College Football Conference Shake-Ups, Expanded Playoffs & TV Networks: What You Need to Know

With major conference shake-ups and a triple-size playoff bracket, the 2024 college football season will be one for the history books.

Ten of the Pac-12’s former members begin playing in new leagues this fall. The Big Ten now has 18 teams with USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon in the fold. 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.

Television rights deals are the impetus for much of the conference realignment, and fans can watch more games than ever before:

ABC/ESPN

The SEC comes to ABC and ESPN networks, which also have games from the ACC, Big 12, American, MAC, Sun Belt and SWAC.

CBS

CBS airs a Big Ten matchup every Saturday, plus games from the Mountain West and service academies.

Fox/FS1

FOX Sports has games from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Mountain West, and a new Friday primetime slate airs on FOX.

NBC

NBC features Notre Dame games and weekly Saturday primetime Big Ten tilts.

truTV

The Mountain West has 14 games airing on truTV.

The CW

The CW airs 11 matchups from Pac-12 holdouts Oregon State and Washington State.

Top kickoff week games include:

Saturday, August 24
Aer Lingus College Football Classic: Florida State vs. Georgia Tech (at Dublin), Noon/11a c, ESPN

Thursday, August 29
North Carolina at Minnesota, 8/7c, Fox
North Dakota State at Colorado, 8/7c, ESPN

Friday, August 30
Temple at Oklahome, 7/6c, ESPN
TCU at Stanford, 10:30/9:30c, ESPN

Saturday, August 31
Clemson at Georgia, Noon/11a c, ABC
Penn State at West Virginia, Noon/11a c, Fox
Akron at 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, FS1

Sunday, September 1
Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic: USC vs. LSU (at Las Vegas), 7:30/6:30c, ABC

Monday, September 2
Boston College at Florida State, 7:30/6:30c, ESPN

The season boils down to the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, with Selection Day set for Sunday, December 8. The four first-round games take place December 20-21 on ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports. ESPN has exclusive rights to the remaining rounds, with quarterfinal games December 31-January 1 at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the Rose Bowl and the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Semifinals are at the Capital One Orange Bowl January 9 and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic January 10. The national championship game is January 20 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.