Change is inevitable: What to know about college football in 2024 (2024)

The ACC will include: Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest (17 schools)

The Big 12 will include: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Brigham Young, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF, Utah, West Virginia (16 schools)

The Big Ten will include: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Washington, Wisconsin (18 schools)

The SEC will include: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georiga, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, , Vanderbilt (16 schools)

How we got here: For about three years, the college football world has known Texas and Oklahoma would join the SEC – the universe didn't know if it would be in 2024 or 2025 until the winter months of 2023, though.

In February 2023, the schools agreed to pay the Big 12 a total of $100 million to join the SEC in 2024 while multiple other contingencies were included to allow Texas and Oklahoma to leave the Big 12 a year early, including a portion of the exit fee going to FOX to compensate for the loss of broadcasting rights to seven Texas and Oklahoma football games.

In addition, a key part of the agreement was a change in a nonconference scheduling agreement between Texas and Michigan. The two schools were first scheduled to play in Austin, Texas, in 2024 and in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2027. But the agreement flipped, moving the Longhorn-Wolverine game to Ann Arbor to Week 2 this fall with FOX Big Noon on site to broadcast the game.

In response to the SEC's announced addition of Texas and Oklahoma in 2021, the Big Ten, in the summer of 2022, announced the additions of USC and UCLA – a shocking move that makes the Big Ten a coast-to-coast conference.

The Big Ten's poaching of the LA schools destabilized the Pac-12, allowing Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to publicly target the "four corner" schools, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah for about a year.

When the remaining 10 Pac-12 schools failed to reach a television rights agreement in August 2023, Oregon and Washington received invitations – at a reduced annual media rights distribution -- to the Big Ten while the Wildcats, Sun Devils, Buffalos and Utes packed bags for the Big 12.

"We are truly a national conference," Yormark said at Big 12 Football Media Days. "Ten states, four time zones and all eyes are now on the Big 12 for all the right reasons. And, I think it's safe to say we're more relevant now than ever before."

The deflection of eight Pac-12 schools to different leagues prompted Stanford and California, Pacific time zone schools, to accept an invitation to the ACC. SMU is sacrificing all revenue from the ACC to join the league this fall as well. The Mustangs are paying their own way to joining a Power Confernece league.

If you're a Big 12 football fan, the changes to conference championship games – and the qualifications to reach the Big 12 title game – shouldn't be anything new to you in 2024. ACC fans are also used to this new national dynamic, but only in theinfancy stages. Big Ten and SEC fans, though, will see a totally new format for determining league title game participants.

"I love our game. It creates a wonderful narrative. If you just look at this year's champ game (Texas vs. Oklahoma State) -- highest-attended ever," Yormark said. "Highest-gross ever, created a ton of excitement, more social media engagement than any other champ game in our history."

Gone are divisions across college football, which means division crowns are extinct. Instead, the top two teams from each conference will earn a spot in the conference championship game – and the five highest-ranked conference champions will earn an automatic bid to the 12-team CFP (more on that below). The four highest-ranked champions also receive a first-round bye in the 12-team CFP.

"We're committed to playing a championship game," the Big Ten's commissioner Tony Petitti said. "I think in the structure we're talking about, there's enough to still play for. It does mean something to win the Big Ten championship. Our fans really support the game and love it. We saw that this year. And the strength of it on a consistent basis is only going to improve with a no-division format. Now you're matching up two really, really strong teams."

How we got here: As the Power Conferences expanded past 15 members, the leagues recognized it wouldn't be possible for everybody to play each opponent very often in a divisional model. Instead, the conferences are ditching divisions in 2024, which allows more scheduling freedom in each of the four Power Conferences.

By selecting the top premier teams from each conference to play for the championship, each conference also aims to avoid a potential bid thief to the expanded CFP while also hoping to ensure access for the conference's best team each year.

Around the same time the SEC announced the additions of Texas and Oklahoma to the conference, a working group that included SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick among other leaders announced their plans for an expanded 12-team playoff.

It would take until Feb., 2024 for the official format to be voted on and approved – before officially beginning with the 2024-25 season. The format includes the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large bids into the field. It's been dubbed the 5+7 format.

The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive a first-round bye in the event, but the four conferences are not specified, meaning any conference could earn a first-round bye. Presumably, though, in most years, the four byes will be owned by the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC winners with the last automatic selection going to the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion. Notre Dame can't have a first-round bye because the Irish are an independent, meaning they can't win a league championship.

"The automatic conference champion was something that was important to the ACC, and I know it was important to other conferences," said ACC commissioner Jim Phillips.

The eight teams who do not receive an automatic selection to the CFP will play in the first round with the higher-seeded school playing on campus or at another site designated by the higher-seeded school. If a school loses the conference title game and is able to advance to the national championship, they will play 17 games – the maximum amount possible.

Seeding and selection committee rankings are not the same thing. A weekly top 25 will still be released, and will determine the highest-ranked conference champions but will not determine overall seeding. For example, if Ohio State wins the Big Ten title game and is ranked No. 1 by the committee and Oregon loses to the Buckeyes and is ranked No. 2, the Ducks would be the No. 5 seed behind the three other highest-ranked conference champions.

How we got here: It would have been possible for the 12-team College Football Playoff to be in existence for the 2023-24 season, but apprehension from the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 delayed the implementation of the format until the 2024-25 season. Ironically, the 2023-24 season would have been ideal for the 12-team CFP considering the number of teams who entered conference championship week in the thick of the race for a selection. Of course, 13-0 ACC champion Florida State was also left out of the final four-team CFP, making it the only time an undefeated Power Conference school was not included in the four-team CFP field.

There are four rounds to the expanded CFP, and games begin on Dec. 20. The national title game is one month later on Jan., 20.

First round (on-campus)

Friday, Dec. 20, 2024: One game

Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024: Three games (early afternoon, late afternoon, evening)

Quarterfinals (neutral site)

Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening)

Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (early afternoon), Rose Bowl (late afternoon), Sugar Bowl (evening)

Semifinals

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl (evening)

Friday, Jan. 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening)

National Championship

Monday, Jan. 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta

How we got here: There was a bit of a negotiation phase between the CFP and Rose Bowl, who maintained its desire to its exclusive January 1 television window – and the 'granddaddy of them all' risked not being included in the expanded playoff before coming to an agreement for its inclusion in the event. The first-round games on Dec. 21 will directly compete with NFL broadcasts with the Kansas City Chiefs playing the Houston Texanson NBC and the Baltimore Ravens hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers on FOX. From a television ratings perspective, it's risky for the CFP to attempt to compete with the NFL, which by law can begin playing games on the third Saturday of December because it falls out of the jurisdiction of the Sports Broadcasting Act 1961. The law prevents the NFL from airing games on Fridays and Saturdays beginning in the second weekend of September through the second weekend of December. Notably, the NFL didn't have to compete with the CFP games on Dec. 21, but it is choosing to because no sport generates viewers like the NFL does in America. College football is taking a risk by playing quarterfinal games against the NFL, perhaps it works advantageously. If not, the CFP can change the schedule for the 2025-26 CFP.

For schools that don't qualify for the CFP, they will still have an opportunity to play in a bowl game if they win six regular season games.

Traditionally, bowl season begins the second Saturday after conference championship weekend, which is now the same weekend the CFP begins. This year it's different, though. Bowls will start one week after conference championship weekend, with the first bowl being played on Dec. 14 with the Celebration and Camellia Bowl both slated for Dec. 14.

"That gives an opportunity for some team who just qualified for bowl games who are excited about the opportunity to play the game sooner," Nick Carparelli, the executive director of bowl season said. "And then to be able to get on with their recruiting. And maybe some of these guys who are entering the transfer portal will play that last game because they don't have to wait around too long and then go on and do what's best for them after that."

How we got here: December is the busiest month of the college football calendar with conference championship games, bowl games, the CFP, the opening of the early signing period and the opening of the winter transfer portal window. A year ago, the transfer portal opened on Dec. 4 and closed on Jan. 2, the day after the CFP semifinals. The early signing period was on Dec. 20, only adding to the recruiting stress for college coaches around the country. By moving bowl games a week earlier, there is hope that less stress exists on the sport in a challenging and consequential time of the year.

There are a few notable rule changes to college football in 2024, including coach-to-player helmet communication and a two-minute warning system, similar to the NFL.

Helmet communication is only available to schools at the FBS level but is not required. It's permissible for one team to use helmet communication and the other to not use the radio sets in the helmet.

Communication is between one player and a coach on the field and the radio is turned off with 15 seconds left on the play clock or when the ball is snapped – whichever occurs first.

On the sidelines, a team can now use tablets to review game footage live. Teams are permitted to use 18 tablets that can be used in the coaching booth, on the sideline and in the locker room.

The NCAA also approved a new two-minute timeout at the end of each half. The goal of the two-minute timeout is to reduce back-to-back TV timeouts – or the touchdown, commercial break, kickoff, commercial break pattern. It is not designed to add an additional commercial break each half.

"The two-minute timeout will allow all end-of-half and end-of-game timing rules to be simplified and synch up with this timeout," Steve Shaw, secretary rules editor said in March. "This will also help broadcast partners avoid back-to-back media timeouts."

Minimal changes to the rulebook include:

• Horse collar tackles occurring in the tackle box are a 15-yard penalty
• Conferences can use a collaborative replay review system
• Head coaches are now permitted to do a TV interview after the first and third quarter

How we got here: Is it a coincidence and a bit ironic that helmet communication and tablets are coming to college football a year after Michigan's illegal advanced sign stealing investigation occurred? Perhaps! But this is college football and it's a weird, wonky sport. Fans likely won't notice or experience many of the technological advances the sport is gaining in 2024, but graduate assistants won't be on the sidelines anymore in neon-colored shirts tapping all over their bodies like it's a game of Simon Says and the posterboards with mystery images in four corners will also be mostly obsolete beginning this year. If you've been playing the new video college football game, you've probably experienced the two-minute warning before it officially goes into effect this fall.