With the college football regular season coming to a close, and bowl games and playoffs nearing, it is important to know what will come next year. College football will look a lot different for coaches, players and fans alike because of some changes happening.
The biggest two changes for college football next year are the fact that numerous teams will join other conferences and a change in how the college football playoff bracket will look.
In the college football world, there are five main conferences. They are the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC), the Big Ten Conference (Big 10), the Big 12 Conference, the Pac-12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
After this season, the Pac-12 will lose all but two of its teams, “coincid[ing] with the end of the Pac-12’s media rights deal with ESPN and FOX.” The Power Five will be no longer, as multiple teams out west are moving into the east, leaving the Pac-12 with only Washington State and Oregon State remaining.
The most notable teams that will be leaving their conference for another in the upcoming 2024 season are Oregon, Washington, the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) who are joining the Big 10. Arizona, Arizona State, and Colorado will be joining the Big 12. Oklahoma and Texas will join the SEC. The University of California, Berkeley (CAL), Southern Methodist University (SMU) and Stanford will join the ACC.
Some teams, though, moved to other conferences during this college football season. Cincinnati, Brigham Young University (BYU), Houston and the University of Central Florida (UCF) joined the Big 12 this season. Charlotte, Florida Atlantic University (FAU), North Texas, Rice, the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB) and the University of Texas, San Antonio (UTSA) all joined the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Finally, Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State and Sam Houston joined Conference USA.
With changes to conference alignment, comes a change in the college football playoff makeup.
Currently, the playoffs include only the top four teams in the country, selected and seeded by the college football playoff selection committee. The number one seed will face the number four seed, while the number two and three seeds face off against each other.
Next year, however, the playoffs will include 12 teams. In the new bracket, the top four seeded teams will receive a bye week, meaning they do not have to play against a team, while four first-round games will take place between the eight other teams. Then, the bracket will progress to the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Altogether, 11 games will take place with the new playoff bracket change, instead of the current three and games will extend through late January instead of ending in early January.
Though change is inevitable, college football is built upon tradition. However, many believe these changes will allow more opportunities and chances for teams across the country.
