Viewer's guide to the new College Football Playoff
Everything you need to know ahead of most anticipated college football season yet
It's the dawn of a new era in college football.
After years of waiting for a bigger and better College Football Playoff system, the moment has finally arrived. A new, expanded 12-team postseason awaits at the conclusion of the 2024 regular season, complete with byes for the top four conference champions and on-campus home games for the next four highest-ranked teams. The Group of Five's top-ranked champion will also have a shot at the title as a member of the field.
The changes go well beyond just a new playoff format. After a whirlwind past three years of conference realignment, the college sports landscape has a different shape. There are West Coast schools in the Big Ten (USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington), Bay Area schools in the ACC (Stanford and Cal) and Four Corner schools in the Big 12 (Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado). Oh, and that doesn't even include the long-awaited move to the SEC by Texas and Oklahoma.
Conference schedules look different. Conference championships will as well, with divisions falling by the wayside. Old rivalries will be revived. New grudges will form.
Then there's the transfer portal (and NIL), which has caused a drastic overhaul in how college football rosters are built. There are plenty of new faces in different places, and many of them will have a substantial impact on this season.
With so much changing ahead of the most anticipated season in college football history, we present the Yahoo Sports Viewer's Guide to the new College Football Playoff. Let's go.
How the new College Football Playoff will work
How many at-large bids are there? How do they determine who has a bye and who hosts a first-round game on campus? Here's everything you need to know on the ins and outs of the new playoff.
How to watch college football after realignment-palooza
The offseason of conference realignment also means you'll need to recalibrate some of your viewing habits ahead of the 2024 college football season.
With the Pac-12 now down to two teams and the other power conferences expanding in size, Pac-12 After Dark is no more. But don't worry, we're still going to have plenty of late-night college football telecasts. Here's where you'll need to find college football games throughout the 2024 season.
12 most intriguing new things to look forward to
College football’s 2024 season is one of the most historic.
The year aligns with a slew of changes to the industry. You probably know many of them, like the expanded 12-team playoff, the realignment-triggered new power conferences and the player-to-helmet communications system now legalized in the college game.
As the season kicks off, here’s a viewer’s guide to the 12 most intriguing new faces, elements and rules in 2024.
Coaches on the hot seat
As one of the most anticipated college football seasons creeps around the corner, so too does a most unusual coaching hiring cycle. We are a couple months or, perhaps, a few weeks away from the last “silly season,” as it’s known, before college athletics moves into a revenue-sharing model with athletes.
The question looms: Will revenue sharing impact firing decisions and future coaching contracts?
Already, there are signs of cutbacks. For instance, at Texas A&M, some athletic personnel contracts now feature a clause requiring a reworking of the deal if/when revenue sharing begins.
As for the silly season, maybe administrators will give a longer leash to their guy.
Read more about the coaches on the hot seat from Ross Dellenger right here.
10 biggest storylines for the 2024 college football season
The new College Football playoff is here and there's now a "Power Four" with the Pac-12's fade into oblivion in progress. What else is there to be aware of ahead of the most significant college football season ever? Nick Bromberg has you covered right here.
Who are the favorites to win it all this season?
In terms of the odds, the race for the 2024 college football national title is among four teams.
Georgia and Ohio State enter the season as the clear favorites to win the first 12-team College Football Playoff with Texas and Oregon not far behind.
Here's where the odds stand at BetMGM with only a few days before the season kicks off.
Who are the dark horses this season?
Overall, nine teams have odds of 20-1 or better to win the national title.
Anyone behind those teams on the board can reasonably be considered a sleeper. Will any of them win the national title? Probably not. But if you look long enough, you can convince yourself that some teams have a case to win the national title. Here are the five dark horses that we’d consider outside of the main group of favorites.
What will the CFP look like in the future?
As college football opens a new era — the Expanded Playoff Era — questions linger about the not-too-distant future.
Will the Group of Five continue to be a part of the playoff? Will the SEC and Big Ten flex more muscle and demand more guaranteed spots in the CFP field? With a format that's locked in for only the next two years, there's plenty still on the table.
Ross Dellenger breaks down the latest on the future of the College Football Playoff — and who stands to benefit the most and least moving forward.
Heisman Trophy watch
You’re not going out on much of a limb if you’re predicting that a quarterback will be hoisting the Heisman Trophy in December. Just four non-QBs have won the award since the turn of the century and the trend is highly likely to continue this season.
Here’s a look at how the Heisman race stands ahead of the start of the 2024 season as many of the favorites are signal callers for teams likely to be in the conversation for the expanded College Football Playoff at the end of the season.
3 things to know about every power conference
Winning your conference is very important in the era of the expanded College Football Playoff.
The top four conference champions will receive byes to the second round of the 12-team postseason. With just four power conferences remaining following the demise of the Pac-12, a league title is essentially a guaranteed off week. So what should you know about each of the power conferences? We've got you.
Power conference previews: ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC
Group of Five teams that could make the playoff
The new playoff format ensures that the five highest-ranked conference champions will be included in the field — which means a conference champion from the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt will make the postseason.
There are a handful of teams who look to be a cut above the rest in those five conferences. Here are the six teams we think have the best chance of representing the Group of Five in the first 12-team playoff.
Familiar faces in new places
Along with all of the realignment changes, there were several major changes in the coaching ranks and in the transfer portal.
With Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban now out of the college ranks, who will rise up and hoist the trophy this season. We break down all of the faces in new places you need to know before the season.
Coaches under the most pressure
Some coaches can't be on the hot seat quite yet because they were just hired or are facing extenuating circumstances. That doesn't mean they aren't under pressure.
Alabama's Kalen DeBoer is filling some legendary shoes. USC's Lincoln Riley and Colorado's Deion Sanders are trying to bounce back after underwhelming seasons. Here are 10 coaches who may be feeling the heat if they don't get off to fast starts early this year.
10 teams poised to bounce back/disappoint
Whether due to injuries or outsized expectations, there were plenty of teams who didn't live up to expectations last year. And there were plenty that exceeded well beyond their fans' dreams.
How conference schedules will work
There are no longer any divisions in the four power conferences as the top two teams in the standings at the end of the season will play each other for the conference title. Given that each power conference now has at least 16 teams, there’s a decent chance at least one conference will have its title game participants decided via tiebreaker.
Here’s a quick overview of the schedules in each power four conference and the quirky tidbits that could play a factor into deciding a champion.
10 top non-conference games
With all of the conference realignment, the 2024 college football season will provide plenty of new, exciting matchups in the Big Ten, SEC and Big 12. Yet the non-conference slate also includes some games that could either be College Football Playoff previews or early indications as to which teams look like playoff and national title contenders.
Here are 10 of the top non-conference clashes on the schedule before grueling conference schedules begin.
Yahoo Sports' preseason Top 25
Which teams will make the inaugural 12-team playoff? Here's how Yahoo Sports has them ranked heading into the season.
25. USC
24. Texas A&M
23. Louisville
22. Arizona
21. Oklahoma
20. Miami
19. Oklahoma State
18. Iowa
17. Kansas State
16. Tennessee
15. Clemson
14. LSU
13. Penn State
12. Boise State
11. Utah
10. Florida State
9. Missouri
8. Michigan
7. Notre Dame
6. Ole Miss
5. Alabama
4. Texas
3. Oregon
2. Georgia
1. Ohio State
2024 college football season predictions
Which teams will make the College Football Playoff field? Which teams will play for the national championship and who will hoist the trophy on Jan. 20? Our experts dish out predictions for conference champions, the Heisman Trophy winner, biggest surprises, disappointments and more.
