College Football Schedule 2024-25

Conference Schedules icon
Thursday, September 19, 2024
MATCHUP RESULT HI PASS HI RUSH HI REC
team logo Appalachian State USA 48 , APP 14 Joey Aguilar 266 Fluff Bothwell 116 Kaedin Robinson 85
Friday, September 20, 2024
MATCHUP RESULT HI PASS HI RUSH HI REC
team logo Syracuse STAN 26 , SYR 24 Kyle McCord 339 Chris Davis Jr. 79 Trebor Pena 101
team logo Nebraska ILL 31 , NEB 24 Dylan Raiola 297 Dante Dowdell 72 Jahmal Banks 94
team logo San Jose State WSU 54 , SJSU 52 John Mateer 390 John Mateer 111 Nick Nash 152
Saturday, September 21, 2024
MATCHUP RESULT HI PASS HI RUSH HI REC
team logo Louisiana TULN 41 , UL-LAF 33 Ben Wooldridge 238 Makhi Hughes 166 Terrance Carter 79
team logo Mississippi State FLA 45 , MSST 28 Graham Mertz 201 Johnnie Daniels 77 Mario Craver 62
team logo Rice ARMY 37 , RICE 14 E.J. Warner 235 Bryson Daily 145 Matt Sykes 82
team logo Charlotte IU 52 , CHAR 14 Kurtis Rourke 258 Justice Ellison 58 Myles Price 77
team logo North Carolina JMU 70 , UNC 50 Jacolby Criswell 475 Omarion Hampton 139 Omarion Dollison 125
team logo Marshall OHIOST 49 , MARSH 14 Will Howard 275 Quinshon Judkins 173 Emeka Egbuka 117
team logo Houston CIN 34 , HOU 0 Brendan Sorsby 188 Corey Kiner 78 Sterling Berkhalter 60
team logo Kansas WVU 32 , KU 28 Garrett Greene 295 Devin Neal 110 Hudson Clement 150
team logo North Carolina State CLEM 59 , NCSU 35 Cade Klubnik 209 Phil Mafah 107 Justin Joly 72
team logo Villanova MD 38 , VILL 20 Billy Edwards Jr. 328 Roman Hemby 67 Tai Felton 157
team logo Stetson
@ team logo Harvard
HARV 35 , STET 0 Jaden Craig 217 Shane McLaughlin 64 Cooper Barkate 76
team logo Princeton
@ team logo Lehigh
LEHIGH 35 , PRINCE 20 Blaine Hipa 219 Jaden Green 82 Luke Colella 86
team logo LIU
vs team logo Rhode Island
URI 28 , LIU 21 Luca Stanzani 176 Malik Grant 141 Michael Love 77
team logo Lafayette
@ team logo Columbia
COLUM 31 , LAF 20 Dean DeNobile 272 Jamar Curtis 102 Chris Carasia 114
team logo Ohio UK 41 , OHIO 6 Brock Vandagriff 237 Jamarion Wilcox 82 Dane Key 145
team logo Ball State CMU 37 , BALLST 34 Kadin Semonza 285 B.J. Harris 151 Tanner Koziol 112
team logo Merrimack
vs team logo Maine
MAINE 26 , MERRIM 15 Carter Peevy 225 Jermaine Corbett 80 Joe Gillette 86
team logo Sacred Heart
@ team logo Stonehill
STONEH 35 , SHEART 21 John Michalski 143 Jarel Washington 184 Kevin McGuire 41
team logo Georgetown
vs team logo Brown
BROWN 26 , GTOWN 14 Danny Lauter 343 Naieem Kearney 52 Cam Pygatt 116
team logo Cornell
@ team logo Colgate
COLG 41 , COR 24 Jameson Wang 313 Chris Gee 79 Brendan Lee 89
team logo Fordham
@ team logo Dartmouth
DART 45 , FORD 13 Jack Capaldi 187 Q Jones 86 Paxton Scott 121
team logo VMI
vs team logo Norfolk State
NOR 32 , VMI 10 Jalen Daniels 277 Kevon King 50 Jacquez Jones 143
team logo Arkansas State IAST 52 , ARKST 7 Rocco Becht 204 Carson Hansen 58 Benjamin Brahmer 73
team logo Drake
@ team logo South Dakota
SOUDAK 42 , DRAKE 3 Aidan Bouman 219 Travis Theis 94 Carter Bell 56
team logo St. Thomas (MN)
@ team logo Lindenwood
LINDEN 64 , STTHMN 0 Nate Glantz 228 Cortezz Jones 152 Jeff Caldwell 153
team logo Towson
@ team logo North Dakota State
NDAKST 41 , TOWSON 24 Cam Miller 219 CharMar Brown 126 Bryce Lance 63
team logo San Diego
@ team logo North Dakota
NORDAK 41 , SD 24 Grant Sergent 243 Sawyer Seidl 123 Bo Belquist 116
team logo Utah State TEM 45 , USU 29 Spencer Petras 293 Rahsul Faison 148 Dante Wright 116
team logo Coastal Carolina UVA 43 , COASTC 24 Ethan Vasko 222 Xavier Brown 171 Tray Taylor 70
team logo Saint Francis U EASTMI 36 , STF-PA 0 Adrian Mejia 111 Deion Brown 33 Zyell Griffin 89
team logo Holy Cross
vs team logo Yale
YALE 38 , HOLYCR 31 Joe Pesansky 279 Nathan Denney 80 Max Mosey 129
team logo Tennessee State
@ team logo Tennessee Tech
TNTECH 24 , TENNST 14 Draylen Ellis 246 Obie Sanni 75 Karate Brenson 99
team logo Eastern Washington NEVADA 49 , EASTWA 16 Brendon Lewis 193 Savion Red 117 Efton Chism III 85
team logo Western Carolina
@ team logo Montana
MONT 46 , WCU 35 Cole Gonzales 340 Eli Gillman 175 De'Andre Tamarez 229
team logo Mercyhurst
@ team logo Montana State
MONTST 52 , MERCYH 13 Tommy Mellott 214 Colson Coon 102 Cameron Barmore 95
team logo Southern Miss JACST 44 , SOUMIS 7 Tyler Huff 236 Tre Stewart 96 Brock Rechsteiner 90
team logo Bryant
@ team logo New Hampshire
UNH 38 , BRYANT 17 Jarrett Guest 335 Isaac Seide 61 Caleb Burke 151
team logo Houston Christian TX-SA 45 , HOUCHR 7 Owen McCown 226 Bryson Donnell 74 Willie McCoy 85
team logo Auburn ARK 24 , AUBURN 14 Payton Thorne 213 Taylen Green 80 KeAndre Lambert-Smith 156
team logo UCLA LSU 34 , UCLA 17 Garrett Nussmeier 352 Josh Williams 62 Mason Taylor 77
team logo Arizona State TTU 30 , ASU 22 Sam Leavitt 282 Tahj Brooks 117 Cam Skattebo 117
team logo Northern Illinois BUFF 23 , NIU 20 Ethan Hampton 194 Antario Brown 73 Victor Snow 72
team logo Memphis NAVY 56 , MEM 44 Seth Henigan 371 Blake Horvath 211 Koby Drake 102
team logo Kent State PSU 56 , KENTST 0 Drew Allar 309 Nicholas Singleton 81 Omari Evans 116
team logo Miami (OH) ND 28 , MIA-OH 3 Riley Leonard 154 Riley Leonard 143 Beaux Collins 60
team logo Georgia Tech LOU 31 , GT 19 Haynes King 312 Haynes King 58 Ja'Corey Brooks 125
team logo Youngstown State PITT 73 , YSU 17 Eli Holstein 247 Daniel Carter 109 Censere Lee 108
team logo Virginia Tech RUT 26 , VATECH 23 Athan Kaliakmanis 269 Bhayshul Tuten 122 Ian Strong 110
team logo USC MICH 27 , USC 24 Miller Moss 283 Kalel Mullings 159 Zachariah Branch 98
team logo Central Connecticut State UMASS 35 , CENTCT 31 Taisun Phommachanh 287 Jalen John 65 Jakobie Keeney-James 95
team logo Oklahoma State UTAH 22 , OKST 19 Isaac Wilson 207 Micah Bernard 182 Dorian Singer 95
team logo Middle Tennessee DUKE 45 , MIDDTN 17 Maalik Murphy 216 Jaiden Credle 125 Nicky Dalmolin 100
team logo Mississippi Valley State
@ team logo Nicholls
NICH 66 , MSVL 0 Pat McQuaide 184 Miequle Brock 132 Nathan Rembert 106
team logo Wagner
vs team logo Robert Morris
RMOR 21 , WAGNER 14 Anthony Chiccitt 219 Tyvon Edmonds Jr. 99 Noah Robinson 90
team logo Howard
@ team logo Hampton
HAMP 27 , HOW 20 Jaylon Tolbert 201 Ja'Quan Snipes 117 Kasey Hawthorne 73
team logo Vanderbilt MIZZOU 30 , VANDY 27 Brady Cook 226 Nate Noel 199 Luther Burden III 76
team logo UTEP CSU 27 , UTEP 17 Cade McConnell 220 Avery Morrow 156 Kenny Odom 128
team logo TCU SMU 66 , TCU 42 Josh Hoover 396 Brashard Smith 127 Jack Bech 166
team logo Campbell
vs team logo Stony Brook
STNYBR 24 , CAMP 17 Chad Mascoe Jr. 160 Roland Dempster 179 Sincere Brown 63
team logo Southern Utah
@ team logo Idaho State
IDAST 38 , SOUT 28 Jackson Berry 177 Targhee Lambson 172 Shane Carr 104
team logo East Carolina LIB 35 , ECU 24 Kaidon Salter 223 Quinton Cooley 105 Reese Smith 80
team logo FIU
vs team logo Monmouth
MONM 45 , FIU 42 Keyone Jenkins 362 Rodney Nelson 117 Josh Derry 108
team logo Delaware State
vs team logo Richmond
RICH 38 , DELST 24 Camden Coleman 312 Zach Palmer-Smith 207 Landon Ellis 131
team logo Marist
@ team logo Bucknell
BUCK 34 , MARIST 18 Ralph Rucker IV 272 Michael Cadden 71 Mohamed Diawara 125
team logo Citadel
@ team logo Mercer
MERC 38 , CIT 21 Johnathan Bennett 336 Dwayne McGee 94 Javonte Graves-Billips 105
team logo Elon
vs team logo ETSU
EASTTN 34 , ELON 14 Jaylen King 233 Bryson Irby 96 Hakeem Meggett 85
team logo Furman
@ team logo William & Mary
W&M 34 , FURMAN 24 Trey Hedden 264 Bronson Yoder 166 Colton Hinton 89
team logo Penn
@ team logo Delaware
DEL 29 , PENN 22 Ryan O'Connor 309 Malachi Hosley 176 Phil Lutz 144
team logo Morehead State
@ team logo Eastern Kentucky
EASTKY 42 , MOR 13 Matt Morrissey 162 Brayden Latham 76 Nate Garnett 55
team logo Northwestern UW 24 , NW 5 Will Rogers 223 Jonah Coleman 67 Denzel Boston 121
team logo Wyoming UNT 44 , WYO 17 Chandler Morris 305 Shane Porter 120 DT Sheffield 109
team logo Louisiana Tech TLSA 23 , LATECH 20 Kirk Francis 228 Anthony Watkins 60 Eli Finley 91
team logo Florida A&M TROY 34 , FLAA&M 12 Goose Crowder 291 Damien Taylor 109 Devonte Ross 229
team logo Toledo WESTKY 26 , TOL 21 Caden Veltkamp 242 Tucker Gleason 46 Jacquez Stuart 93
team logo New Mexico State SAMHOU 31 , NMST 11 Santino Marucci 74 Hunter Watson 116 Noah Smith 38
team logo Southern Illinois
vs team logo Southeast Missouri State
SEMO 38 , SIU 21 Hunter Simmons 341 Payton Brown 124 Vinson Davis III 132
team logo East Texas A&M
vs team logo Sacramento State
SAC 34 , ETA&M 0 Carson Conklin 154 Elijah Tau-Tolliver 127 Jared Gipson 85
team logo Prairie View A&M
vs team logo Southern University
SOU 31 , PVA&M 24 Cameron Peters 193 Kobe Dillon 77 Coby Cavil 72
team logo Northern Arizona
@ team logo UIW
INCWOR 38 , NOARI 14 Ty Pennington 247 Dekalon Taylor 184 Roy Alexander 76
team logo Texas Southern
@ team logo Lamar
LAMAR 20 , TXSO 17 Jakolby Longino 63 Quintell Quinn 149 Izaha Jones 27
team logo Arkansas-Pine Bluff
vs team logo Central Arkansas
CENARK 56 , ARK-PB 17 Mekhi Hagens 239 ShunDerrick Powell 148 Malachi Henry 87
team logo Alabama A&M
@ team logo Austin Peay
APSU 59 , ALAA&M 16 Cornelious Brown IV 179 La'Vell Wright 142 Jaden Barnes 56
team logo Jackson State
@ team logo Grambling State
GRAM 41 , JKST 20 Myles Crawley 167 Ke'travion Hargrove 81 Joanes Fortilien 91
team logo Eastern Illinois
@ team logo Illinois State
ILLST 31 , EASTIL 7 Tommy Rittenhouse 228 Wenkers Wright 150 Daniel Sobkowicz 93
team logo Northwestern State
vs team logo Weber State
WEB 39 , NWST 0 Richie Munoz 327 Kolbe Burrell 60 Jacob Sharp 119
team logo UT Martin
vs team logo Missouri State
MOSTU 31 , TN-MAR 24 Jacob Clark 388 Patrick Smith 63 Lance Mason 94
team logo Southeastern Louisiana
vs team logo South Dakota State
SDAKST 41 , SELA 0 Damon Stewart 81 Kirby Vorhees 179 Darius Lewis 56
team logo North Alabama
vs team logo Tarleton State
TARLST 28 , NORTAL 14 Ben Harris 100 Kayvon Britten 273 Dakota Warfield 91
team logo Florida Atlantic UCONN 48 , FLAATL 14 Nick Evers 88 Mel Brown 156 Skyler Bell 43
team logo South Florida MIA-FL 50 , USF 15 Cam Ward 404 Jordan Lyle 104 Sean Atkins 125
team logo California FSU 14 , CAL 9 Fernando Mendoza 303 Lawrance Toafili 80 Ja'Khi Douglas 86
team logo North Carolina A&T
@ team logo North Carolina Central
NCCENT 66 , NCA&T 24 Walker Harris 272 J'Mari Taylor 137 Markell Quick 119
team logo Presbyterian
vs team logo Gardner-Webb
G-WEBB 42 , PRESBY 21 Tyler Ridell 238 Carson Gresock 134 Giovanni Adopte 72
team logo Oklahoma TENN 25 , OKLA 15 Nico Iamaleava 194 Dylan Sampson 92 Bru McCoy 92
team logo Bowling Green TEXA&M 26 , BGSU 20 Connor Bazelak 250 Marcel Reed 91 Harold Fannin Jr. 145
team logo Minnesota IOWA 31 , MINN 14 Max Brosmer 209 Kaleb Johnson 206 Daniel Jackson 112
team logo Akron SCAR 50 , AKRON 7 Robby Ashford 243 Robby Ashford 133 Gage Larvadain 79
team logo Georgia Southern MISS 52 , GASO 13 Jaxson Dart 382 Henry Parrish Jr. 89 Tre Harris 225
team logo Baylor CU 38 , BAYLOR 31 Shedeur Sanders 341 Sawyer Robertson 82 Travis Hunter 130
team logo Louisiana-Monroe TEX 51 , UL-MON 3 Arch Manning 258 Jaydon Blue 124 Isaiah Bond 75
team logo Abilene Christian
vs team logo Idaho
IDAHO 27 , ABICHR 24 Maverick McIvor 288 Nate Thomas 69 Jordan Dwyer 91
team logo Northern Colorado
@ team logo Stephen F. Austin
SFA 48 , NORCOL 7 Sam G. Vidlak 219 Jaylen Jenkins 80 Blaine Green 93
team logo Alcorn State
@ team logo McNeese
MCNE 42 , ALC 14 Clifton McDowell 229 Xzavier Vaughn 127 Damien Jones 105
team logo Michigan State BC 23 , MSU 19 Aidan Chiles 241 Treshaun Ward 102 Lewis Bond 102
team logo Purdue ORST 38 , PUR 21 Gevani McCoy 104 Devin Mockobee 168 Max Klare 46
team logo New Mexico FRES 38 , NM 21 Devon Dampier 338 Devon Dampier 67 Luke Wysong 126
team logo Portland State BOISE 56 , PORST 14 Maddux Madsen 188 Ashton Jeanty 127 Matt Lauter 91
team logo Utah Tech
@ team logo UC Davis
UCDAV 32 , UTAHTE 14 Miles Hastings 275 Lan Larison 120 Bryce Parker 65
team logo Kansas State BYU 38 , KSU 9 Jake Retzlaff 149 DJ Giddens 93 Jayce Brown 51
Sunday, September 22, 2024
MATCHUP RESULT HI PASS HI RUSH HI REC
team logo UNI HAWAII 36 , UNI 7 Brayden Schager 374 Amauri Pesek-Hickson 43 Dekel Crowdus 83

All times are in ET. Tap on each match's time to view it in your local timezone.

College Football Schedule

Rose Bowl

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:

  1. Boston College Eagles
  2. Clemson Tigers
  3. Duke Blue Devils
  4. Florida State Seminoles
  5. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
  6. Louisville Cardinals
  7. Miami Hurricanes
  8. North Carolina Tar Heels
  9. North Carolina State Wolfpack
  10. Pittsburgh Panthers
  11. Syracuse Orange
  12. Virginia Cavaliers
  13. Virginia Tech Hokies
  14. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

The permanent matchups for the ACC teams are as below:

UniversityRival 1Rival 2Rival 3
Boston CollegeMiamiPittsburghSyracuse
ClemsonFlorida StateGeorgia TechNC State
DukeNorth CarolinaNC StateWake Forest
Florida StateClemsonMiamiSyracuse
Georgia TechClemsonLouisvilleWake Forest
LouisvilleGeorgia TechMiamiVirginia
MiamiBoston CollegeFlorida StateLouisville
North CarolinaDukeNC StateVirginia
NC StateClemsonDukeNorth Carolina
PittsburghBoston CollegeSyracuseVirginia Tech
SyracuseBoston CollegeFlorida StatePittsburgh
VirginiaLouisvilleNorth CarolinaVirginia Tech
Virginia TechPittsburghVirginiaWake Forest
Wake ForestDukeGeorgia TechVirginia 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:

EastWest
Ohio State BuckeyesMinnesota Golden Gophers
Rutgers Scarlet KnightsIowa Hawkeyes
Maryland TerrapinsWisconsin Badgers
Michigan WolverinesIllinois Fighting Illini
Michigan St. SpartansPurdue Boilermakers
Penn St. Nittany LionsNorthwestern Wildcats
Indiana HoosiersNebraska 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:

  1. BYU Cougars
  2. Cincinnati Bearcats
  3. Houston Cougars
  4. Iowa State Cyclones
  5. Kansas Jayhawks
  6. Kansas State Wildcats
  7. Oklahoma Sooners
  8. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  9. Texas Longhorns
  10. UCF Knights
  11. Baylor Bears
  12. TCU Horned Frogs
  13. Texas Tech Red Raiders
  14. 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:

  1. USC Trojans
  2. Arizona Wildcats
  3. Arizona State Sun Devils
  4. California Golden Bears
  5. Colorado Buffaloes
  6. Oregon Ducks
  7. Oregon State Beavers
  8. Stanford Cardinal
  9. UCLA Bruins
  10. Utah Utes
  11. Washington Huskies
  12. 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:

  1. Alabama vs. Tennessee
  2. Arkansas vs. Missouri
  3. Auburn vs. Georgia
  4. LSU vs. Florida
  5. Mississippi State vs. Kentucky
  6. Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
  7. Texas A&M vs. South Carolina.

The teams participating in the SEC conference as of 2023 are:

EastWest
Vanderbilt CommodoresAlabama Crimson Tide
Georgia BulldogsArkansas Razorbacks
Kentucky WildcatsAuburn Tigers
Missouri TigersOle Miss Rebels
Tennessee VolunteersMississippi State Bulldogs
Florida GatorsTexasA&M Aggies
South Carolina GamecocksLSU 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:

  1. North Texas vs. SMU
  2. UAB vs. Memphis
  3. Rice vs. UTSA
  4. Charlotte vs. East Carolina
  5. Florida Atlantic vs. South Florida
  6. Navy vs. Temple

The 14 members of the AAC are as follows:

  1. Memphis Tigers
  2. Charlotte 49ers
  3. Florida Atlantic Owls
  4. Navy Midshipmen
  5. Rice Owls
  6. SMU Mustangs
  7. South Florida Bulls
  8. Temple Owls
  9. Tulane Green Wave
  10. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
  11. UAB Blazers
  12. UTSA Roadrunners
  13. East Carolina Pirates
  14. 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:

  1. Liberty Flames
  2. Jacksonville State Gamecocks
  3. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
  4. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
  5. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
  6. Sam Houston Bearkats
  7. FIU Panthers
  8. New Mexico State Aggies
  9. 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:

EastWest
Ohio BobcatsCentral Michigan Chippewas
Akron ZipsEastern Michigan Eagles
Bowling Green FalconsNorthern Illinois Huskies
Miami (OH) RedHawksToledo Rockets
Buffalo BullsWestern Michigan Broncos
Kent State Golden FlashesBall 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:

  1. Air Force Falcons
  2. Fresno State Bulldogs
  3. Wyoming Cowboys
  4. San Diego State Aztecs
  5. New Mexico Lobos
  6. UNLV Rebels
  7. Utah State Aggies
  8. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
  9. San Jose State Spartans
  10. Colorado State Rams
  11. Boise State Broncos
  12. Nevada Wolf Pack

The two permanent fixtures per team are as below:

UniversityRival 1Rival 2
Air ForceColorado StateWyoming
Boise StateNew MexicoUtah State
Colorado StateAir ForceWyoming
Fresno StateNevadaSan Jose State
HawaiiSan Diego StateUNLV
NevadaFresno StateUNLV
New MexicoBoise StateSan Jose State
San Diego StateHawaiiUtah State
San Jose StateFresno StateNew Mexico
UNLVHawaiiNevada
Utah StateBoise StateSan Diego State
WyomingAir ForceColorado 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:

EastWest
Old Dominion MonarchsLouisiana-Monroe Warhawks
Georgia Southern EaglesSouth Alabama Jaguars
Georgia State PanthersSouthern Miss Golden Eagles
James Madison DukesTexas State Bobcats
Marshall Thundering HerdTroy Trojans
Appalachian State MountaineersArkansas State Red Wolves
Coastal Carolina ChanticleersLouisiana 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:

  1. Army West Point Black Knights
  2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  3. Connecticut Huskies
  4. 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:

  1. Idaho Vandals
  2. Montana Grizzlies
  3. Sacramento State Hornets
  4. Weber State Wildcats
  5. Cal Poly Mustangs
  6. Montana State Bobcats
  7. UC Davis Aggies
  8. Eastern Washington Eagles
  9. Idaho State Bengals
  10. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
  11. Northern Colorado Bears
  12. 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:

  1. Bryant Bulldogs
  2. Charleston Southern Buccaneers
  3. Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs
  4. 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:

  1. William & Mary Tribe
  2. Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
  3. Monmouth Hawks
  4. Rhode Island Rams
  5. Villanova Wildcats
  6. Hampton Pirates
  7. New Hampshire Wildcats
  8. Albany Great Danes
  9. Elon Phoenix
  10. Maine Black Bears
  11. North Carolina A&T Aggies
  12. Richmond Spiders
  13. Campbell Fighting Camels
  14. Towson Tigers
  15. 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:

  1. Dartmouth Big Green
  2. Harvard Crimson
  3. Columbia Lions
  4. Princeton Tigers
  5. Cornell Big Red
  6. Penn Quakers
  7. Yale Bulldogs
  8. 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”

  1. North Carolina Central Eagles
  2. Howard Bison
  3. Morgan State Bears
  4. Norfolk State Spartans
  5. Delaware State Hornets
  6. 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.

  1. Teams participating in this conference currently are:
  2. Illinois State Redbirds
  3. North Dakota Fighting Hawks
  4. North Dakota State Bison
  5. South Dakota State Jackrabbits
  6. Southern Illinois Salukis
  7. Murray State Racers
  8. South Dakota Coyotes
  9. Youngstown State Penguins
  10. Indiana State Sycamores
  11. Missouri State Bears
  12. UNI Panthers
  13. 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:

  1. Stonehill Skyhawks
  2. Duquesne Dukes
  3. LIU Sharks
  4. Merrimack Warriors
  5. Sacred Heart Pioneers
  6. Saint Francis U Red Flash
  7. Wagner Seahawks
  8. 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:

  1. Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
  2. Eastern Illinois Panthers
  3. Tennessee State Tigers
  4. UT Martin Skyhawks
  5. Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
  6. Lindenwood Lions

Patriot League Conference Scheduling

The Patriot League Conference features seven teams which are as follows:

  1. Georgetown Hoyas
  2. Fordham Rams
  3. Bucknell Bison
  4. Holy Cross Crusaders
  5. Lafayette Leopards
  6. Lehigh Mountain Hawks
  7. 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:

  1. Stetson Hatters
  2. Butler Bulldogs
  3. Dayton Flyers
  4. Morehead State Eagles
  5. Presbyterian Blue Hose
  6. St. Thomas (MN) Tommies
  7. Marist Red Foxes
  8. Davidson Wildcats
  9. Drake Bulldogs
  10. San Diego Toreros
  11. Valparaiso Beacons

Southern Conference Scheduling

The Southern Conference is a nine-team conference which is comprised of the following teams:

  1. Western Carolina Catamounts
  2. Mercer Bears
  3. Chattanooga Mocs
  4. ETSU Buccaneers
  5. Furman Paladins
  6. VMI Keydets
  7. Citadel Bulldogs
  8. Wofford Terriers
  9. 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:

  1. Houston Christian Huskies
  2. UIW Cardinals
  3. Lamar Cardinals
  4. McNeese Cowboys
  5. Nicholls Colonels
  6. Northwestern State Demons
  7. Southeastern Louisiana Lions
  8. 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:

EASTWEST
Florida A&M RattlersPrairie View A&M Panthers
Mississippi Valley State Delta DevilsAlcorn State Braves
Alabama A&M BulldogsArkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions
Alabama State HornetsGrambling State Tigers
Bethune-Cookman WildcatsSouthern University Jaguars
Jackson State TigersTexas 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:

  1. Tarleton State Texans
  2. Abilene Christian Wildcats
  3. Central Arkansas Bears
  4. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
  5. Austin Peay Governors
  6. Eastern Kentucky Colonels
  7. Southern Utah Thunderbirds
  8. Utah Tech Trailblazers
  9. 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.

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