College Football Schedule 2023-24
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Illinois |
vs
Ball State
|
BALLST 20 , NIU 17 | Rocky Lombardi 141 | Marquez Cooper 93 | Trayvon Rudolph 57 |
Central Michigan | WESTMI 38 , CENTMI 28 | Hayden Wolff 333 | Marion Lukes 147 | Kenneth Womack 135 | |
Buffalo |
vs
Ohio
|
OHIO 20 , BUFF 10 | Cole Snyder 171 | Sieh Bangura 78 | Boobie Curry 66 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Akron | MIA-O 19 , AKRON 0 | Jeff Undercuffler Jr. 156 | Rashad Amos 118 | Jasaiah Gathings 69 | |
Kent State | BGSU 49 , KENTST 19 | Tommy Ulatowski 284 | Ta'ron Keith 103 | Ta'ron Keith 130 | |
Eastern Michigan |
@
Toledo
|
TOLEDO 49 , EASTMI 23 | Dequan Finn 407 | Jaylon Jackson 74 | Peny Boone 116 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Louisiana | SOUMIS 34 , UL-LAF 31 | Chandler Fields 260 | Frank Gore Jr. 158 | Harvey Broussard 77 | |
Virginia | LOU 31 , UVA 24 | Anthony Colandrea 314 | Jawhar Jordan 95 | Malik Washington 155 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Texas |
@
SMU
|
SMU 45 , NORTX 21 | Chandler Rogers 240 | Jaylan Knighton 129 | Moochie Dixon 99 |
Arkansas-Pine Bluff |
vs
Grambling State
|
GRAM 43 , ARK-PB 14 | Myles Crawley 198 | Johnny Williams 99 | Javon Robinson 61 |
Wyoming |
@
UNLV
|
UNLV 34 , WYO 14 | Jayden Maiava 232 | Andrew Peasley 69 | Ricky White 144 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kansas |
vs
Texas Tech
|
TXTCH 16 , KANSAS 13 | Behren Morton 176 | Devin Neal 137 | Jerand Bradley 91 |
Indiana |
@
Illinois
|
ILL 48 , IND 45 | John Paddock 507 | Reggie Love III 140 | Isaiah Williams 200 |
Nebraska |
vs
Maryland
|
MD 13 , NEB 10 | Taulia Tagovailoa 283 | Emmett Johnson 84 | Jeshaun Jones 86 |
Murray State |
@
Illinois State
|
ILLST 44 , MURRAY 7 | Tommy Rittenhouse 165 | Mason Blakemore 169 | Daniel Sobkowicz 81 |
Tulsa |
@
Tulane
|
TULANE 24 , TULSA 22 | Kirk Francis 345 | Makhi Hughes 131 | Kamdyn Benjamin 157 |
Boston College | VATECH 48 , BC 22 | Kyron Drones 219 | Kyron Drones 135 | Da'Quan Felton 101 | |
Georgia Tech |
@
Clemson
|
CLEM 42 , GATECH 21 | Cade Klubnik 205 | Jamal Haynes 104 | Beaux Collins 65 |
Kentucky |
vs
Alabama
|
ALA 49 , KTY 21 | Jalen Milroe 234 | Ramon Jefferson 73 | Kobe Prentice 74 |
Vanderbilt | SCAR 47 , VANDY 6 | Spencer Rattler 351 | Mario Anderson 102 | Xavier Legette 120 | |
Penn State |
vs
Michigan
|
MICH 24 , PSU 15 | Drew Allar 70 | Blake Corum 145 | Tyler Warren 25 |
Holy Cross | ARMY 17 , HOLYCR 14 | Matthew Sluka 156 | Matthew Sluka 171 | Casey Reynolds 69 | |
Temple | USF 27 , TEMPLE 23 | Byrum Brown 316 | Nay'Quan Wright 69 | Sean Atkins 169 | |
Charleston Southern |
@
Robert Morris
|
RMOR 14 , CHSOU 12 | Isaiah Bess 227 | DJ Moyer 82 | Noah Jennings 204 |
Monmouth |
vs
New Hampshire
|
UNH 31 , MONM 24 | Marquez McCray 402 | Jaden Shirden 85 | Dymere Miller 333 |
Youngstown State |
vs
South Dakota State
|
SDAKST 34 , YSU 0 | Mark Gronowski 295 | Isaiah Davis 130 | Jadon Janke 166 |
Princeton |
vs
Yale
|
YALE 36 , PRINCE 28 | Blake Stenstrom 243 | Joshua Pitsenberger 131 | Mason Tipton 130 |
Delaware State |
vs
Norfolk State
|
NOR 44 , DELST 21 | Cameron Sapp 174 | Kevon King 116 | Andre Pegues 100 |
South Carolina State |
vs
Morgan State
|
MORGST 20 , SCST 17 | Tahj Smith 86 | J.J. Davis 108 | Anthony James Jr. 38 |
Central Connecticut State |
@
Merrimack
|
MERRIM 35 , CENTCT 24 | Malakai Anthony 190 | Tyvon Edmonds Jr. 70 | Donovan Wadley 113 |
Duquesne |
vs
Stonehill
|
STONEH 33 , DUQ 28 | Darius Perrantes 298 | Jermaine Corbett 108 | Keshawn Brown 103 |
Wagner |
@
LIU
|
LIU 49 , WAGNER 14 | Chris Howell 112 | Rickey Spruill 130 | Davon Wells 98 |
Fordham |
@
Lafayette
|
LAF 24 , FORD 16 | CJ Montes 253 | Jamar Curtis 204 | Garrett Cody 96 |
Columbia |
vs
Brown
|
BROWN 21 , COLUM 14 | Jake Willcox 265 | Stockton Owen 59 | JJ Jenkins 70 |
North Dakota |
@
South Dakota
|
SOUDAK 14 , NORDAK 10 | Aidan Bouman 307 | Travis Theis 66 | Carter Bell 138 |
Tennessee State |
@
Eastern Illinois
|
EASTIL 30 , TENNST 17 | Pierce Holley 121 | MJ Flowers 201 | Eli Mirza 72 |
Stetson |
@
Valparaiso
|
VALPO 23 , STET 20 | Brady Meitz 203 | Ryan Mann 121 | Donovan Shepard 44 |
Old Dominion |
@
Liberty
|
LIB 38 , ODU 10 | Kaidon Salter 225 | Quinton Cooley 85 | CJ Daniels 137 |
Stony Brook |
vs
Albany
|
ALBANY 38 , STNYBR 20 | Reese Poffenbarger 247 | Griffin Woodell 136 | Brevin Easton 89 |
Campbell |
vs
Delaware
|
DEL 45 , CAMP 7 | Ryan O'Connor 246 | Lamagea McDowell 67 | Jourdan Townsend 92 |
North Carolina A&T |
@
Rhode Island
|
URI 31 , NCA&T 24 | Eli Brickhandler 161 | Ja'Den McKenzie 233 | Kahtero Summers 69 |
Towson |
@
Villanova
|
VILL 33 , TOWSON 10 | Connor Watkins 299 | Christopher Watkins 90 | Rayjuon Pringle 180 |
Hampton |
vs
William & Mary
|
W&M 31 , HAMP 10 | Tyler Hughes 163 | Chris Zellous 77 | Romon Copeland 111 |
Lehigh |
@
Colgate
|
COLG 37 , LEHIGH 21 | Jake Stearney 360 | Luke Yoder 76 | Treyvhon Saunders 132 |
Western Illinois |
@
Indiana State
|
INST 27 , WESTIL 6 | Matt Morrissey 177 | Justin Dinka 147 | Donald McKinney 82 |
ETSU |
@
Western Carolina
|
WCU 58 , EASTTN 7 | Cole Gonzales 363 | Branson Adams 110 | Censere Lee 127 |
Alabama A&M |
@
Bethune-Cookman
|
B-C 31 , ALAA&M 14 | Quincy Casey 171 | Walter Simmons III 165 | Cameron Young 68 |
Bucknell |
vs
Georgetown
|
GTOWN 50 , BUCK 47 | Tyler Knoop 361 | Rushawn Baker 97 | Jimmy Kibble 179 |
Penn |
@
Harvard
|
HARV 25 , PENN 23 | Jaden Craig 253 | Malachi Hosley 109 | Cooper Barkate 125 |
Davidson |
@
Morehead State
|
MOR 47 , DAV 17 | Bryce Patterson 240 | Mari Adams 122 | Ryan Upp 140 |
Marist |
@
Dayton
|
DAYTON 35 , MARIST 6 | Logan Brabham 259 | Luke Hansen 111 | Matt Stianche 105 |
Cornell |
@
Dartmouth
|
DART 30 , COR 14 | Jameson Wang 153 | Nick Howard 108 | Paxton Scott 78 |
VMI |
@
Furman
|
FURMAN 37 , VMI 3 | Carson Jones 226 | Wayne Anderson Jr. 56 | Kyndel Dean 51 |
Colorado |
vs
Arizona
|
ARI 34 , COLO 31 | Shedeur Sanders 262 | Jonah Coleman 179 | Tetairoa McMillan 107 |
Utah Tech |
@
Austin Peay
|
APSU 30 , UTAHTE 17 | Kobe Tracy 376 | Jevon Jackson 192 | Rickie Johnson 126 |
Louisiana-Monroe |
vs
Troy
|
TROY 45 , UL-MON 14 | Jiya Wright 243 | Bennett Galloway 51 | Tyrone Howell 93 |
Lindenwood |
vs
Bryant
|
BRYANT 38 , LINDEN 3 | Zevi Eckhaus 367 | Simi Bakare 54 | Anthony Frederick 131 |
Presbyterian |
@
Drake
|
DRAKE 16 , PRESBY 14 | Luke Bailey 153 | Ty Englehart 87 | Zack Gray 34 |
Wake Forest | NCSU 26 , WAKE 6 | Michael Kern 137 | Brennan Armstrong 96 | Dacari Collins 40 | |
Connecticut | JMU 44 , UCONN 6 | Jordan McCloud 457 | Cam Edwards 43 | Reggie Brown 202 | |
Charlotte |
vs
Memphis
|
MEM 44 , CHAR 38 | Seth Henigan 329 | Hahsaun Wilson 198 | Colin Weber 117 |
Elon |
@
Richmond
|
RICH 38 , ELON 24 | Matthew Downing 281 | Kyle Wickersham 130 | Jordan Bonner 122 |
Georgia State | APP 42 , GAST 14 | Joey Aguilar 255 | Marcus Carroll 113 | Makai Jackson 98 | |
Citadel |
vs
Wofford
|
WOF 11 , CIT 3 | Graeson Underwood 87 | Ryan Ingram 136 | Pat McSweeney 57 |
Tennessee Tech |
vs
Gardner-Webb
|
G-WEBB 35 , TNTECH 0 | Jordyn Potts 206 | Jayden Brown 38 | Narii Gaither 82 |
Eastern Washington |
@
Montana State
|
MONTST 57 , EASTWA 14 | Kekoa Visperas 329 | Scottre Humphrey 84 | Ty McCullouch 125 |
Idaho |
@
Weber State
|
WEB 31 , IDAHO 29 | Gevani McCoy 346 | Kris Jackson 84 | Hayden Hatten 175 |
Northern Colorado |
@
Northern Arizona
|
NOARI 28 , NORCOL 7 | Shea Kuykendall 177 | Devon Starling 76 | Jamarii Robinson 72 |
Nevada | UTAHST 41 , NEVADA 24 | Cooper Legas 182 | Rahsul Faison 181 | Micah Davis 87 | |
Baylor | KANST 59 , BAYLOR 25 | Blake Shapen 253 | DJ Giddens 115 | Drake Dabney 105 | |
Louisiana Tech |
vs
Sam Houston
|
SAMHOU 42 , LATECH 27 | Hank Bachmeier 384 | Adrian Murdaugh 67 | Cyrus Allen 170 |
Mississippi Valley State |
vs
Alabama State
|
ALST 20 , MSVL 3 | Damon Stewart 148 | Marcus Harris II 34 | Kisean Johnson 120 |
Southern University |
vs
Prairie View A&M
|
PVA&M 27 , SOU 21 | Trazon Connley 184 | Ahmad Antoine 72 | Shemar Savage 71 |
UNI |
@
Missouri State
|
MOSTU 35 , UNI 16 | Jordan Pachot 326 | Tye Edwards 79 | Raylen Sharpe 160 |
Southeast Missouri State |
@
UT Martin
|
TN-MAR 41 , SEMO 14 | Kinkead Dent 217 | Narkel LeFlore 147 | Ryan Flournoy 112 |
Abilene Christian |
vs
Tarleton State
|
TARLST 31 , ABICHR 30 | Victor Gabalis 258 | Kayvon Britten 176 | Benjamin Omayebu 163 |
Northwestern State |
@
UIW
|
Cancelled | |||
Samford |
@
Mercer
|
MERC 28 , SAM 21 | Michael Hiers 210 | Jay Stanton 98 | D.J. Rias 83 |
Utah | WASH 35 , UTAH 28 | Michael Penix Jr. 332 | Dillon Johnson 104 | Devaughn Vele 145 | |
Tennessee |
@
Missouri
|
MISSOU 36 , TENN 7 | Brady Cook 275 | Cody Schrader 205 | Cody Schrader 116 |
FIU | MIDDTN 40 , FIU 6 | Nicholas Vattiato 275 | DJ Riles 58 | DJ England-Chisolm 76 | |
Western Kentucky | NMST 38 , WESTKY 29 | Austin Reed 270 | Star Thomas 85 | Elijah Young 84 | |
Wisconsin |
vs
Northwestern
|
NW 24 , WISC 10 | Tanner Mordecai 255 | Cam Porter 72 | Will Pauling 96 |
Southern Illinois |
@
North Dakota State
|
NDAKST 34 , SIU 10 | Cam Miller 232 | TaMerik Williams 51 | RaJa Nelson 81 |
Miami (FL) | FLAST 27 , MIA-FL 20 | Jordan Travis 265 | Donald Chaney Jr. 85 | Jacolby George 153 | |
Pittsburgh |
@
Syracuse
|
SYR 28 , PITT 13 | Christian Veilleux 161 | Dan Villari 154 | Bub Means 71 |
Oklahoma State |
@
UCF
|
UCF 45 , OKST 3 | John Rhys Plumlee 299 | RJ Harvey 206 | Javon Baker 112 |
Minnesota |
@
Purdue
|
PURDUE 49 , MINN 30 | Athan Kaliakmanis 292 | Devin Mockobee 153 | Daniel Jackson 119 |
UAB |
@
Navy
|
NAVY 31 , UAB 6 | Jacob Zeno 206 | Xavier Arline 109 | Regis Velez 45 |
Texas State | COASTC 31 , TXST 23 | Ethan Vasko 145 | Ismail Mahdi 97 | Sam Pinckney 81 | |
North Carolina Central |
@
Howard
|
HOWARD 50 , NCCENT 20 | Quinton Williams 277 | Jarett Hunter 113 | Kasey Hawthorne 114 |
Rutgers |
@
Iowa
|
IOWA 22 , RUT 0 | Deacon Hill 223 | Leshon Williams 63 | Zach Ortwerth 54 |
Washington State | CAL 42 , WASHST 39 | Cameron Ward 354 | Jaydn Ott 167 | Josh Kelly 130 | |
San Diego |
vs
St. Thomas (MN)
|
STTHMN 20 , SD 14 | Dom Nankil 152 | Isaiah Williams 179 | Josh Heverly 43 |
Arkansas |
vs
Auburn
|
AUBURN 48 , ARK 10 | Payton Thorne 163 | Jarquez Hunter 109 | Ja'Varrius Johnson 53 |
Lamar |
@
Nicholls
|
NICH 37 , LAMAR 24 | Robert Coleman 289 | Jaylon Spears 177 | Kyndon Fuselier 77 |
Florida Atlantic | ECU 22 , FLAATL 7 | Alex Flinn 156 | Larry McCammon III 36 | Chase Sowell 72 | |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
vs
Southeastern Louisiana
|
SELA 52 , TXA&MC 14 | Zachary Clement 160 | Harlan Dixon 91 | Jerome Buckner 129 |
Cal Poly |
@
Sacramento State
|
SAC 41 , CALPLY 30 | Sam Huard 483 | Marcus Fulcher 121 | Jared Gipson 154 |
Eastern Kentucky |
@
Central Arkansas
|
CENARK 27 , EASTKY 24 | Parker McKinney 377 | ShunDerrick Powell 96 | Braedon Sloan 109 |
Arkansas State | USA 21 , ARKST 14 | Jaylen Raynor 186 | La'Damian Webb 163 | Jeff Foreman 61 | |
Stephen F. Austin |
vs
Southern Utah
|
SOUT 45 , SFA 17 | Justin Miller 223 | Braedon Wissler 107 | Isaiah Wooden 123 |
Stanford | OREST 62 , STAN 17 | DJ Uiagalelei 240 | Damien Martinez 146 | Elic Ayomanor 122 | |
Idaho State |
vs
UC Davis
|
UCDAV 21 , IDAST 14 | Jordan Cooke 297 | Lan Larison 264 | Chedon James 108 |
San Diego State | COLOST 22 , SDSU 19 | Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi 202 | Justin Marshall 119 | Justus Ross-Simmons 89 | |
West Virginia |
@
Oklahoma
|
OKLA 59 , WVU 20 | Dillon Gabriel 423 | Gavin Sawchuk 135 | Drake Stoops 164 |
Houston |
vs
Cincinnati
|
CIN 24 , HOU 14 | Emory Jones 131 | Corey Kiner 129 | Braden Smith 69 |
Ole Miss |
@
Georgia
|
UGA 52 , MISS 17 | Carson Beck 306 | Kendall Milton 127 | Ladd McConkey 81 |
Georgia Southern |
@
Marshall
|
MARSH 38 , GASO 33 | Davis Brin 307 | Rasheen Ali 165 | DeMarcus Harris 147 |
TCU |
vs
Texas
|
TEX 29 , TCU 26 | Quinn Ewers 317 | Jonathon Brooks 104 | Savion Williams 164 |
Florida |
@
LSU
|
LSU 52 , FLA 35 | Jayden Daniels 372 | Jayden Daniels 234 | Brian Thomas Jr. 150 |
Mississippi State | TEXA&M 51 , MISSST 10 | Jaylen Henderson 150 | Seth Davis 79 | Ainias Smith 64 | |
Rice |
@
UTSA
|
TX-SA 34 , RICE 14 | AJ Padgett 182 | Rocko Griffin 81 | Luke McCaffrey 68 |
Michigan State | OHIOST 38 , MSU 3 | Kyle McCord 335 | TreVeyon Henderson 63 | Marvin Harrison Jr. 149 | |
McNeese |
vs
Houston Christian
|
HOUCHR 35 , MCNE 24 | Kamden Sixkiller 249 | Jesse Valenzuela 171 | Cory O'Bryant 100 |
Duke | UNC 47 , DUKE 45 | Drake Maye 342 | Omarion Hampton 169 | Devontez Walker 162 | |
UCLA | ARIST 17 , UCLA 7 | Trenton Bourguet 149 | Cam Skattebo 61 | Elijhah Badger 116 | |
Portland State |
vs
Montana
|
MONT 34 , PORST 10 | Dante Chachere 162 | Eli Gillman 97 | Jermaine Braddock 142 |
New Mexico | BOISE 42 , NM 14 | Maddux Madsen 202 | George Holani 95 | Prince Strachan 128 | |
BYU |
vs
Iowa State
|
IAST 45 , BYU 13 | Rocco Becht 203 | Abu Sama III 110 | Jaylin Noel 98 |
USC |
@
Oregon
|
OREGON 36 , USC 27 | Bo Nix 412 | Bucky Irving 118 | Troy Franklin 147 |
Fresno State | SJSU 42 , FRES 18 | Chevan Cordeiro 146 | Kairee Robinson 200 | Mac Dalena 69 | |
Air Force |
@
Hawaii
|
HAWAII 27 , AF 13 | Brayden Schager 176 | Dylan Carson 87 | Pofele Ashlock 67 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alcorn State |
@
Texas Southern
|
TXSO 44 , ALC 10 | Jace Wilson 288 | LaDarius Owens 211 | Trenton Leary 137 |
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.