College Football Schedule 2023-24
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Navy | ND 42 , NAVY 3 | Sam Hartman 251 | Audric Estime 95 | Jaden Greathouse 68 | |
North Alabama |
@
Mercer
|
MERC 17 , NORTAL 7 | Carter Peevy 115 | Micah Bell 73 | Ty James 57 |
UTEP | JACST 17 , UTEP 14 | Gavin Hardison 208 | Malik Jackson 76 | Kelly Akharaiyi 102 | |
Ohio |
@
San Diego State
|
SDSU 20 , OHIO 13 | CJ Harris 204 | Jaylon Armstead 78 | Sam Wiglusz 103 |
New Mexico State | UMASS 41 , NMST 30 | Diego Pavia 248 | Taisun Phommachanh 96 | Christian Wells 68 | |
Fordham |
@
Albany
|
ALBANY 34 , FORD 13 | Reese Poffenbarger 253 | Nate Larkins 69 | MJ Wright 61 |
Hawaii | VANDY 35 , HAWAII 28 | Brayden Schager 351 | Landon Sims 38 | Pofele Ashlock 127 | |
South Carolina State |
@
Jackson State
|
JKST 37 , SCST 7 | Jason Brown 356 | Irv Mulligan 110 | Rico Powers 95 |
San Jose State |
@
USC
|
USC 56 , SJSU 28 | Caleb Williams 278 | Quali Conley 108 | Nick Nash 89 |
FIU | LATECH 22 , FIU 17 | Hank Bachmeier 333 | Shomari Lawrence 139 | Smoke Harris 155 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indiana State |
vs
Eastern Illinois
|
EASTIL 27 , INST 0 | Pierce Holley 244 | Evan Olaes 59 | Eli Mirza 82 |
Nicholls |
vs
Sacramento State
|
SAC 38 , NICH 24 | Kaiden Bennett 221 | Collin Guggenheim 74 | Terry Matthews 84 |
Elon | WAKE 37 , ELON 17 | Mitch Griffis 329 | Jalen Hampton 89 | Jahmal Banks 108 | |
Kent State |
@
UCF
|
UCF 56 , KENTST 6 | John Rhys Plumlee 281 | Johnny Richardson 100 | Xavier Townsend 81 |
Rhode Island | GAST 42 , URI 35 | Kasim Hill 408 | Marcus Carroll 184 | Marquis Buchanan 101 | |
Stony Brook |
vs
Delaware
|
DEL 37 , STNYBR 13 | Ryan O'Connor 346 | Marcus Yarns 107 | Chandler Harvin 100 |
Campbell |
vs
William & Mary
|
W&M 34 , CAMP 24 | Hajj-Malik Williams 226 | Bronson Yoder 124 | Jalen Kelsey 85 |
Tennessee Tech |
@
Furman
|
FURMAN 45 , TNTECH 10 | Ethan Roberts 204 | Dominic Roberto 59 | Brad Clark 73 |
Saint Francis U | WESTMI 35 , STF-PA 17 | Cole Doyle 230 | Jalen Buckley 194 | Dawson Snyder 87 | |
Connecticut | NCSU 24 , UCONN 14 | Brennan Armstrong 155 | Victor Rosa 99 | Justin Joly 38 | |
Valparaiso |
@
Youngstown State
|
YSU 52 , VALPO 10 | Michael Appel Jr. 155 | Tyshon King 111 | Bryce Oliver 65 |
Florida |
@
Utah
|
UTAH 24 , FLA 11 | Graham Mertz 333 | Micah Bernard 45 | Ricky Pearsall 92 |
South Dakota |
@
Missouri
|
MISSOU 35 , SOUDAK 10 | Brady Cook 172 | Cody Schrader 148 | Luther Burden III 96 |
Nebraska | MINN 13 , NEB 10 | Athan Kaliakmanis 196 | Jeff Sims 91 | Daniel Jackson 68 | |
Arkansas-Pine Bluff |
@
Tulsa
|
TULSA 42 , ARK-PB 7 | Cardell Williams 233 | Jordan Ford 110 | Marquis Shoulders 132 |
North Carolina A&T |
@
UAB
|
UAB 35 , NCA&T 6 | Jacob Zeno 291 | Wesley Graves 58 | Fred Farrier II 54 |
Lamar |
vs
Idaho
|
IDAHO 42 , LAMAR 17 | Gevani McCoy 164 | Anthony Woods 138 | Hayden Hatten 91 |
Northern Colorado |
@
Abilene Christian
|
ABICHR 31 , NORCOL 11 | Maverick McIvor 219 | Jermiah Dobbins 83 | Blayne Taylor 75 |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
vs
UC Davis
|
UCDAV 48 , TXA&MC 10 | Miles Hastings 251 | Lan Larison 109 | Trent Tompkins 73 |
Southern Utah | ARIST 24 , SOUT 21 | Jaden Rashada 236 | Cam Skattebo 71 | Xavier Guillory 73 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Howard | EASTMI 33 , HOWARD 23 | Quinton Williams 194 | Eden James 96 | Jamarr Ebron 79 | |
Miami (OH) | MIA-FL 38 , MIA-O 3 | Tyler Van Dyke 201 | Henry Parrish Jr. 90 | Gage Larvadain 80 | |
Central Michigan | MSU 31 , CENTMI 7 | Noah Kim 279 | Nate Carter 113 | Jaron Glover 75 | |
Georgia Tech |
vs
Louisville
|
LOU 39 , GATECH 34 | Haynes King 313 | Jawhar Jordan 96 | Jamari Thrash 88 |
Missouri State |
@
Kansas
|
KANSAS 48 , MOSTU 17 | Jason Bean 276 | Devin Neal 94 | Lawrence Arnold 77 |
Hawaii |
vs
Stanford
|
STAN 37 , HAWAII 24 | Brayden Schager 355 | Casey Filkins 67 | Benjamin Yurosek 138 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Virginia | TENN 49 , UVA 13 | Joe Milton III 201 | Jaylen Wright 115 | Ramel Keyton 66 | |
TCU |
vs
Colorado
|
COLO 45 , TCU 42 | Shedeur Sanders 510 | Emani Bailey 164 | Dylan Edwards 135 |
Arkansas State |
@
Oklahoma
|
OKLA 73 , ARKST 0 | Dillon Gabriel 308 | Jovantae Barnes 49 | Nic Anderson 68 |
Louisiana Tech |
@
SMU
|
SMU 38 , LATECH 14 | Preston Stone 248 | LJ Johnson Jr. 128 | Jordan Hudson 72 |
Utah State |
@
Iowa
|
IOWA 24 , UTAHST 14 | Cooper Legas 213 | Kaleb Johnson 63 | Terrell Vaughn 93 |
Boston College | NIU 27 , BC 24 | Rocky Lombardi 165 | Thomas Castellanos 67 | Kacper Rutkiewicz 46 | |
Ball State |
@
Kentucky
|
KTY 44 , BALLST 14 | Devin Leary 241 | Ray Davis 112 | Dane Key 96 |
Bowling Green |
@
Liberty
|
LIB 34 , BGSU 24 | Kaidon Salter 143 | Kaidon Salter 82 | Odieu Hiliare 59 |
East Carolina |
@
Michigan
|
MICH 30 , ECU 3 | J.J. McCarthy 280 | Blake Corum 73 | Roman Wilson 78 |
Purdue |
vs
Fresno State
|
FRES 39 , PURDUE 35 | Mikey Keene 366 | Elijah Gilliam 93 | Erik Brooks 170 |
LIU |
@
Ohio
|
OHIO 27 , LIU 10 | Luca Stanzani 172 | Sieh Bangura 107 | Quincy McDuffie 43 |
Lehigh |
vs
Villanova
|
VILL 38 , LEHIGH 10 | Brayten Silbor 206 | Jalen Jackson 144 | Rayjuon Pringle 40 |
Marist |
@
Georgetown
|
GTOWN 49 , MARIST 7 | Tyler Knoop 107 | Joshua Stakely 118 | Matt Stianche 28 |
Robert Morris | AF 42 , RMOR 7 | Anthony Chiccitt 99 | Zac Larrier 99 | Jared Roznos 95 | |
Western Carolina |
@
Arkansas
|
ARK 56 , WCU 13 | KJ Jefferson 246 | Raheim Sanders 42 | Jaedon Wilson 83 |
Dayton |
@
Illinois State
|
ILLST 41 , DAYTON 0 | Zack Annexstad 255 | Mason Blakemore 75 | Daniel Sobkowicz 90 |
Stonehill |
vs
New Hampshire
|
UNH 51 , STONEH 17 | Max Brosmer 284 | Dylan Laube 89 | Heron Maurisseau 78 |
Davidson |
@
VMI
|
VMI 12 , DAV 7 | Collin Ironside 239 | Rashad Raymond 62 | Aidan Twombly 83 |
Butler |
@
Montana
|
MONT 35 , BUTLER 20 | Bret Bushka 263 | Eli Gillman 119 | Junior Bergen 72 |
UNI | IAST 30 , UNI 9 | Theo Day 164 | Tye Edwards 72 | Logan Wolf 40 | |
Mercer |
@
Ole Miss
|
MISS 73 , MERC 7 | Jaxson Dart 334 | Quinshon Judkins 60 | Tre Harris 133 |
ETSU | JACST 49 , EASTTN 3 | Logan Smothers 127 | Malik Jackson 100 | Xavier Gaillardetz 69 | |
Akron |
@
Temple
|
TEMPLE 24 , AKRON 21 | E.J. Warner 292 | Drake Anderson 40 | Lorenzo Lingard 77 |
Merrimack |
@
Holy Cross
|
HOLYCR 42 , MERRIM 20 | Matthew Sluka 190 | Jordan Fuller 120 | Jalen Coker 136 |
Portland State |
@
Oregon
|
OREGON 81 , PORST 7 | Bo Nix 287 | Bucky Irving 119 | Troy Franklin 106 |
Grambling State |
@
Hampton
|
HAMP 35 , GRAM 31 | Myles Crawley 302 | Chris Zellous 114 | Lyndon Rash 90 |
Boise State | WASH 56 , BOISE 19 | Michael Penix Jr. 450 | George Holani 51 | Rome Odunze 132 | |
Rice |
@
Texas
|
TEX 37 , RICE 10 | Quinn Ewers 260 | Jaydon Blue 55 | Xavier Worthy 90 |
Massachusetts |
@
Auburn
|
AUBURN 59 , UMASS 14 | Payton Thorne 141 | Kay'Ron Lynch-Adams 101 | Anthony Simpson 89 |
South Florida | WESTKY 41 , USF 24 | Austin Reed 336 | Byrum Brown 160 | Dalvin Smith 97 | |
Buffalo | WISC 38 , BUFF 17 | Cole Snyder 194 | Chez Mellusi 157 | Will Pauling 55 | |
Eastern Washington |
@
North Dakota State
|
NDAKST 35 , EASTWA 10 | Kekoa Visperas 267 | Cole Payton 104 | Efton Chism III 79 |
Wofford | PITT 45 , WOF 7 | Phil Jurkovec 214 | Daniel Carter 65 | Tyler Parker 75 | |
Eastern Kentucky | CIN 66 , EASTKY 13 | Emory Jones 345 | Corey Kiner 105 | Xzavier Henderson 149 | |
Indiana |
vs
Ohio State
|
OHIOST 23 , IND 3 | Kyle McCord 239 | Chip Trayanum 57 | Cade Stover 98 |
Towson |
@
Maryland
|
MD 38 , TOWSON 6 | Taulia Tagovailoa 260 | Roman Hemby 58 | Corey Dyches 108 |
Tennessee State | ND 56 , TENNST 3 | Sam Hartman 194 | Audric Estime 116 | Jayden Thomas 62 | |
Gardner-Webb | APP 45 , G-WEBB 24 | Matthew Caldwell 221 | Nate Noel 115 | Jayden Brown 67 | |
Bryant |
@
UNLV
|
UNLV 44 , BRYANT 14 | Zevi Eckhaus 230 | Zevi Eckhaus 89 | Landon Ruggieri 109 |
North Texas |
vs
California
|
CAL 58 , NORTX 21 | Ben Finley 289 | Jaydn Ott 188 | Ja'Mori Maclin 122 |
Southeastern Louisiana | MISSST 48 , SELA 7 | Will Rogers 227 | Jo'Quavious Marks 127 | Jo'Quavious Marks 59 | |
Drake |
@
North Dakota
|
NORDAK 55 , DRAKE 7 | Tommy Schuster 262 | Gaven Ziebarth 112 | Bo Belquist 110 |
Colgate |
@
Syracuse
|
SYR 65 , COLG 0 | Garrett Shrader 257 | LeQuint Allen 107 | Umari Hatcher 105 |
Southern University |
@
Alabama State
|
ALST 14 , SOU 10 | Dematrius Davis 180 | Ja'Won Howell 36 | Kisean Johnson 107 |
UT Martin |
@
Georgia
|
UGA 48 , TN-MAR 7 | Carson Beck 294 | Kendall Milton 53 | Brock Bowers 78 |
South Carolina State | CHAR 24 , SCST 3 | Jalon Jones 125 | Durell Robinson 71 | Jack Hestera 46 | |
Monmouth | FLAATL 42 , MONM 20 | Casey Thompson 280 | Larry McCammon III 125 | Tony Johnson 91 | |
Bucknell | JMU 38 , BUCK 3 | Jordan McCloud 144 | Kaelon Black 125 | Reggie Brown 77 | |
Citadel | GASO 34 , CIT 0 | Davis Brin 244 | Jalen White 125 | Derwin Burgess Jr. 76 | |
Richmond |
vs
Morgan State
|
MORGST 17 , RICH 10 | Kyle Wickersham 169 | J.J. Davis 79 | Nick DeGennaro 46 |
Wagner |
@
Fordham
|
FORD 46 , WAGNER 16 | Steven Krajewski 334 | Julius Loughridge 85 | Trevor Shorter 131 |
Albany |
@
Marshall
|
MARSH 21 , ALBANY 17 | Cam Fancher 268 | Rasheen Ali 137 | Chuck Montgomery 81 |
Sacred Heart |
vs
Lafayette
|
LAF 19 , SHEART 14 | Cade Pribula 138 | Jamar Curtis 181 | Payton Rhoades 31 |
San Diego |
@
Cal Poly
|
CALPLY 27 , SD 10 | Sam Huard 368 | Isaiah Williams 82 | Tyrece Fairly-Diyem 129 |
Nevada |
@
USC
|
USC 66 , NEVADA 14 | Caleb Williams 319 | MarShawn Lloyd 76 | Jamaal Bell 121 |
Maine |
@
FIU
|
FIU 14 , MAINE 12 | Keyone Jenkins 292 | Tristen Kenan 108 | Kris Mitchell 201 |
Colorado State | WASHST 50 , COLOST 24 | Cameron Ward 451 | Cameron Ward 40 | Lincoln Victor 168 | |
Southeast Missouri State | KANST 45 , SEMO 0 | Will Howard 297 | DJ Giddens 128 | RJ Garcia II 119 | |
Central Arkansas | OKST 27 , CENARK 13 | Will McElvain 268 | ShunDerrick Powell 67 | Jarrod Barnes 94 | |
Baylor |
vs
Texas State
|
TXST 42 , BAYLOR 31 | Blake Shapen 303 | Ismail Mahdi 83 | Joey Hobert 105 |
UTSA |
@
Houston
|
HOU 17 , TX-SA 14 | Donovan Smith 233 | Kevorian Barnes 103 | Joshua Cephus 123 |
Alabama A&M | VANDY 47 , ALAA&M 13 | AJ Swann 194 | Sedrick Alexander 87 | Terrell Gardner 83 | |
New Mexico | TEXA&M 52 , NM 10 | Conner Weigman 236 | Amari Daniels 51 | Evan Stewart 115 | |
Army West Point | UL-MON 17 , ARMY 13 | Bryson Daily 121 | Hunter Smith 103 | Tyrone Howell 67 | |
Bethune-Cookman |
@
Memphis
|
MEM 56 , B-C 14 | Seth Henigan 334 | Sutton Smith 115 | Demeer Blankumsee 98 |
Stephen F. Austin |
@
Troy
|
TROY 48 , SFA 30 | Gunnar Watson 198 | Kimani Vidal 248 | Kimani Vidal 54 |
Chattanooga |
@
North Alabama
|
NORTAL 41 , CHAT 27 | Chase Artopoeus 311 | Jalyn Daniels 147 | Takairee Kenebrew 172 |
Austin Peay |
@
Southern Illinois
|
SIU 49 , APSU 23 | Nic Baker 219 | Ro Elliott 39 | Izaiah Hartrup 80 |
Alcorn State | SOUMIS 40 , ALC 14 | Billy Wiles 267 | Tyler Macon 83 | Jakarius Caston 104 | |
Presbyterian |
@
Murray State
|
MURRAY 41 , PRESBY 10 | Tyler Wesley 139 | Kylan Galbreath 62 | Taylor Shields 93 |
Texas Tech |
@
Wyoming
|
WYO 35 , TXTCH 33 | Tyler Shough 338 | Andrew Peasley 68 | Jerand Bradley 88 |
Middle Tennessee |
@
Alabama
|
ALA 56 , MIDDTN 7 | Jalen Milroe 194 | Jalen Milroe 48 | Isaiah Bond 76 |
Toledo |
@
Illinois
|
ILL 30 , TOLEDO 28 | Dequan Finn 230 | Jacquez Stuart 82 | Junior Vandeross III 80 |
South Carolina | UNC 31 , SCAR 17 | Spencer Rattler 353 | British Brooks 103 | Xavier Legette 178 | |
West Virginia | PSU 38 , WVU 15 | Drew Allar 325 | CJ Donaldson Jr. 81 | KeAndre Lambert-Smith 123 | |
Utah Tech |
@
Montana State
|
MONTST 63 , UTAHTE 20 | Tommy Mellott 157 | Scottre Humphrey 114 | Beau Sparks 144 |
South Alabama |
@
Tulane
|
TULANE 37 , USA 17 | Michael Pratt 294 | Makhi Hughes 41 | Jha'Quan Jackson 106 |
McNeese |
vs
Tarleton State
|
TARLST 52 , MCNE 34 | Victor Gabalis 344 | Derrel Kelley III 136 | Darius Cooper 96 |
Texas Southern |
vs
Prairie View A&M
|
PVA&M 37 , TXSO 34 | Andrew Body 286 | LaDarius Owens 104 | Quay Davis 120 |
Old Dominion | VATECH 36 , ODU 17 | Grant Wells 251 | Grant Wilson 81 | Ali Jennings 72 | |
Northwestern State | UL-LAF 38 , NWST 13 | Ben Wooldridge 223 | Dre'lyn Washington 88 | Peter LeBlanc 58 | |
Western Illinois | NMST 58 , WESTIL 21 | Diego Pavia 317 | Star Thomas 96 | Jonathan Brady 102 | |
UIW |
@
UTEP
|
UTEP 28 , INCWOR 14 | Zach Calzada 245 | Deion Hankins 174 | Brandon Porter 94 |
Northern Arizona |
@
Arizona
|
ARI 38 , NOARI 3 | Jayden de Laura 285 | TJ McDaniel 56 | Coleman Owen 90 |
Sam Houston |
@
BYU
|
BYU 14 , SAMHOU 0 | Keegan Shoemaker 147 | LJ Martin 91 | Noah Smith 44 |
Coastal Carolina |
@
UCLA
|
UCLA 27 , COASTC 13 | Grayson McCall 271 | Carson Steele 76 | Sam Pinckney 139 |
Idaho State |
@
San Diego State
|
SDSU 36 , IDAST 28 | Jordan Cooke 177 | Jalen Mayden 132 | Chedon James 66 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northwestern |
@
Rutgers
|
RUT 24 , NW 7 | Ben Bryant 169 | Kyle Monangai 49 | Cam Johnson 45 |
Jackson State |
@
Florida A&M
|
FLAA&M 28 , JKST 10 | Jeremy Moussa 150 | Irv Mulligan 77 | Rico Powers 119 |
San Jose State |
vs
Oregon State
|
OREST 42 , SJSU 17 | DJ Uiagalelei 239 | Damien Martinez 145 | Sam Olson 60 |
LSU | FLAST 45 , LSU 24 | Jayden Daniels 346 | Jayden Daniels 64 | Brian Thomas Jr. 142 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clemson |
@
Duke
|
DUKE 28 , CLEM 7 | Cade Klubnik 209 | Will Shipley 114 | Antonio Williams 56 |
All times are in ET. Tap on each match's time to view it in your local timezone.
College Football Schedule
The United States probably has the biggest following with respect to any college sport in the world. In fact, there are plenty of people in America who are not as gung ho about the professional sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. as they are about the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) sports. There could be several reasons for this but the one thing that stands out is the passion individuals have for their school and the respective college team.
The college football season typically starts from the end of August to the early part of January. Teams generally play anywhere between 8 to 12 games a year. They play an equal number of home and away games throughout the season but the scheduling process is quite complex to understand.
Understanding how the NCAA runs college football games can be quite confusing. The NCAA for instance does not control all aspects of college football games. It only has control over the rules and compliances on the field, apart from that everything else including the money and the tournaments is managed by the respective conferences of college football.
NCAA Football Conferences
The NCAA football constitutes first and foremost of four divisions which are Division 1 FBS, Division 1 FCS, Division 2, and Division 3. Most of the college football teams belong to either one of these divisions. Although not everything is set in stone, it is generally considered that playing college football for a Division 1 school will get you the maximum chance of going professional in the future.
We will check out only the Division 1 FBS in this article as it is the most important one and really the only one that matters. FBS stands for Football Bowl Subdivision and within this division, we have a total of 10 different conferences. The four teams of Notre Dame, Brigham Young University, Army, and Navy do not belong to any of the conferences despite being in the FBS.
Out of these ten, there are five conferences known as the Power Five Conferences, which are the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The remaining five conferences which are at times referred to as the Non-Power Five (Group of 5) Conferences are the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Conference USA Conference, Mid-American Conference (MAC), Mountain West Conference (MWC), and the Sun Belt Conference (SBC).
NCAA Football Schedule Process
This is where things start getting tricky because every conference in college football has its individual freedom. That means all conferences have the autonomy to create their own schedules, but it is not as simple as just assigning two teams to play each other within their own conference.
Every conference has its own set of rules and guidelines which they use to schedule games. In addition to that, some conferences have more pull than others thereby directly impacting which teams get to play the best games. To create one national schedule from this is one tough ask.
It may come as a surprise that in today's day and age when the simplest of simple things are done with the help of an algorithm run by software, that college football schedules are drawn up by speaking to one another and agreeing to terms. The conference officials and the athletic directors all must come together and work out a possible schedule that works for everyone and which also allots an equal number of home and away games to each team.
There are three main factors which go into consideration during the scheduling of college football games. They are conference scheduling, non-conference scheduling, and TV broadcasting.
Conference scheduling
Since each conference has its own method of scheduling games, the process remains unique to all conferences. Generally, all the schools will play the other schools within their conference at least once a year. The Power Five conferences also play a few cross-divisional games in addition to their conference games.
Non-conference scheduling
These are the games that each team needs to play outside of their own conference against other teams. As each team must figure out with whom they will play and when and where, this can get a bit complicated, especially for the smaller school.
Power Five teams will normally play one or two non-conference games with other Power Five conferences as well as one or two games with teams from Group of Five conferences. Since the reward is greater for Group of Five teams when they go up against the Power Five competition, teams from the former conferences will generally try to play more games with the latter. In doing so, Group of Five teams will get a significantly more amount of revenue.
TV Broadcasting
The third factor that goes into scheduling college football games is that of TV broadcasting. This is because all top networks want to show the best possible games at the best time slots on their respective networks. Therefore, many times the TV networks will also have a say in the scheduling matters and may request any changes or modifications as they see fit.
Power 5 and Group of 5 Conferences
Typically, the best of the best teams are all in the Power 5 conferences. They are the ones who receive the maximum media attention, the maximum revenue, and boast of the maximum fan following as well. The teams in these conferences have a long-standing history of winning and producing the best talent that will carry forward to the professional league.
Each conference in the Power Five has its own rules for scheduling and not all conferences play the same number of games within their own conference. For example, teams in the Big Ten conference will play nine conference games and three non-conference games, but the same is not the case with the SEC as they play only eight conference games and four non-conference games.
However, a lot of mixing up and shaking up of the conferences and their rules keep taking place and therefore not everything can be attributed to a permanent way of functioning. For instance, some teams are looking to jump from one conference to another while some conferences that are playing eight inter-conference games want to move to nine.
Therefore, for the various conferences to make their schedules, a lot of attention must be given to all the guidelines and a committee needs to monitor all the intricacies such as the competitive balance between the teams, broadcast terms and conditions, an equal number of home and away games, and more.
As for the Group of Five conferences, most of them will play eight inter-conference games and four non-conference games. The same level of thought process must go into making the schedule for these conferences as well. But one disadvantage for the Group of 5 teams is that they must strive harder to get a matchup with some of the Power 5 teams.
Conference Scheduling
Since all conferences have their unique ways of creating a schedule, not all teams will play each other from their respective conference on an annual basis. Such a case arises because there are a greater number of teams in conferences than the number of games a team can play. Therefore, each conference needs to resort to a rotation-based design to ensure that teams will play each other once every few years.
For example, if we look at the Big 12 conference, it has a total of ten teams. This conference plays 9 conference and 1 non-conference game throughout the season. Thus, as per the rotation policy, each team will play all other teams in the conference at least once in two years.
Taking the example of the SEC, which is probably the most popular conference today, it has fourteen teams within the conference and it is also subdivided into two divisions, namely: the East and the West. Each team will play a total of eight conference games out of which six are from their own division and the other two are from the other division. This conference also has 1 permanent rival for each team and it rotates the other seven conference games every year.
Non-Conference Scheduling
Scheduling the non-conference games does not require any rotational policy as teams are free to select their opponents mutually. However, teams will want to play games against top-quality opposition to ensure they remain at a high level when they play their conference games. Also, the Group of 5 conference teams can take this opportunity to not only see where they are in terms of performance with the top tier teams, but they can also generate much more income from these games as more media and revenue are associated with the Power 5 teams.
When it comes to non-conference scheduling, there are many teams that have created matchups with one another years in advance. This is done as careful planning is required to generate proper revenue for home games and to maintain steady competition. Teams will alternate between easy and difficult games every other year as a way of balancing out their schedules.
FBS Power 5 Conferences
ACC Scheduling
From 2023, the ACC will play their games with the newly introduced 3-5-5 format. That means that each team will play three of their rivals on a permanent basis which leaves ten teams. These ten teams will be separated into two groups of five and they will be flipped every other year. Therefore, within the conference the ACC will play eight teams and then they will play a further four teams outside of their conference as well.
As of 2023, the ACC consists of 14 schools in the conference which are as follows:
- Boston College Eagles
- Clemson Tigers
- Duke Blue Devils
- Florida State Seminoles
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Louisville Cardinals
- Miami Hurricanes
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- North Carolina State Wolfpack
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Syracuse Orange
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Virginia Tech Hokies
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The permanent matchups for the ACC teams are as below:
University | Rival 1 | Rival 2 | Rival 3 |
Boston College | Miami | Pittsburgh | Syracuse |
Clemson | Florida State | Georgia Tech | NC State |
Duke | North Carolina | NC State | Wake Forest |
Florida State | Clemson | Miami | Syracuse |
Georgia Tech | Clemson | Louisville | Wake Forest |
Louisville | Georgia Tech | Miami | Virginia |
Miami | Boston College | Florida State | Louisville |
North Carolina | Duke | NC State | Virginia |
NC State | Clemson | Duke | North Carolina |
Pittsburgh | Boston College | Syracuse | Virginia Tech |
Syracuse | Boston College | Florida State | Pittsburgh |
Virginia | Louisville | North Carolina | Virginia Tech |
Virginia Tech | Pittsburgh | Virginia | Wake Forest |
Wake Forest | Duke | Georgia Tech | Virginia Tech |
Big 10 Scheduling
The Big 10 which is divided into the East and West division follows a nine game conference schedule. Seven teams are placed in both divisions based upon their locality. The Big 10 schedules six divisional games and three cross divisional games. The Indiana and Perdue game is an annual cross division game which is a permanent fixture. Apart from this, each team will face three non-conference teams as well.
As of 2023, the Big Ten’s two divisions and their respective teams are as follows:
East | West |
Ohio State Buckeyes | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
Rutgers Scarlet Knights | Iowa Hawkeyes |
Maryland Terrapins | Wisconsin Badgers |
Michigan Wolverines | Illinois Fighting Illini |
Michigan St. Spartans | Purdue Boilermakers |
Penn St. Nittany Lions | Northwestern Wildcats |
Indiana Hoosiers | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
Big 12 Scheduling
The Big 12’s current scheduling system is a 14 team round robin event. Upon its conclusion, the top two teams in the conference will fight it out in the Championship game to declare the eventual winner of the conference.
The current teams playing in the Big 12 conference are:
- BYU Cougars
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Houston Cougars
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Texas Longhorns
- UCF Knights
- Baylor Bears
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- West Virginia Mountaineers
PAC-12 Scheduling
The PAC-12 which once followed divisions of two has done away with them and now hold a round robin system similar to that of the Big 12. Once the season comes to an end the top two teams in the conference will play the Championship game.
The PAC-12 football conference is made up of the following teams:
- USC Trojans
- Arizona Wildcats
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- California Golden Bears
- Colorado Buffaloes
- Oregon Ducks
- Oregon State Beavers
- Stanford Cardinal
- UCLA Bruins
- Utah Utes
- Washington Huskies
- Washington State Cougars
SEC Scheduling
Considered by many to be the best conference in college football at least since the past few years, the SEC operates in a division format with two divisions of seven teams each. However, with more teams joining next year, it is expected that the current system will undergo a change to better accommodate the expansion of the conference. At present though, each team within the conference plays eight conference games.
From the division itself, each team plays all the other six teams every year. Then, each team has a permanent cross division rival for the seventh game and the eighth game is a cross divisional rotation.
The SECs permanent cross-divisional matchups are:
- Alabama vs. Tennessee
- Arkansas vs. Missouri
- Auburn vs. Georgia
- LSU vs. Florida
- Mississippi State vs. Kentucky
- Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
- Texas A&M vs. South Carolina.
The teams participating in the SEC conference as of 2023 are:
East | West |
Vanderbilt Commodores | Alabama Crimson Tide |
Georgia Bulldogs | Arkansas Razorbacks |
Kentucky Wildcats | Auburn Tigers |
Missouri Tigers | Ole Miss Rebels |
Tennessee Volunteers | Mississippi State Bulldogs |
Florida Gators | TexasA&M Aggies |
South Carolina Gamecocks | LSU Tigers |
FBS Group of Five Conferences
AAC Scheduling
The AAC scheduling system has just recently undergone a change which is expected to be continued till 2026. Featuring a conference of 14 teams, each team is set to play 8 conference games. As per this schedule, each team within the conference will face every other team twice in a period of four years getting one home game and one away game respectively. The ACC has also included six annual matchups which are as follows:
- North Texas vs. SMU
- UAB vs. Memphis
- Rice vs. UTSA
- Charlotte vs. East Carolina
- Florida Atlantic vs. South Florida
- Navy vs. Temple
The 14 members of the AAC are as follows:
- Memphis Tigers
- Charlotte 49ers
- Florida Atlantic Owls
- Navy Midshipmen
- Rice Owls
- SMU Mustangs
- South Florida Bulls
- Temple Owls
- Tulane Green Wave
- Tulsa Golden Hurricane
- UAB Blazers
- UTSA Roadrunners
- East Carolina Pirates
- North Texas Mean Green
C-USA Scheduling
This conference has been quite unstable since its formation. Several teams have left to join different conferences while new teams are making their way to the C-USA. This conference is set to expand further by next year making it one of the most unpredictable conferences in college football. As a result, the current schedule is in place only for the 2023 season and is expected to undergo some type of modification before the 2024 season. As for now, all nine teams from the conference will play each other in a round robin format.
The nine teams which make up the C-USA conference are:
- Liberty Flames
- Jacksonville State Gamecocks
- Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
- Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
- Sam Houston Bearkats
- FIU Panthers
- New Mexico State Aggies
- UTEP Miners
MAC Scheduling
The MAC conference is quite simple as it is divided into divisions featuring six teams each. Teams in this conference are set to play eight conference games which includes five divisional games and three cross divisional games.
The divisions of the MAC are as below:
East | West | |
Ohio Bobcats | Central Michigan Chippewas | |
Akron Zips | Eastern Michigan Eagles | |
Bowling Green Falcons | Northern Illinois Huskies | |
Miami (OH) RedHawks | Toledo Rockets | |
Buffalo Bulls | Western Michigan Broncos | |
Kent State Golden Flashes | Ball State Cardinals |
MWC Scheduling
The MWC has made a change from 2023 onwards. Earlier this conference had a divisional system but now that has been scrapped. The twelve-team conference will play a 2-6 format wherein the 2 games will be against fixed opponents every year. The remaining six games will be rotation based and will be flipped every other year.
The teams making up the Mountain West Conference are:
- Air Force Falcons
- Fresno State Bulldogs
- Wyoming Cowboys
- San Diego State Aztecs
- New Mexico Lobos
- UNLV Rebels
- Utah State Aggies
- Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
- San Jose State Spartans
- Colorado State Rams
- Boise State Broncos
- Nevada Wolf Pack
The two permanent fixtures per team are as below:
University | Rival 1 | Rival 2 |
Air Force | Colorado State | Wyoming |
Boise State | New Mexico | Utah State |
Colorado State | Air Force | Wyoming |
Fresno State | Nevada | San Jose State |
Hawaii | San Diego State | UNLV |
Nevada | Fresno State | UNLV |
New Mexico | Boise State | San Jose State |
San Diego State | Hawaii | Utah State |
San Jose State | Fresno State | New Mexico |
UNLV | Hawaii | Nevada |
Utah State | Boise State | San Diego State |
Wyoming | Air Force | Colorado State |
SBC Scheduling
The SBC conference is another one divided into two divisions of seven teams each. According to their scheduling, each team will play two cross divisional games, one at home and one away. Furthermore, each team will play against all six divisional opponents every year for a total of eight conference games.
The divisions of the SBC conference are as below:
East | West |
Old Dominion Monarchs | Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks |
Georgia Southern Eagles | South Alabama Jaguars |
Georgia State Panthers | Southern Miss Golden Eagles |
James Madison Dukes | Texas State Bobcats |
Marshall Thundering Herd | Troy Trojans |
Appalachian State Mountaineers | Arkansas State Red Wolves |
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns |
Independents (FBS) Scheduling
The Independent programs in college football are very few today with only four of them left. Most of the independent schools from earlier have joined other conferences as they can then earn revenue from television broadcasting. In addition to that, joining a conference makes their scheduling worries easier. However, the independent schools do get more flexibility to schedule their matchups as they are not conference bound. This gives them added advantage in having interesting games throughout the year.
The four independent football schools that are remaining are:
- Army West Point Black Knights
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Connecticut Huskies
- Massachusetts Minutemen
The Army has fixed annual games against the Navy and Air Force. They also have a rivalry game with Notre Dame but it is not on an annual basis and is scheduled quite randomly. As for Notre Dame, they have many long-standing rivalry matchups throughout the year and they also have a deal with the ACC which gives them five games every year.
UConn was earlier part of the AAC but their other sports faced some issues due to which they had to leave the conference in 2020. Nowadays, as their football program is not so strong, many FBS schools play against them in order to fill out their schedules.
FCS Conferences
The conferences in the FCS division of college football are undergoing regular changes with new conferences coming up and teams leaving and joining every passing year. As a result of which the scheduling format for these conferences keep on changing and information pertaining to the same is scantily available.
Big Sky Scheduling
The Big Sky Conference consists of twelve teams currently. Their schedule from 2022 to 2024 is set at eight league games which comprises two fixed annual opponents and six rotating ones. This new format was put into action to make sure that teams would get to play other teams in the conference more frequently than earlier. Teams have also been afforded the flexibility to choose at least one of their permanent opponents.
The Big Sky’s twelve-member conference is as follows:
- Idaho Vandals
- Montana Grizzlies
- Sacramento State Hornets
- Weber State Wildcats
- Cal Poly Mustangs
- Montana State Bobcats
- UC Davis Aggies
- Eastern Washington Eagles
- Idaho State Bengals
- Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
- Northern Colorado Bears
- Portland State Vikings
Big South Scheduling
The Big South Conference is one of the newest conferences in college football. Initially starting out with nine teams, it has quickly been reduced to only four at present. This conference has decided to merge with the Ohio Valley Conference in 2026 as both conferences do not have sufficient teams. Due to so many ongoing changes, the exact scheduling format for the Big South Conference is not available.
The four teams in the Big South Conference are as below:
- Bryant Bulldogs
- Charleston Southern Buccaneers
- Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs
- Robert Morris Colonials
Coastal Athletic Association Conference Scheduling
The CAA conference which consists of fifteen teams has each team playing eight games in the conference. Moreover, each team has been allotted two permanent rivals annually while the remaining six games are on rotation basis. This means each team will play every other team at home and away at least once in eight years.
The fifteen members of the CAA conference are:
- William & Mary Tribe
- Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
- Monmouth Hawks
- Rhode Island Rams
- Villanova Wildcats
- Hampton Pirates
- New Hampshire Wildcats
- Albany Great Danes
- Elon Phoenix
- Maine Black Bears
- North Carolina A&T Aggies
- Richmond Spiders
- Campbell Fighting Camels
- Towson Tigers
- Stony Brook Seawolves
Independents (FCS) Conference Scheduling
In the FCS division of college football, the Kennesaw State Owls are the only team which are playing as an independent conference. The Owls are slowly beginning their transition from the FCS to the FBS as they are moving to Conference USA football conference in 2024.
Ivy League Conference Scheduling
There are a total of eight Ivy League Schools featuring in the college football program. The Ivy League Conference usually starts a little later than the other conferences, mostly near mid-September. These schools play ten games each which include a complete round-robin system where each team plays all the other seven teams. The remaining three games are scheduled against non-conference teams.
Ivy League Conference teams include:
- Dartmouth Big Green
- Harvard Crimson
- Columbia Lions
- Princeton Tigers
- Cornell Big Red
- Penn Quakers
- Yale Bulldogs
- Brown Bears
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Scheduling
The MEAC is a conference consisting of six football teams. As per their schedule for the 2023 season, teams will play non-conference games at the start and the end of the season with conference games being sandwiched in between.
The six participating teams in MEAC are”
- North Carolina Central Eagles
- Howard Bison
- Morgan State Bears
- Norfolk State Spartans
- Delaware State Hornets
- South Carolina State Bulldogs
Missouri Valley Conference Scheduling
The Missouri Valley Conference is one of those which has somewhat of a complex history. It has undergone a couple of name changes over the years as well. This conference uses a simple round robin system to decide the eventual conference champion. The first three weeks are usually reserved for non-conference matchups while the remaining nine weeks are for conference games. Teams are also allowed to make changes to their schedule provided both teams have a written agreement in place.
- Teams participating in this conference currently are:
- Illinois State Redbirds
- North Dakota Fighting Hawks
- North Dakota State Bison
- South Dakota State Jackrabbits
- Southern Illinois Salukis
- Murray State Racers
- South Dakota Coyotes
- Youngstown State Penguins
- Indiana State Sycamores
- Missouri State Bears
- UNI Panthers
- Western Illinois Leathernecks
Northeast Conference Scheduling
The Northeast Conference features eight teams which will all play each other. Each team will get four home games and three away games in the conference. Each team will also play three away non-conference games for the 2023 season.
The eight teams making up the Northeast Conference are:
- Stonehill Skyhawks
- Duquesne Dukes
- LIU Sharks
- Merrimack Warriors
- Sacred Heart Pioneers
- Saint Francis U Red Flash
- Wagner Seahawks
- Central Connecticut State Blue Devils
Ohio Valley Conference Scheduling
The Ohio Valley Conference has joined forces with the Big South Conference as both conferences had lost several teams. Now the two conferences together have a total of ten teams and will play a schedule consisting of six conference games. As prior commitments with teams are still prevalent, more conference games cannot be played currently.
The Ohio Valley Conference teams are:
- Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
- Eastern Illinois Panthers
- Tennessee State Tigers
- UT Martin Skyhawks
- Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
- Lindenwood Lions
Patriot League Conference Scheduling
The Patriot League Conference features seven teams which are as follows:
- Georgetown Hoyas
- Fordham Rams
- Bucknell Bison
- Holy Cross Crusaders
- Lafayette Leopards
- Lehigh Mountain Hawks
- Colgate Raiders
Pioneer League Conference Scheduling
This conference is truly a one-of-a-kind conference given the fact that it has teams from both coasts and many more through the heart of the country. The eleven team conference boasts teams such as:
- Stetson Hatters
- Butler Bulldogs
- Dayton Flyers
- Morehead State Eagles
- Presbyterian Blue Hose
- St. Thomas (MN) Tommies
- Marist Red Foxes
- Davidson Wildcats
- Drake Bulldogs
- San Diego Toreros
- Valparaiso Beacons
Southern Conference Scheduling
The Southern Conference is a nine-team conference which is comprised of the following teams:
- Western Carolina Catamounts
- Mercer Bears
- Chattanooga Mocs
- ETSU Buccaneers
- Furman Paladins
- VMI Keydets
- Citadel Bulldogs
- Wofford Terriers
- Samford Bulldogs
Southland Conference Scheduling
With eight teams featuring in the Southland Conference, each team will play against the other teams in a round-robin format in 2023. This is the first time since 2013 that the round-robin format has been implemented. Apart from these seven games, teams will also play non-conference games.
The Southland Conference is made up of the following eight teams:
- Houston Christian Huskies
- UIW Cardinals
- Lamar Cardinals
- McNeese Cowboys
- Nicholls Colonels
- Northwestern State Demons
- Southeastern Louisiana Lions
- Texas A&M-Commerce Lions
Southwestern Athletic Conference Scheduling
The SWAC has been divided into two divisions and since 2021, it has implemented the following schedule to its football program. Each team will play five divisional and three non-divisional games. Three teams from the other division will be rotated every two years. The team with the best record in the conference will get the chance to host the Championship game.
The two divisions of the SWAC are as follows:
EAST | WEST |
Florida A&M Rattlers | Prairie View A&M Panthers |
Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils | Alcorn State Braves |
Alabama A&M Bulldogs | Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions |
Alabama State Hornets | Grambling State Tigers |
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats | Southern University Jaguars |
Jackson State Tigers | Texas Southern Tigers |
United Athletic Conference Scheduling
The United Athletic Conference is a newly formed conference with the merger of two previously independent conferences, namely, the ASUN Conference and the Western Athletic Conference. Having nine teams currently as part of its membership, the UAC will be limited to six conference games for the 2023 season before it switches to a full round-robin system in 2024.
The UAC teams at present include:
- Tarleton State Texans
- Abilene Christian Wildcats
- Central Arkansas Bears
- Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
- Austin Peay Governors
- Eastern Kentucky Colonels
- Southern Utah Thunderbirds
- Utah Tech Trailblazers
- North Alabama Lions
Conclusion
In short, college football scheduling is not the same for each team as it has more flexibility. This is the case because the NCAA does not have a say in scheduling matters which is being handled by the respective conferences. Furthermore, each conference has its own set of rules that it follows to prepare its unique schedule taking into consideration various factors such as home and away games, conference, and non-conference games, and of course the broadcasting terms and conditions.
Sometimes, another issue which crops up during scheduling is the lack of availability of a stadium due to various factors beyond the team’s control. Considering all these factors, the committee members of each conference come out with a schedule which is then overseen by the NCAA.