4 Ways The 2024 College Football Season Will Be Unlike Any Other
Get ready to see some major changes in the 2024 college football season, one unlike any we have ever seen in the history of the sport.
The regular season schedule will look different, as major programs make bombshell moves to new conferences, new rivalries will be created, the postseason itself will take on an entirely new character, and fans should be treated to another surprise on the video game side of things.
Let's take a look at what will make the 2024 college football season so special.
1. Texas, Oklahoma join the SEC
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The first major move in college football realignment in about a decade was a huge one, when football superpowers Texas and Oklahoma worked behind the scenes to jump ship from the Big 12 and join the SEC.
In the process, the schools set themselves up to take advantage of the far more lucrative TV deal the SEC has at its disposal, and also increases the quality of competition they will face week-in, week-out playing in the conference.
In terms of pure brand matchups, we'll see some new and intriguing games between major blue-blood programs as Texas and Oklahoma go up against the likes of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, and others.
New rivalries are set to be created, and old ones should come back to the field, too, as Texas and Texas A&M are likely set to meet once again for the first time since 2011, while the Longhorns and Sooners could get reacquainted with former Southwest Conference rival Arkansas, as well.
More: Bombshell as Texas, Oklahoma to join SEC early
2. USC, UCLA will join Big Ten
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A year after the SEC's big realignment, we got another earthquake on the expansion front after the stunning news that the two flagship programs in the Los Angeles market, USC and UCLA, were heading to... the Big Ten?
Geographically it doesn't seem to make any sense — schools will now have to traverse most of the continent to play each other — but financially it certainly did, and money is the driving force behind everything in college football.
By adding two premier brands in LA, the Big Ten was able to sign a record-breaking media deal worth more than $7 billion over seven years and extend the conference's reach from coast to coast.
Plus, we should get regular matchups between schools that we usually only ever see in the occasional Rose Bowl: USC going to the Big House, to the Horseshoe, and to Happy Valley; the Wolverines, Buckeyes, and Nittany Lions heading out to the Coliseum and Pasadena. Fun matchups are on tap for fans.
More: USC, UCLA go B1G: Must watch games on new football schedule
3. NCAA Football video game returns
As things currently stand, we should see the popular NCAA Football video game back on shelves by the summer leading into the 2024 football season.
EA Sports has revealed that its popular college football video game is targeted to return to the market at that time after an absence of 11 years.
The sports gaming company said it was practically starting from scratch to completely re-create the game instead of just using the code from the Madden NFL games or trying to build on the existing 2014 version of the game.
One change to the game will be its embrace of the new NIL rules: ESPN has reported that any player whose name, image, or likeness appears in the game will be compensated for it.
More: EA Sports College Football Video Game to Return
4. College Football Playoff expands
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After much speculation, back and forth between conferences, disagreements, and the Rose Bowl holding things up for a time as it sought to protect its tradition, the College Football Playoff announced it had an official plan to expand to 12 teams in its postseason format for 2024.
What will it look like? Expect to see first-round byes for the top four teams and for some playoff games to be staged on campus.
+ The six conference champions that are positioned the highest in the top 25 rankings receive automatic berths to appear in the playoff.
+ The next six highest-ranked teams that are not conference champions will receive the next six at-large positions in the playoff.
+ The top four ranked conference champions receive a bye in the first-round of the playoff format.
+ First-round games are played on campus at the site of the higher-seeded team's home stadium: No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7, and No. 9 at No. 8.
More: What the expanded College Football Playoff looks like
More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | All Teams