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THE 2024 college football season will look radically different from any other campaign after a series of seismic changes in recent months.
Dramatic shifts in conference realignment will come into effect, while the postseason has been significantly expanded.
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In addition, two of college football’s most successful coaches have left the sport.
Meanwhile, ESPN College GameDay will also have a new look and feel – and begin the season overseas.
Here is a look at everything that is different for the coming campaign.
EXPANDED PLAYOFFS
In a highly popular move, the College Football Playoff is expanding from four to 12 teams.
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The field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, who will receive automatic bids.
The seven highest-ranked teams remaining will round out the 12-team format.
The move means at least one team from a Group of Five league gets in.
In a month-long tournament, the first round will consist of four games on Friday, December 20, and Saturday, December 21.
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The New Year’s Six bowl games – the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl – will host the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Meanwhile, the national championship will take place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20.
It is by far the latest the college football season will have ended.
In a major broadcasting change, games will be shared between ESPN and TNT.
In 2026, the CFP is expected to be expanded further to 14 teams following the onset of a new massive broadcast deal with ESPN.
COACHING CHANGES
The 2024 season will feel significantly different without two of its most high-profile coaches – Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh.
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Harbaugh, who led Michigan to the national championship last season, has joined the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL.
Meanwhile, Saban has joined ESPN as a broadcaster following his retirement from his legendary role at Alabama.
Saban coached 17 seasons at Alabama and built one of the biggest college powerhouses the NCAA has ever seen, sending numerous players to the NFL.
He won six national championships with the school – and seven total.
Saban has been replaced by Kalen DeBoer, who left Washington after leading the Huskies to the national title game, earning him his first AP Coach of the Year honor.
The Huskies fell 34-13 to the Michigan Wolverines in the title-deciding clash, suffering their only loss of the campaign.
In another high-profile move, Chip Kelly has joined Ohio State as an offensive coordinator after leading UCLA to three consecutive winning seasons.
Bobby Petrino is back at Arkansas as offensive coordinator.
Bill O’Brien has taken over at Boston College – his first college head coaching role since leading Penn State in 2012.
CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT
Three years after Texas and Oklahoma announced they would join the SEC, the Longhorns and Sooners are officially joining this season.
The powerhouses’ departure from the Big 12 sparked a seismic shift in conference realignment which still reverberates to this day.
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In total, 15 FBS schools will change conferences this summer.
The Big Ten has gone west by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington.
The conference now sits at an incredible 18 teams.
After losing Texas and Oklahoma, the Big 12 has added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah from the Pac-12.
The Big 12 had looked on the verge of collapse but now it is a thriving 16-team conference.
College football’s 2024 shake-up
Oklahoma and Texas switching from the Big 12 to the SEC is one of the biggest changes to college football in recent times.
And that has set off a chain reaction which has left the Pac-12 conference decimated.
The Pac-12 has lost 10 of its 12 members and is down to just Oregon State and Washington State.
Four of those teams are headed for the Big 12 – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
Another four are going to the Big 10 – Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
And the other two teams, California and Stanford, will join the ACC conference.
No teams have left the SEC, Big Ten or ACC.
The AAC (Atlantic Coast Conference) has gone coast-to-coast by adding Cal and Stanford, as well as SMU.
The Pac-12 now consists of just two teams – Oregon State and Washington State.
Meanwhile, the American Athletic Conference has added Army as a football-only member.
FIRST NINTH-YEAR PLAYER
In an oddity, Cam McCormick will return to the University of Miami for his ninth and final season of college football.
The tight end, who started his NCAA career in 2016, announced he was coming back for his “last ride.”
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The 26-year-old was originally a three-star prospect out of Bend, Oregon.
He was a part of Oregon’s 2016 signing class, featuring now Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.
As a true freshman, McCormick never played a snap, redshirting his opening season.
The following year, he played in 13 games as a reserve.
Then came an unfortunate run of injuries, including a broken leg in 2018, followed by complications that cost him the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Just two weeks into the 2021 season, the tight end was ruled out with a foot injury too.
In 2019, McCormick was granted a sixth year of eligibility, plus another the following year when the NCAA gave an extra season to all FBS players.
McCormick was finally able to play a full season in 2022, his last at Oregon, earning the Capital One Orange Bowl FWAA Courage Award for his perseverance.
Before transferring to Miami, he was awarded eighth and ninth years of eligibility.
ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY
ESPN College GameDay will kick off the new season in style when the iconic show travels to Ireland for the Week Zero clash between Florida State and Georgia Tech.
However, the flagship college pregame program has had to overcome significant turmoil behind the scenes in recent months.
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The live studio show will have a different feel this coming season, with Saban joining as an analyst.
Saban, who has joined ESPN in a wider deal, stole the show when he appeared during the 2024 NFL Draft in April.
“I’m glad to be a part of a team,” Saban said.
“That was something that I thought I’d always miss. This is our crowd now, so I’m all with them.”
Saban’s arrival immediately raised questions about whether the beloved Lee Corso would return to the panel amid recent health issues.
But Corso was quick to confirm that he had no plans to retire even though he will be 89 years old.
College GameDay will now feature six main panelists on the cast, including Saban, Corso, Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and Pat McAfee.
The biggest issue, though, concerned the return of McAfee, who joined the Saturday morning road show in 2022.
McAfee said late last year that he would return to the program but a deal had not been finalized by early summer.
The ESPN star questioned his value to the show after receiving harsh criticisms online from College GameDay loyal fans.
However, the former West Virginia and NFL punter ultimately decided to return and announced his decision in late June.
To help accommodate his ESPN commitments, McAfee is taking his daily show with him to Dublin for the college football season opener, which he is hugely excited about.
The August 24 clash marks the first time that college football’s flagship pregame show is coming from outside the United States.
“Yeah, I’ve got to get Guinness, pour a pint, do the thing,” McAfee said.
“What an honor.”
