If you haven’t followed U.S. college football for a few years, what you see this season might make your head spin.
Name, image and likeness deals for players started dramatically changing the NCAA game in 2021. That’s been followed by a far more wide open transfer portal, along with major changes to the conferences and playoff format.
The 2024 season is going to be a brand new look for NCAA football, and it figures to get most interesting come the end of November and December.
Here’s a look at some of the key storylines.
Expanded playoff
After 10 years of a four-team College Football Playoff, we’re going way up to 12 teams this season.
That will prevent a scenario like last year when an unbeaten Florida State program was snubbed by the committee.
This new format sees the five highest-ranked conference champions get automatic bids. The seven highest-ranked teams also get at-large bids, so you’re still going to have some bubble teams left disappointed — albeit none with perfect records.
The four highest-ranked conference champions get first-round byes while the remaining eight teams square off at the home of the four highest-ranked remaining teams in the opening round.
The last three rounds are all at neutral sites. The quarterfinals are New Year’s Eve at the Fiesta Bowl and New Year’s Day at the Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The semifinals are at the Orange Bowl (Jan. 9) and Cotton Bowl (Jan. 10)
Atlanta hosts the national championship on Jan. 20.
Along with the playoff comes the usual array of bowl games, primarily open to teams with non-losing records.
Conference realignment
We no longer have a Power 5 because the Pac-12 essentially is a thing of the past.
We’re left with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Southeastern Conference (SEC), Big Ten and Big 12 as super-conferences. Long gone are the days when geography dictated where most teams play — the ACC now has two teams in California, which isn’t quite on the Atlantic coast.
USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington switched to the now 18-team Big Ten, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are off to the 16-team Big 12, while Stanford and California join the 17-team ACC. The SEC has 16 teams, including new editions Texas and Oklahoma.
Washington State and Oregon State, the remaining Pac-12 members, have a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference.
Those two schools now are in the category of Notre Dame — football independents that cannot win a conference title, so will have to aim for an at-large playoff berth.
Coaching changes
Two of the biggest names in college coaching no longer are in the NCAA.
After guiding Michigan to the national title in a year in which he was suspended for several games for recruiting violations, Jim Harbaugh left to take the head coaching job with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Former offensive co-ordinator Sherrone Moore, who was acting coach while Harbaugh was out, takes over as head coach.
Meanwhile, Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban has retired.
Former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, who guided that team to the national final last year, is now calling the shots for the Crimson Tide.
Heisman watch
The race for the top-player award appears to be wide open with eight of the top 10 from last year in NFL training camps, per AP.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel is considered one of the favourites. He’s trying to become the first two-time transfer to win after previously playing at Oklahoma and Central Florida.
Georgia QB Carson Beck, the top quarterback on most 2025 NFL Draft boards, also is seen as a serious contender.
AP lists Mississippi QB Jaxson Dart, Ohio State QB Will Howard and Kansas State QB Avery Johnson as other possibilities.
A quarterback has won the award seven of the past eight years.
Top teams
Georgia gets the nod as the pre-season No. 1 in the AP poll, followed by Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Alabama.
Georgia’s bid for a three-peat ended with a loss to Alabama in last year’s SEC final, ending the Bulldogs’ unbeaten season and taking them out of the playoff.
Georgia went on to beat Florida State 63-3 in the Orange Bowl.
Canadian connections
Many areas of Canada are within easy driving distance of major schools.
Those in southwestern Ontario aren’t far from the Big House in Michigan or Michigan State. B.C. fans can drive down a few hours to see the Washington Huskies, while eastern Ontario is close to Syracuse’s JMA Wireless Dome.
Smaller schools close to the border include Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and Toledo.
Stanford star receiver Elic Ayomanor, last year’s winner of the Jon Cornish Trophy as top Canadian in the NCAA, plays his first ACC game Sept. 20 at Syracuse.
Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke, younger brother of B.C. Lions star Nathan Rourke, is expected to be the starter for Indiana in the Big 10 after transferring from Ohio in the Mid-American Conference. The Hoosiers are at Michigan State on Nov. 2.
The schedule
While most teams start next week, four games are on the ‘Week 0’ slate on Saturday, including a Florida State-Georgia Tech ACC showdown in Dublin.
Highlights on this year’s schedule include:
No. 4 Texas at No. 9 Michigan, Sept. 7
No. 1 Georgia at No. 5 Alabama, Sept. 28
No. 9 Michigan at unranked Washington, Oct. 5
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 3 Oregon, Oct. 12
No. 1 Georgia at No. 4 Texas, Oct. 19
No. 10 Florida State at No. 7 Notre Dame, Nov. 9
No. 9 Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State, Nov. 30