College football in 2024 is set to undergo significant changes. In addition to introducing a new 12-team playoff, 15 teams will move to different conferences, marking a historic realignment.
This season will be remembered for these shifts, the expanded playoff format, and the implementation of several notable rule changes and transfer eligibility rules.
Keeping up with the realignment feels like a full-time job.
SMU is in the ACC, and USC and UCLA are in the Big Ten, which now has 18 members. If you haven’t been paying attention, you may be lost when the new college football season kicks off in late August.
So, what changes do you need to know about for the college football season?
Conference Realignment in 2024
In 2024, the Big Ten will emerge as the largest conference in the country, expanding to 18 teams. The ACC will follow with 17 teams, thanks to the additions of SMU, California, and Stanford. The SEC and Big 12 also grew, each fielding 16 teams.
Meanwhile, the Pac-12 has dwindled to just Oregon State and Washington State, which will enter into a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference.
This realignment brings thrilling changes, such as Oregon-Ohio State, Georgia-Texas, and Oklahoma-Alabama becoming conference matchups. With none of these conferences retaining divisions, the top two teams in each league will face off in their respective conference championship games.
So, with all this shuffling, what do the top conferences look like now?
SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt.
Big 12: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF, Utah, West Virginia.
Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin.
ACC: Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami (FL), NC State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest.
12-Team College Football Playoff
After years of negotiations, debate, and begging from college football fans, the long-awaited 12-team College Football Playoff is finally set to debut. The tournament will kick off on Dec. 20 and culminate with the national championship game on Jan. 20. It will undoubtedly dominate the headlines all winter long.
This expanded format ushers in a new era for college football, where the path to the national championship becomes even more thrilling. With the playoff growing from four to 12 teams, fans can look forward to more games, additional rounds, and increased excitement as the season unfolds.
The new 12-team College Football Playoff will feature the five highest-ranked conference champions who earn automatic bids. The remaining seven spots will go to the highest-ranked teams not already included, completing the 12-team format.
The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded Nos. 1 through 4 and receive a first-round bye. Seeds 5 through 12 will face off in the first round, with the higher-seeded teams hosting the games. The first round will look like this:
- No. 5 vs. No. 12
- No. 6 vs. No. 11
- No. 7 vs. No. 10
- No. 8 vs. No. 9
There is no limit on how many teams from a single conference can make the playoff, which means we could frequently see multiple teams from power conferences like the SEC and Big Ten competing in the same bracket — and possibly even more than three from a single conference.
Below is the action-packed schedule for the new 12-team College Football Playoff:
First round (hosted by higher seed)
Friday, Dec. 20, 2024: One game
Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024: Three games
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game, and Allstate Sugar Bowl
Semifinals
Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl
Friday, Jan. 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
CFP National Championship game
Monday, Jan. 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
New Transfer Portal Rules
A new transfer rule has been introduced, allowing all undergraduate athletes to transfer and play immediately if they meet specific academic requirements. This change to college football’s transfer policy comes after the Division I Council approved an emergency motion announced by the NCAA.
Previously, under the NCAA’s one-time transfer rule, players could play immediately at the first school they transferred to. However, if they transferred again, they were required to sit out one year unless they applied for and received a special waiver from the NCAA to compete right away.
With the new rule, undergraduate student-athletes must leave their previous school while academically eligible and in good standing — meaning they are not under disciplinary suspension or dismissal — and must meet progress-toward-degree requirements at their new school to be immediately eligible after a transfer.
For graduate transfer student-athletes, eligibility now requires earning a degree from their previous school, leaving while academically eligible, and enrolling as a full-time postgraduate student at their new institution while continuing to meet minimum academic standards.
The most recent fall/winter transfer window opened on Dec. 4, 2023, and closed on Jan. 2, 2024. This window provided athletes with a 30-day period to enter the portal following the regular season.
Over 2,000 student-athletes entered the transfer portal during this window, setting a new record. The spring transfer portal window was also shortened, and it will be replicated in 2025.
Here are the new dates for the 2024 college football season:
Fall Transfer Window: Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, through Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025
Spring Transfer Window: Wednesday, April 16, 2025, through Wednesday, April 30, 2025
New College Football Rules in 2024
Built-In Helmet Communications
In a historic first for college football, coaches can now communicate directly with designated players through a radio built into their helmets. This new system is designed to help speed up the time between plays.
The communication will automatically shut off 15 seconds before the play clock runs out. A green dot on their helmet will mark the player equipped with the sideline communication. This mimics the way coordinators and coaches communicate with on-field players in the NFL.
Timeouts and 2-Minute Warnings
College football has introduced a new rule with double two-minute warnings at the end of each half, occurring near the close of the second and fourth quarters. Despite these additional stoppages, teams will not be granted extra timeouts.
The new rule also prohibits consecutive timeouts, ending the practice of “icing” kickers. Furthermore, head coaches can no longer call a timeout before an offensive or defensive snap if their team just came out of a timeout on the previous play.
Film Viewing via Tablets on the Sidelines
Another rule change coming to college football, borrowed from the NFL, will be that players and coaches can now access in-game video on tablets while on the sideline, but they remain restricted from viewing highlights from previous games or practice films.
The approved videos include footage from the live broadcast and camera angles from the coach’s sideline and end zone, offering teams real-time insights during the game.
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