How conference realignment will impact college football in 2024

College football will look much different in 2024.

This year has seen plenty of realignment with the conferences as the Big 12 and Big Ten have added plenty of new schools, while the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has added Texas and Oklahoma.

With the big three conferences going to look much different in 2024, the landscape of college football could be much different starting with the college football playoff.

It was revealed that in 2024, the college football playoff would expand to 12 teams. It was massive news for college football fans and the 12 teams would be comprised of the six conference champions ranked highest by the selection committee plus the six highest-ranked other teams.

However, with the Pac-12 possibly going away, the college football playoff committee will need to decide if they will change how the 12 teams will be picked.

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Big Ten expansion: How will it impact their schedule?

The Big Ten has added Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA starting in 2024, and adding the four west coast teams will change the way the schedule is made.

The Big Ten announced a "Flex Protect Plus" model which will include 11 protected rivalries and eliminate divisions. The protected rivalries are Michigan-Ohio State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Indiana-Purdue, Michigan State-Michigan, Iowa-Minnesota, Illinois-Northwestern, Iowa-Nebraska, Maryland-Rutgers, Iowa-Wisconsin, Illinois-Purdue, and UCLA-USC, meaning those games will still happen every year.

With the Big Ten now being one conference, the schedule will see teams play certain opponents in both 2024 and 2025, which they are calling two plays. The two plays will change every two years.

Big Ten Chief Operating Officer Kerry Kenny said the two-year change of opponents is the best for the conference.

"It's done in two-year increments, so that allows you to be a little bit more responsive to competitive trends, responsive to changes in the postseason model," Kenny said. "Look, we don't know how the CFP committee is going to evaluate teams in this expanded playoff, but we're pretty darn sure that this model that we're putting forward and the depth of the games and the quality of games, that's going to send a pretty strong and significant message."

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Is the SEC still the premier conference?

For years, college football is the biggest in the South and the SEC. However, the Big Ten has tried to become a coast-to-coast conference and become the premier conference.

However, the SEC still remains the best conference in college football even after the Big Ten's expansion, although the gap is smaller.

It will be interesting to see if the SEC will add any other schools, but for now, it's still the conference to beat.