The 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season will be the 155th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The regular season will begin on August 24 and will end on December 14. The postseason will begin on December 20, and, aside from any all-star games that are scheduled, end on January 20, 2025, with the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. This will be the first season of the new College Football Playoff (CFP) system, with the bracket being expanded to 12 teams.[1]
| 2024 NCAA Division I FBS season | |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 134 |
| Duration | August 24, 2024 – December 14, 2024 |
| Post-season | |
| Duration | December 20, 2024 – January 20, 2025 |
| Bowl games | 42[a] |
| College Football Playoff | |
| 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship | |
| Site | Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia |
| NCAA Division I FBS football seasons | |
← 2023 | |
Conference realignment edit
One school will play its first FBS season in 2024; Kennesaw State (from FCS independents) began its transition from Division I FCS in 2023 and will join Conference USA (CUSA) in July 2024.[2] One formerly independent school, Army, will join the American Athletic Conference in 2024.[3] SMU announced it would join the ACC in 2024.[4]
Overall, 10 schools from the Pac-12 are leaving for another conference in 2024. The 10 teams and conferences are:
- Big 12: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah[5]
- ACC: California and Stanford[4]
- Big Ten: Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington[6]
The remaining two schools in the Pac-12, Oregon State and Washington State, made an agreement with the Mountain West Conference (MW) such that each remaining Pac-12 team will play six MW teams in 2024.[7]
| Team | Conference in 2023 | Conference in 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Pac-12 | Big 12 |
| Arizona State | Pac-12 | Big 12 |
| Army | Independent (FBS) | American |
| California | Pac-12 | ACC |
| Colorado | Pac-12 | Big 12 |
| Kennesaw State | Independent (FCS) | CUSA |
| Oklahoma | Big 12 | SEC |
| Oregon | Pac-12 | Big Ten |
| SMU | American | ACC |
| Stanford | Pac-12 | ACC |
| Texas | Big 12 | SEC |
| UCLA | Pac-12 | Big Ten |
| USC | Pac-12 | Big Ten |
| Utah | Pac-12 | Big 12 |
| Washington | Pac-12 | Big Ten |
The 2024 season will be the last for one team as an FBS independent.[8][9]
| School | Current conference | Future conference |
|---|---|---|
| UMass | Independent (FBS) | MAC |
One FCS school, Delaware, will start the transition of its program to FBS in the 2024 season. It will play that season in CAA Football, but will not be eligible for the FCS playoffs due to NCAA transition rules. Delaware will join CUSA in 2025.[10]
| School | Current conference | Future conference |
|---|---|---|
| Delaware | CAA Football (FCS) | CUSA |
Rule changes edit
The following rule changes were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel for the 2024 season:[11]
- Implementing a time-out at the first dead ball on or after the two-minute mark of the second and fourth quarters (similar to the NFL's Two-minute warning). All timing rules such as stopping the game clock on first downs and implementing the 10-second runoff will be synchronized to begin at that time. Previously the use of the ten second runoff did not occur until the last minute of each half.
- Allowing use of coach-to-player communications via the helmet for one player (indicated by a green dot on the helmet), which would be turned off either with 15 seconds on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever occurs first. Also the use of tablets on the sidelines for in-game video only will be permitted.
- Division III will be adopting the first down timing rules that were implemented for FBS, FCS, and Division II in the 2023 season.
- Allowing conferences to use a collaborative instant replay system as a regular (instead of an experimental) rule.
- Horse-collar tackles within the tackle box will now be penalized as a personal foul (15 yards). Previously this action was not penalized within the tackle box.
- Head coaches will be permitted to be interviewed by the media at the end of the first and third quarters, making permanent an experimental rule.
Headlines edit
- January 25, 2024 – The Mid-American Conference announced that it would eliminate its football divisions, effective immediately. The championship game will instead involve the top two teams in the conference standings.[12]
- April 22 – The NCAA Division I Board of Directors announced the following:[13]
- Effective immediately, all student-athletes who meet certain academic requirements will be immediately eligible when transferring to a new school, regardless of whether they had transferred before. Previously, all transfers after the first, except for graduate transfers, required that the student-athlete receive an NCAA waiver in order to be immediately eligible.
- Also effective immediately, schools will be allowed to directly assist their athletes in reaching name, image, and likeness deals.
- After the end of the Pac-12 Conference's operating year on August 1, the conference will be officially removed from autonomy status, effectively turning the Power Five conferences into a Power Four.
Kickoff games edit
Week 0 edit
The regular season will begin on Saturday, August 24 with four games in Week 0.
- Aer Lingus College Football Classic
- SMU at Nevada
- Montana State at New Mexico
- Delaware State at Hawaii
Week 1 edit
- Aflac Kickoff Game:
- Clemson vs. Georgia (at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia)
- Vegas Kickoff Classic:
- LSU vs. USC (at Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada)
Week 2 edit
Conference standings edit
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Rankings edit
The Top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls
Preseason polls edit
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Postseason edit
There are 41 team-competitive FBS post-season bowl games, with two teams advancing to a 42nd – the CFP National Championship game. Normally a team required to have a .500 minimum winning percentage during the regular season to become bowl-eligible (six wins for an 11- or 12-game schedule, and seven wins for a 13-game schedule) if there are not enough winning teams to fulfill all open bowl slots, teams with losing records may be chosen to fill all 82 bowl slots. Additionally on the rare occasion in which a conference champion does not meet eligibility requirements, they are usually still chosen for bowl games via tie-ins for their conference.
College Football Playoff edit
| First round December 20 or 21 at higher seed Campus Sites | Quarterfinals December 31 (Fiesta) or January 1 (Peach, Rose, Sugar) | Semifinals January 9 (Orange) or January 10 (Cotton) | Championship January 20 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
All-star games edit
Each of these games features college seniors, or players whose college football eligibility is ending, who are individually invited by game organizers. These games are scheduled to follow the team-competitive bowls, to allow players selected from bowl teams to participate. The all-star games may include some players from non-FBS programs.
The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, which debuted in 2012 and was played 12 times through January 2023, was discontinued. The East–West Shrine Bowl relocated from Nevada (where its prior two editions had been played) to Texas.
| Date | Time (EST) | Game | Site | Television | Participants | Results | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 2025 | Hula Bowl | FBC Mortgage Stadium Orlando, Florida |
CBS Sports Network | Team Kai Team Aina |
[14] | ||
| Jan. 2025 | Tropical Bowl | Camping World Stadium Orlando, Florida |
Varsity Sports Network | American Team National Team |
[15] | ||
| Feb. 2025 | East-West Shrine Bowl | Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas |
NFL Network | West Team East Team |
[16] | ||
| Feb. 2025 | Senior Bowl | Hancock Whitney Stadium Mobile, Alabama |
National Team American Team |
[17] | |||
| Feb. 2025 | HBCU Legacy Bowl | Yulman Stadium New Orleans, Louisiana |
Team Robinson Team Gaither |
[18] |
Coaching changes edit
Preseason and in-season edit
This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2024, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled game but before its bowl game. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2024, see 2023 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.
| School | Outgoing Coach | Date | Reason | Replacement |
|---|
Television changes edit
This is the first year of a new 10-year television deal for the Southeastern Conference. SEC games will air exclusively on ESPN networks. ABC replaces CBS as the over-the-air television home of the SEC and exclusive television home of the SEC Championship Game.[19]
Oregon State and Washington State, the two remaining members of the Pac-12 Conference, have not announced a television deal for the 2024 season.
UConn's media rights deal with CBS Sports expired following the 2023 season.[20] A new television deal or extension has not been announced for the 2024 season.
Notes edit
- ^ 41 FBS bowl games plus the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
References edit
- ^ Thamel, Pete (November 30, 2022). "Rose Bowl agrees to deal allowing early CFP expansion in '24". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ Alexander, Nolan (October 14, 2022). "Kennesaw State to Join Conference USA in 2024-25". Kennesaw State Owls. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ Helwick, Steve (October 26, 2023). "Army will join the AAC in 2024: What to know about the Black Knights' conference move". SBNation. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ a b Russo, Ralph D.; Beard, Aaron (September 1, 2023). "ACC adds two Pac-12 schools to become latest super conference". The Salt Lake Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ Parks, James (August 4, 2023). "Big 12 votes to add Arizona, Arizona State, Utah in realignment move; Pac-12 responds". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ Rittenberg, Adam (August 4, 2023). "Big Ten adds Oregon, Washington as newest members in blow to Pac-12". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ Bonagura, Kyle (December 5, 2023). "What Oregon State and Washington State's agreement with Mountain West means moving forward". ESPN. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ Withers, Tom (February 27, 2024). "UMass will join Mid-American Conference as a full sports member in 2025, MAC commissioner says". Associated Press. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ Hernandez, Victoria (February 26, 2024). "UMass to join MAC conference, including previously independent football, per reports". USA Today. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ "CUSA Adds Delaware, Blue Hens to Join in 2025". Conference USA (Press release). November 28, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ "Football Rules Committee Proposes Technology Rules" (Press release). NCAA. March 1, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ "MAC Announces Future Football Schedule Formats for 2024-26" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. January 25, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ "Division I Board of Directors ratifies transfer, NIL rule changes" (Press release). NCAA. April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ "Caribe Royale Orlando Resort to Serve as Title Sponsor of the 2024 Hula Bowl". hulabowl.com (Press release). Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- ^ "TV – Trillion Tropical Bowl". tropicalbowl.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- ^ "Events". shrinebowl.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- ^ "Game Central". seniorbowl.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- ^ "Home". hbculegacybowl.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- ^ "SEC ESPN Deal Now Offcial ABC Replacing CBS Will Go Into Effect In 2024". SportsMediaWatch.com. December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ admin (2020-05-11). "UCONN AND CBS SPORTS AGREE TO MULTI-YEAR TELEVISION DEAL FOR HOME FOOTBALL GAMES". LEARFIELD. Retrieved 2024-02-02.