Published: August 23, 2024
Big changes in college football – what you need to know
By Movieguide® Contributor
Big changes are coming to the 2024-25 college football season, including conference restructuring and an expansion of the playoff bracket. Here’s what you need to know.
“Ten of the former members of the Pac-12 will begin play in new leagues this fall. The Big Ten now has 18 teams, including USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon. The ACC gets SMU and two West Coast teams in Cal and Stanford. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah join the 16-team Big 12. Texas and Oklahoma move to a 16-team SEC,” TV Insider explained the conference’s restructuring.
These changes have required many televised games to be adjusted, but mean fans will have better access to the games.
Below you can see which conferences are broadcast on which networks:
ABC/ESPN: SEC, ACC, Big 12, American, MAC, Sun Belt and SWAC conferences.
CBS: Saturday Big Ten games and several games from the Mountain West and the military academies
Fox/FS1: Big Ten, Big 12 and Mountain West plus several prime-time games on Friday
NBC: Notre Dame games and “weekly primetime Big Ten games on Saturday”
truTV: 14 Mountain West games.
The CW: 11 games of Pac-12 refusers Oregon State and Washington State
The schedule for the first week of college football includes:
Saturday, August 24
Aer Lingus College Football Classic: Florida State vs. Georgia Tech (in Dublin), 12 p.m./11 a.m., ESPNThursday, August 29
North Carolina at Minnesota, 8/7c, Fox
North Dakota State vs. Colorado, 8/7c, ESPNFriday, August 30
Oklahoma Temple, 7/6c, ESPN
TCU at Stanford, 10:30/9:30c, ESPNSaturday, August 31
Clemson in Georgia, 12:00/11:00, ABC
Penn State vs. West Virginia, 12:00 p.m./11:00 a.m., Fox
Akron vs. Ohio State, 3:30/2:30c, CBS
Miami at Florida, 3:30/2:30c, ABC
Western Kentucky at Alabama, 7/6c, ESPN
Idaho at Oregon, 7:30/6:30c, BTN
Notre Dame at Texas A&M, 7:30/6:30c, ABC
Fresno State at Michigan, 7:30/6:30c, NBC
UCLA at Hawaii, 7:30/6:30c, CBS
New Mexico at Arizona, 10:30/9:30c, ESPN
Wyoming at Arizona State, 10:30/9:30c, FS1Sunday, September 1st
Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic: USC vs. LSU (in Las Vegas), 7:30/6:30c, ABCMonday, September 2
Boston College vs. Florida State, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN
The College Football Playoff is expanding from a four-team format to a twelve-team format.
“The new 12-team College Football Playoff field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, who automatically qualify. The remaining seven top-ranked teams will round out the 12-team format,” the NCAA reported. “The top four teams in the first round will receive a bye to the quarterfinals.”
Movieguide® already reported on the 2024-25 college football season:
With the start of college football season, head coaches face a new problem as the release of EA Sports College Football takes up many players’ time.
“That’s really all we do in our free time now, we play the game,” Michigan cornerback Will Johnson – the game’s top-rated player – told ESPN.
“When I leave here today, that’s my only goal: to come home and play,” added LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. during SEC media day.
This opinion is shared by almost all of the 11,000 players who chose EA Sports’ offer to include them in the game. The players not only received at least $600 for their name and image, but also a free copy of the game.
Now that the game has been released, many players find it extremely tempting to play as themselves or their team. However, with college football season just around the corner, coaches must now consider how the game’s popularity might affect their players in real life.
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