Saying the college football world has changed in 2024 is a great understatement.
As a result, it’s probably a safe bet those elementary school lessons in mathematics and geography won’t be any help either.
Now with 18 schools, the Big Ten hasn’t been able to count teams to match its name for years and now with just two programs left in what was the Pac-12, everyone is going to need a GPS to find where many teams are going to be playing this fall.
In perhaps the most unique situation, the Atlantic Coast Conference welcomes two schools from the Pac-12 as Stanford and California are joining a league that is based three time zones away from the Pacific Ocean.
Stanford’s first two ACC affairs are at Syracuse (Sept. 20) and at Clemson (Sept. 28) but keeping the rivalry with California was part of the deal.
“I think it’s really important,” Stanford Head Coach Troy Taylor said. “One of the things that makes college football great are the rivalries that have went on for a long time. I think it’s important with realignment, all these things that happen, the rivalries are something that’s really important. We got a great relationship and rivalry against Cal, right there in the Bay Area. We’re excited we were able to come over together.”
California is at Florida State in its initial league contest on Sept. 21.
“We’re incredibly excited,” Golden Bears Head Coach Justin Wilcox said. “I can speak for the coaches and the players. Not only the team, but our students, our alumni. We’re going to visit some new venues, new teams coming in. Couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the ACC this year.”
Big Ten
The new teams from the Pac-12 joining the Big 10 are Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
Oregon announced its arrival to Indianapolis for the recent media days with an inflatable duck in the White River.
“Obviously this is the premier league of college football and getting to be a part of that, getting to be a part of some of those storied traditions, play some of the teams that are in our future, I’m really excited about going to some venues we haven’t experienced.
Oregon Head Coach Dan Lanning said. “It also gives us an opportunity. We’ve always been a team that’s recruited nationally, but it’s made our footprint stronger in the Midwest. Whether it’s states in this area that we haven’t tapped into as much, it gives us an opportunity to recruit those states and give people an opportunity. We’ve always recruited East Coast to West Coast, but now having the opportunity to have some of those games played in venues that are close to the players we’re recruiting certainly helps.”
Big 12
Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah will be competing in the Big 12, which now has 16 football squads for 2024.
At the conference media days this month, Utah was picked as the league favorite heading into the season.
“It’s a transition we made before,” said Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham, who is his season in 20th season in Salt Lake City. “Although when we went to the PAC-12, we were a G-5 school, trying to come up a level, which there was a little bit of a curve there that we had to endure.”
“This is actually the fourth conference I’ve been in since I’ve been at Utah,” Whittingham added. “We were in the WAC, the Mountain West and the Pac-12 and now the Big 12. So nothing new for me personally as far as changing leagues. But we feel like we’ve got a roster that’s equipped to compete right away. Obviously, the media feels the same way as far as being picked the favorite. I think that’s a show of respect to our players and coaches that have done a great job competing through the years that the media has selected us No. 1.”
The Pac-2
Oregon State and Washington State are still technically in the Pac-12. Both schools have a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference and will play six contests against teams from that league. According to a Pac-12 press release earlier this month, the six bowl games that are affiliated with the league will still offer bids to all of the schools from the conference this season.
Adding to the confusion for fans of Oregon State and Washington State is the fact that other sports at the two schools are now competing in the West Coast Conference.
With all of the changes now in place it should be an interesting college football season as fans navigate the new landscape. We might just need to ask Siri for directions.
Editor’s note: Quotes, photos and logos courtesy of CollegePressBox.com.