New rules, notes for 2024 college football season

The 2024 college football season is here and this is everything you need to know from rules to notes for the year.

Did you completely turn the page on college football last fall in the midst of Michigan State’s horrendous season. Did Michigan’s run to a national title turn you off to college football completely? Do you now find yourself interested in again after some time away?

If you answered yes to these questions, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Here’s a quick recap of what you missed in college football from one of the most historic offseasons in the sport’s history.

Conference realignment

Even if you found something else to do with your time last fall, I’m guessing you heard that this was coming. Well, this is like that one-week courtesy reminder from your dentist. It’s happening this year. The Pac-12 as we knew it is gone. Washington State and Oregon State will play a hybrid schedule against the Mountain West in addition to a couple of non-conference opponents.

Texas and Oklahoma are now in the SEC. Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State joined the Big 12. Cal, Stanford, and SMU found a home in the ACC. And if that wasn’t enough, USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington are now in the Big Ten.

So, what does this mean? Honestly, for the viewer, not much. We’ll see a lot of matchups that we’re not used to seeing. Some of them will be good, like Texas vs. Texas A&M and USC vs. Michigan. Others will feel forced, like Stanford vs. NC State or Utah vs. UCF. But we’re getting the same amount of football. Traditionalists like me will moan and groan through this season, but after a few months, we’ll move on to something else.

 New TV assignments

While conference realignment doesn’t have much impact on the viewer, the presentation of the games themselves will look very different. The SEC enters into the first-year agreement of their agreement with ESPN this fall, meaning they’ll no longer hold the 3:30 time slot on CBS. In fact, that time slot now on CBS now belongs to the Big Ten. ESPN figures to go all-in with the SEC, placing the best game of the week on Saturday night. The Big Ten will counter that with national TV slots at noon (FOX) and in the evening (NBC). The Big Ten will also be playing a number of conference games on Friday night for the first time.

It will be interesting to see how ESPN juggles its new commitment to the SEC with its outstanding commitments to the ACC, Big 12, and other group of five conferences. Do higher stakes games from other conferences get pushed to subscription-based services in favor of the SEC? Do the American or Sun Belt conferences have any chance of getting exposure? How receptive will consumers be to the networks all trying to compete within the same time slots with big games?

Again, this isn’t a substantial change for the average fan or viewer. It just might require a little more research in order to properly plan your Saturday on the couch.

Expanded playoff

This is perhaps the most significant change that the sport has ever seen. The College Football Playoff has expanded from four to twelve teams. In addition to lowering the barrier to entry, we’ll now have an actual postseason bracket in college football.

There are some important details to note. First, the top four seeds receive automatic byes into the quarterfinals. Those seeds will be given to the four highest rated conference champions, regardless of record. So, yes, it’s possible a three-loss conference champion receives a bye while a one-loss runner-up is forced to play an extra game. Second, five automatic bids are given out. The fifth will go to the highest rated Group of Five conference champion. Outside of an anomaly like 2020 Cincinnati, the four conference champions from the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and Big 12 will receive byes. Seeds 5-8 will host seeds 9-12 in first round games on campus.

Third, the seven remaining bids will be handed out by a committee. There are no requirements in terms of conference representation, minimum number of wins, meaning it’s entirely up to the people of the committee. If you thought arguing between the fourth and fifth best teams in America was nasty, just wait and see what comes from arguing teams 11-14. These selections will undoubtedly be controversial because we have no precedent for what this committee values in this new process. Strap in. We’re in for a wild ride this fall.

Two-minute warning and electronic communications

College football will feel a little more like the NFL this fall with these two rule changes. The two-minute warning will occur at the two-minute mark in the second and fourth quarters. It’s important to note that unlike the NFL, the clock will still stop with each first down inside of those two minutes. While this may not sound like a huge change, it won’t take long for it to alter the outcome of a game. The two-minute warning essentially serves as a fourth timeout, which is crucial for any defense that is attempting to get the ball back to their offense. It’s one of the reasons why so many NFL games come down to the wire. It essentially forces an offense to pick up one more first down inside of two minutes in order to ice the game away. There are some college coaches that are notoriously bad at managing the clock. The two-minute warning in both halves will expose that.

The helmet communication will be available to one player on offense and defense. Coaches have the ability to communicate to their players up until 15 seconds are left on the play clock. While the intent was to eliminate hand signals and signs from the sideline, many teams have indicated they’ll still use them as a more efficient way to communicate with all 11 guys on the field. Teams will also have the ability to use tablets on the sidelines to review replays in real time.

New coaches, new teams, and a wide-open Heisman race

Two of college football’s most recognizable faces won’t be prowling the sidelines this fall. Alabama’s Nick Saban retired while Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh left to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. Saban’s departure set off a chain reaction of coaching moves. The Crimson Tide tapped Washington’s Kalen DeBoer to replace the legend. Washington replaced him with Jedd Fish from Arizona. Arizona brought in San Jose State’s Brett Brennan. Other notable coaching changes include Duke’s Mike Elko moving to Texas A&M, Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith going to Michigan State, and DeShaun Foster at UCLA.

A year after we saw six quarterbacks selected in the first round of the NFL draft, this year’s group lacks headline talent. That makes the race for the Heisman trophy wide open. Jayden Daniels won it last year after transferring to LSU from Arizona State. Another transfer, Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma to Oregon), is the favorite heading into the season. Carson Beck (Georgia), Quinn Ewers (Texas), Jaxson Dart (Mississippi), and Jalen Milroe (Alabama) headline the rest favorites.

Notable transfers Cam Ward (Washington State to Miami), Will Howard (Kansas State to Ohio State), and Riley Leonard (Duke to Notre Dame) will look to follow in Daniels’ footsteps and find a higher ceiling at their new school.