans. They expect championships. The schedule didn't break too friendly in Year 1, with tough conference road trips to Tennessee, Oklahoma, and LSU on the schedule and a home date against Georgia to end September. There's also the challenge of replacing the leading three receivers on the squad and the insane production of star safety Caleb Downs.

It would be shocking for Alabama to experience a significant drop-off given the talent still around in Tuscaloosa, but Texas feels like a safer bet to hit the semifinal once again in 2024.

2. Will Ohio State's spending pay off?

Ryan Day boasts a 53-8 mark as head coach but might have less job security than anyone with such a sparkling record in recent history. That's simply what happens when three of those losses were against rival Michigan. The defeats caused Ohio State and Day to make some changes to both the coaching staff and on-field lineup for the 2024 season, and the final bill, according to ESPN's Jake Trotter, came to over $20 million in NIL funding.

Chip Kelly was willing to leave a Big Ten head coaching job for a coordinator role on offense. His $2-million salary along with defensive boss Jim Knowles' $2.2-million pact puts the Buckeyes on the hook for over $4 million in annual pay for assistants. On the field, there are plenty of returnees who could have left for the NFL, but it's the new shiny names that are attracting most of the attention.

Caleb Downs left Alabama for Columbus on the heels of Saban's retirement in what was a massive addition for Ohio State after his incredible freshman season in the SEC. The offense brought in Ole Miss star Quinshon Judkins to a backfield that already featured TreVeyon Henderson, and quarterback Will Howard will now be at the controls after the Buckeyes decided Kyle McCord wasn't the answer.

Road trips to Oregon and Penn State will present a challenge, and the annual rivalry game with Michigan will bring some drama to the end of the season, but it's hard to see anybody but the Buckeyes competing with Georgia for the title this season.

1. Can anybody stop Georgia?

In the team's last 48 games, only one man has been able to stop Kirby Smart and Georgia - his former boss, Saban. The Bulldogs haven't lost to a non-Saban team since Dan Mullen and Florida knocked them off in 2020. Their record since then is an absurd 46-2, a run that coincides with two national titles. With Saban now off the sideline and at the television desk, Smart is free to run all over college football yet again, and the oddsmakers certainly expect him to do so.

Carson Beck returns after a brilliant first season as starting quarterback in which Georgia's offense was fifth in the country in scoring and pass efficiency, even though offensive coordinator Mike Bobo was in his first year with the program. Yes, Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey are gone, but an experienced offensive line and great depth at the receiver position should ease those losses.

The staple of Georgia teams under Smart has been a lights-out defense, and that will once again ring true in 2024. Expect Mykel Williams to insert himself into the top of the NFL draft discussion with a monster season off the edge, and this campaign's game-breaker is Malaki Starks at the safety position. Starks rarely looked like a freshman last season and projects to compete for SEC defensive player of the year honors.

The only thing giving pause for a Georgia romp is one of the toughest schedules in the conference. Besides a Week 1 contest with Clemson, the Bulldogs have to travel to Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss - three teams that ranked inside the top seven of the AP preseason poll. Nevertheless, none of those teams are currently coached by Saban, so that should ease any concerns Georgia fans have this time around.