College football is back, with the 2024 season kicking off on Saturday, August 24, starting with Week 0 as No. 10 Florida State takes on Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. This game is the clear highlight of the day, with the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets kicking off ACC play overseas. Florida State, the only ranked team in action on opening day, is heavily favored, but Georgia Tech has a history of upsets and enough returning talent to make things interesting. The defenses may dominate early, with Florida State’s new quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and his revamped receiving corps facing a tough Georgia Tech secondary led by DB Clayton Powell-Lee. On the other side, Yellow Jackets QB Haynes King will contend with a formidable FSU pass rush anchored by DE Patrick Payton.
The action continues into Week 1, beginning Thursday, August 29, with several matchups:
- No. 11 Missouri vs. Murray State at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
- No. 12 Utah vs. Southern Utah at 9 p.m. on ESPN+.
- No. 22 Kansas vs. Lindenwood in Kansas City, Kansas at 8 p.m. on ESPN+.
- No. 24 NC State vs. Western Carolina at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network.
Among the Mountain West teams in action Saturday, Nevada is the only one hosting another FBS team. SMU begins its new chapter in the ACC with this road test. While Nevada isn’t expected to be a strong contender in the Mountain West, any struggles by SMU might raise concerns among their fans. Mustangs QB Preston Stone could put those worries to rest by getting the offense going early. Delaware State at Hawaii starts at 11:59 p.m. ET, where Hawaii will look to start Timmy Chang’s third season as head coach on a positive note. The Rainbow Warriors would do well to remember the 2017 upset when Howard, another MEAC team, defeated Mountain West member UNLV.
Preseason Top 25 College Football Rankings include Georgia (46) with 1532 points and a 2023 record of 13-1, followed by Ohio State (15) with 1490 points and a 2023 record of 11-2. Other notable rankings include Oregon (1) with 1403 points, Texas with 1386 points, and Alabama with 1260 points, all reflecting strong performances in the previous season.
The 2024 college football season brings significant changes driven by the pursuit of television revenue. The Power 5 conferences have been reshuffled into what is now the Power 4, with several high-profile schools switching conferences, and the College Football Playoff expanding from four to twelve teams, extending the postseason to a full month.
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Starting in 2024, the Big Ten will welcome UCLA, Southern Cal, Washington, and Oregon—four schools that have long been staples of the Pac-12. The Big Ten will now feature 18 schools, making it the largest conference in terms of membership. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) will expand to 16 schools with the inclusion of Oklahoma and Texas, both of which are moving from the Big XII. Although the Big XII is losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, it has bolstered its ranks by adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah from the Pac-12, bringing the conference total to 16 schools. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) will grow to 17 schools with the addition of Cal, Stanford (from the Pac-12), and SMU (from the AAC). The Pac-12 has been decimated, losing 10 schools to other conferences. The conference is now left with just Oregon State and Washington State, which will play against several Power 4 schools and have a scheduling agreement with Mountain West teams in 2024.
The driving force behind these shifts is television money. The Big Ten’s new media deals bring in $67 million per school annually, while SEC schools receive $51 million. In comparison, ACC schools earn less than half of what SEC schools receive, causing frustration and potential legal action from football powerhouses like Clemson and Florida State, who are seeking to leave the ACC.
For the first time in a decade, the College Football Playoff (CFP) has expanded from four to twelve teams. The 12 teams will include the top five ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams. There will no longer be a cap on the number of teams from the same conference in the CFP, and at least one non-Power conference school will participate. The playoff will feature first-round matchups at the home fields of higher-seeded teams, with the top four conference champions earning a first-round bye. The playoff schedule will run from December 20, 2024, to the National Championship on January 20, 2025, in Atlanta. Earlier this year, ESPN and the CFP agreed to a six-year, $7.8 billion media rights deal to broadcast the 12-team playoff format through the 2031-32 season. Warner Bros Discovery also entered a five-year sublicensing agreement with ESPN to televise first-round and quarterfinal games on TNT.
