College Football Schedule 2024-25
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central Michigan | BGSU 23 , CMU 13 | Connor Bazelak 207 | Terion Stewart 117 | Harold Fannin Jr. 86 | |
Ball State |
vs
Miami (OH)
|
MIA-OH 27 , BALLST 21 | Kadin Semonza 280 | Keyon Mozee 105 | Justin Bowick 171 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kent State |
vs
Ohio
|
OHIO 41 , KENTST 0 | Parker Navarro 142 | Anthony Tyus III 84 | Coleman Owen 61 |
Western Michigan | NIU 42 , WESTMI 28 | Hayden Wolff 179 | Telly Johnson Jr. 141 | Trayvon Rudolph 74 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida Atlantic | ECU 49 , FLAATL 14 | Katin Houser 343 | Jhari Patterson 61 | Anthony Smith 120 | |
Appalachian State | COASTC 38 , APP 24 | Joey Aguilar 226 | Ahmani Marshall 124 | Kaedin Robinson 76 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Princeton |
vs
Dartmouth
|
DART 26 , PRINCE 17 | Jackson Proctor 185 | Q Jones 53 | Chris Corbo 42 |
Wake Forest |
vs
California
|
CAL 46 , WAKE 36 | Fernando Mendoza 385 | Demond Claiborne 113 | Taylor Morin 110 |
Iowa |
@
UCLA
|
UCLA 20 , IOWA 17 | Ethan Garbers 204 | T.J. Harden 125 | Jacob Gill 138 |
Rice |
@
Memphis
|
MEM 27 , RICE 20 | E.J. Warner 246 | Mario Anderson Jr. 144 | Matt Sykes 76 |
San Diego State |
vs
New Mexico
|
NM 21 , SDSU 16 | Danny O'Neil 195 | Eli Sanders 173 | Jordan Napier 63 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida |
@
Texas
|
TEX 49 , FLA 17 | Quinn Ewers 333 | Ja'Kobi Jackson 116 | Chimere Dike 95 |
Louisiana-Monroe |
vs
Texas State
|
TXST 38 , UL-MON 17 | Aidan Armenta 119 | Brad Jackson 126 | Kole Wilson 53 |
South Florida |
vs
Navy
|
NAVY 28 , USF 7 | Bryce Archie 282 | Eli Heidenreich 84 | JeyQuan Smith 85 |
Cincinnati | WVU 31 , CIN 24 | Brendan Sorsby 279 | Corey Kiner 91 | Evan Pryor 100 | |
Syracuse | BC 37 , SYR 31 | Kyle McCord 392 | Kye Robichaux 198 | Jackson Meeks 105 | |
Miami (FL) | GT 28 , MIA-FL 23 | Cam Ward 348 | Haynes King 93 | Jacolby George 88 | |
Minnesota |
@
Rutgers
|
RUT 26 , MINN 19 | Max Brosmer 262 | Antwan Raymond 73 | Ian Strong 89 |
Purdue | OHIOST 45 , PUR 0 | Will Howard 260 | TreVeyon Henderson 85 | Jeremiah Smith 87 | |
Columbia |
@
Harvard
|
HARV 26 , COLUM 6 | Jaden Craig 244 | Xaviah Bascon 109 | Marcus Libman 109 |
Delaware State |
vs
Morgan State
|
MORGST 36 , DELST 28 | C.J. Henry 294 | Jason Collins Jr. 138 | NyGhee Lolley 102 |
Robert Morris |
@
Duquesne
|
DUQ 31 , RMOR 6 | Darius Perrantes 231 | JaMario Clements 105 | John Erby 126 |
Dayton |
vs
San Diego
|
SD 16 , DAYTON 10 | Drew VanVleet 122 | Logan Gingg 175 | Ja'seem Reed 66 |
Sacred Heart |
vs
LIU
|
LIU 28 , SHEART 7 | John Michalski 104 | Ethan Greenwood 140 | Ethan Greenwood 46 |
Western Carolina |
@
ETSU
|
EASTTN 24 , WCU 21 | Taron Dickens 233 | Branson Adams 81 | Zion Booker 85 |
Brown |
@
Yale
|
YALE 56 , BROWN 34 | Grant Jordan 372 | Tre Peterson 66 | David Pantelis 195 |
Holy Cross |
vs
Lehigh
|
LEHIGH 10 , HOLYCR 7 | Joe Pesansky 148 | Jayden Clerveaux 84 | Max Mosey 46 |
Middle Tennessee |
vs
Liberty
|
LIB 37 , MIDDTN 17 | Nicholas Vattiato 263 | Quinton Cooley 136 | Holden Willis 81 |
Youngstown State |
@
Southern Illinois
|
SIU 37 , YSU 33 | Jake Curry 322 | Beau Brungard 121 | Max Tomczak 154 |
Northwestern State |
@
Southeastern Louisiana
|
SELA 41 , NWST 0 | Eli Sawyer 206 | Antonio Martin Jr. 110 | Darius Lewis 79 |
Bryant |
@
Maine
|
MAINE 38 , BRYANT 26 | Carter Peevy 269 | Brian Santana-Fis 104 | Montigo Moss 122 |
Morehead State |
@
Davidson
|
DAV 31 , MOR 14 | Carter Cravens 205 | Mari Adams 129 | Nate Garnett 124 |
Stetson |
vs
Marist
|
MARIST 40 , STET 31 | Brady Meitz 323 | Tristan Shannon 74 | Dalton Bailey 190 |
Stonehill |
vs
Central Connecticut State
|
CENTCT 21 , STONEH 17 | Jack O'Connell 166 | Elijah Howard 70 | Chase Miller 70 |
Albany |
@
Stony Brook
|
STNYBR 24 , ALBANY 6 | Tyler Knoop 229 | Roland Dempster 98 | Jasiah Williams 74 |
Rhode Island |
@
Delaware
|
DEL 24 , URI 21 | Nick Minicucci 187 | Marcus Yarns 174 | Phil Lutz 89 |
William & Mary |
vs
Elon
|
ELON 40 , W&M 36 | Matthew Downing 315 | Rushawn Baker 167 | Zimere Winston 101 |
Hampton |
@
Towson
|
TOWSON 27 , HAMP 10 | Sean Brown 141 | Ja'Quan Snipes 80 | John Dunmore 45 |
Monmouth |
@
New Hampshire
|
UNH 33 , MONM 20 | Seth Morgan 205 | Denzell Gibson 88 | Logan Tomlinson 115 |
North Carolina A&T |
@
Villanova
|
VILL 31 , NCA&T 3 | Connor Watkins 167 | Isaiah Ragland 82 | Devin Smith 68 |
Cornell |
vs
Penn
|
PENN 67 , COR 49 | Jameson Wang 401 | Malachi Hosley 192 | Samuel Musungu 148 |
Colgate |
vs
Lafayette
|
LAF 21 , COLG 20 | Jake Stearney 129 | Jamar Curtis 122 | Treyvhon Saunders 62 |
Fordham |
@
Bucknell
|
BUCK 28 , FORD 27 | Ralph Rucker IV 322 | Julius Loughridge 155 | Cole Thornton 130 |
VMI |
vs
Mercer
|
MERC 34 , VMI 0 | Whitt Newbauer 282 | Micah Bell 69 | Parker Wroble 102 |
Eastern Illinois |
@
Gardner-Webb
|
G-WEBB 31 , EASTIL 28 | Pierce Holley 458 | Carson Gresock 50 | Cooper Willman 291 |
Northern Colorado |
vs
Eastern Washington
|
EASTWA 43 , NORCOL 15 | Peter Costelli 258 | Malik Dotson 125 | Carver Cheeks 136 |
Southeast Missouri State |
@
Lindenwood
|
LINDEN 24 , SEMO 12 | Nate Glantz 183 | Steve Hall 91 | Jeff Caldwell 99 |
St. Thomas (MN) |
vs
Drake
|
DRAKE 22 , STTHMN 19 | Tak Tateoka 194 | Hope Adebayo 99 | Colin Chase 91 |
Valparaiso |
vs
Butler
|
BUTLER 24 , VALPO 17 | Reagan Andrew 232 | Michael Mansaray 82 | Luke Wooten 138 |
Indiana State |
@
South Dakota
|
SOUDAK 49 , INST 0 | Aidan Bouman 238 | Charles Pierre Jr. 165 | Quaron Adams 133 |
UNI |
vs
Illinois State
|
ILLST 31 , UNI 9 | Tommy Rittenhouse 251 | Wenkers Wright 109 | Daniel Sobkowicz 136 |
Western Illinois |
vs
Tennessee State
|
TENNST 45 , WESTIL 20 | Nathan Lamb 266 | Nathan Lamb 74 | Demari Davis 62 |
Murray State |
vs
Missouri State
|
MOSTU 59 , MUR 31 | Jacob Clark 431 | Jawaun Northington 86 | Jmariyae Robinson 123 |
North Dakota |
vs
South Dakota State
|
SDAKST 38 , NORDAK 7 | Mark Gronowski 193 | Angel Johnson 100 | Griffin Wilde 140 |
Furman |
vs
Wofford
|
WOF 19 , FURMAN 13 | Carson Jones 229 | Ryan Ingram 120 | Kyle Watkins 106 |
Citadel |
vs
Chattanooga
|
CHAT 31 , CIT 7 | Luke Schomburg 131 | Reggie Davis 115 | Chris Domercant 69 |
West Georgia |
vs
Tarleton State
|
TARLST 38 , WESTGA 21 | Victor Gabalis 242 | Kayvon Britten 74 | Darius Cooper 117 |
Charleston Southern |
vs
UT Martin
|
TN-MAR 40 , CHSOU 14 | Kinkead Dent 254 | Patrick Smith 123 | DeVonte Tanksley 128 |
Central Arkansas |
@
Eastern Kentucky
|
EASTKY 31 , CENARK 24 | Will McElvain 113 | Darius Hale 90 | Trejan Bridges 143 |
UAB |
vs
Connecticut
|
UCONN 31 , UAB 23 | Jalen Kitna 233 | Lee Beebe Jr. 115 | Amare Thomas 88 |
North Alabama |
@
Southern Utah
|
SOUT 38 , NORTAL 26 | TJ Smith 452 | Targhee Lambson 166 | Takairee Kenebrew 187 |
Sacramento State |
@
Montana State
|
MONTST 49 , SAC 7 | Carson Conklin 138 | Adam Jones 159 | Danny Scudero 70 |
Weber State |
vs
Idaho State
|
IDAST 43 , WEB 35 | Kobe Tracy 348 | Davion Godley 109 | Jeff Weimer 89 |
Southern Miss |
vs
Marshall
|
MARSH 37 , SOUMIS 3 | Braylon Braxton 220 | Ethan Payne 104 | Christian Fitzpatrick 78 |
Nicholls |
@
Houston Christian
|
HOUCHR 24 , NICH 21 | Pat McQuaide 246 | Collin Guggenheim 50 | AJ Wilson 132 |
Mississippi Valley State |
@
Jackson State
|
JKST 51 , MSVL 14 | Ty'Jarian Williams 128 | Irv Mulligan 187 | Nathan Rembert 83 |
Florida A&M |
@
Prairie View A&M
|
PVA&M 31 , FLAA&M 12 | Jaden Johnson 193 | Levontai Summersett 87 | James Burns 117 |
Lamar |
@
UIW
|
INCWOR 41 , LAMAR 20 | Zach Calzada 402 | Dekalon Taylor 98 | Jalen Walthall 165 |
Samford |
vs
Tennessee Tech
|
TNTECH 27 , SAM 7 | Quincy Crittendon 165 | Tremel Jones 79 | D.J. Rias 78 |
Texas Southern |
@
Alcorn State
|
ALC 42 , TXSO 21 | Xzavier Vaughn 171 | Xzavier Vaughn 130 | Tyran Warren 64 |
Arkansas-Pine Bluff |
vs
Alabama A&M
|
ALAA&M 52 , ARK-PB 24 | Mekhi Hagens 172 | Donovan Eaglin 148 | JaVonnie Gibson 86 |
Alabama State |
@
Grambling State
|
GRAM 24 , ALST 23 | Kareem Keye 280 | Keilon Elder 104 | Eric Horn 75 |
Bethune-Cookman |
@
Southern University
|
SOU 25 , B-C 23 | Cam'Ron Ransom 243 | Kobe Dillon 130 | Thomas Nance 75 |
Oregon State | SJSU 24 , ORST 13 | Walker Eget 395 | Anthony Hankerson 121 | Nick Nash 161 | |
North Texas | ARMY 14 , UNT 3 | Chandler Morris 214 | Bryson Daily 153 | Damon Ward Jr. 63 | |
Georgia |
@
Ole Miss
|
MISS 28 , UGA 10 | Jaxson Dart 199 | Jaxson Dart 50 | Cayden Lee 81 |
Iowa State |
@
Kansas
|
KU 45 , IAST 36 | Rocco Becht 383 | Devin Neal 116 | Jaylin Noel 167 |
Georgia State | JMU 38 , GAST 7 | Alonza Barnett III 241 | George Pettaway 102 | Yamir Knight 65 | |
Virginia Tech |
vs
Clemson
|
CLEM 24 , VATECH 14 | Cade Klubnik 211 | Phil Mafah 128 | Da'Quan Felton 68 |
North Carolina State |
vs
Duke
|
DUKE 29 , NCSU 19 | Maalik Murphy 245 | CJ Bailey 36 | Que'Sean Brown 88 |
Michigan |
@
Indiana
|
IU 20 , MICH 15 | Kurtis Rourke 206 | Ty Son Lawton 55 | Ke'Shawn Williams 70 |
Howard |
vs
South Carolina State
|
SCST 38 , HOW 14 | Eric Phoenix 272 | Jarett Hunter 59 | Einaj Carter 120 |
Campbell |
vs
Richmond
|
RICH 27 , CAMP 24 | Camden Coleman 252 | Mike Chandler II 121 | Landon Ellis 101 |
Portland State |
vs
Idaho
|
IDAHO 39 , PORST 30 | Jack Wagner 205 | Deshaun Buchanan 212 | Jordan Dwyer 109 |
Kennesaw State |
@
UTEP
|
UTEP 43 , KENNST 35 | Skyler Locklear 327 | Davis Bryson 70 | Trey Goodman 150 |
Temple |
@
Tulane
|
TULN 52 , TEM 6 | Darian Mensah 262 | Makhi Hughes 153 | Mario Williams 94 |
Texas Tech |
vs
Colorado
|
CU 41 , TTU 27 | Shedeur Sanders 291 | Tahj Brooks 137 | Josh Kelly 106 |
Austin Peay |
vs
Abilene Christian
|
ABICHR 35 , APSU 34 | Maverick McIvor 355 | Sam Hicks 113 | Jaden Barnes 179 |
Vanderbilt | SCAR 28 , VANDY 7 | LaNorris Sellers 238 | Raheim Sanders 126 | Raheim Sanders 52 | |
Louisiana Tech | JACST 44 , LATECH 37 | Evan Bullock 266 | Tre Stewart 166 | Tru Edwards 142 | |
Stephen F. Austin |
@
East Texas A&M
|
ETA&M 19 , SFA 14 | Ron Peace 312 | Qualan Jones 95 | Kylon Harris 119 |
Arkansas State | UL-LAF 55 , ARKST 19 | Ben Wooldridge 264 | Dre'lyn Washington 123 | Corey Rucker 73 | |
New Mexico State | WESTKY 41 , NMST 28 | Caden Veltkamp 246 | Mike Washington 152 | Kisean Johnson 88 | |
Maryland |
@
Oregon
|
ORE 39 , MD 18 | Billy Edwards Jr. 206 | Noah Whittington 77 | Tai Felton 72 |
UCF | ASU 35 , UCF 31 | Dylan Rizk 229 | RJ Harvey 127 | Jordyn Tyson 99 | |
Oklahoma State |
@
TCU
|
TCU 38 , OKST 13 | Josh Hoover 286 | Ollie Gordon II 121 | De'Zhaun Stribling 101 |
Mississippi State | TENN 33 , MSST 14 | Nico Iamaleava 174 | Dylan Sampson 149 | Dont'e Thornton Jr. 104 | |
LSU |
vs
Alabama
|
BAMA 42 , LSU 13 | Garrett Nussmeier 239 | Jalen Milroe 185 | Kyren Lacy 79 |
Florida State | ND 52 , FSU 3 | Riley Leonard 215 | Jadarian Price 95 | Jaden Greathouse 66 | |
Oklahoma |
@
Missouri
|
MIZZOU 30 , OKLA 23 | Drew Pyne 143 | Xavier Robinson 56 | Theo Wease Jr. 70 |
Cal Poly |
vs
Northern Arizona
|
NOARI 31 , CALPLY 14 | Jackson Akins 281 | Seth Cromwell 132 | Giancarlo Woods 112 |
Nevada | BOISE 28 , NEVADA 21 | Brendon Lewis 188 | Ashton Jeanty 209 | Matt Lauter 61 | |
Pittsburgh |
vs
Virginia
|
UVA 24 , PITT 19 | Anthony Colandrea 143 | Desmond Reid 80 | Desmond Reid 43 |
Washington | PSU 35 , UW 6 | Drew Allar 220 | Kaytron Allen 98 | Harrison Wallace III 84 | |
Hawaii |
vs
UNLV
|
UNLV 29 , HAWAII 27 | Brayden Schager 282 | Hajj-Malik Williams 122 | Ricky White III 128 |
Fresno State | AF 36 , FRES 28 | Mikey Keene 289 | Dylan Carson 120 | Mac Dalena 89 | |
Utah |
vs
BYU
|
BYU 22 , UTAH 21 | Jake Retzlaff 219 | Micah Bernard 78 | Chase Roberts 91 |
Montana |
vs
UC Davis
|
UCDAV 30 , MONT 14 | Miles Hastings 227 | Lan Larison 97 | Junior Bergen 92 |
Utah State | WSU 49 , USU 28 | Spencer Petras 208 | Wayshawn Parker 149 | Kyle Williams 55 |
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.