College Football Schedule 2024-25
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FIU |
@
Liberty
|
LIB 31 , FIU 24 | Keyone Jenkins 245 | Quinton Cooley 174 | Eric Rivers 95 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Mexico State | JACST 54 , NMST 13 | Tyler Huff 196 | Tre Stewart 118 | PJ Johnson III 84 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coastal Carolina | JMU 39 , COASTC 7 | Alonza Barnett III 199 | George Pettaway 89 | Taylor Thompson 58 | |
Middle Tennessee | LATECH 48 , MIDDTN 21 | Evan Bullock 290 | Omiri Wiggins 49 | Tru Edwards 127 | |
UTEP | WESTKY 44 , UTEP 17 | Caden Veltkamp 264 | Ezell Jolly 119 | Easton Messer 106 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cornell |
vs
Harvard
|
HARV 38 , COR 20 | Jaden Craig 316 | Xaviah Bascon 99 | Cooper Barkate 130 |
Maryland |
vs
Northwestern
|
NW 37 , MD 10 | Billy Edwards Jr. 296 | Roman Hemby 42 | Bryce Kirtz 123 |
Utah State |
vs
UNLV
|
UNLV 50 , USU 34 | Spencer Petras 461 | Jai'Den Thomas 139 | Jalen Royals 155 |
Prairie View A&M |
@
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
|
ARK-PB 21 , PVA&M 17 | Jaden Johnson 268 | BJ Curry 46 | JaVonnie Gibson 183 |
Utah | ASU 27 , UTAH 19 | Cameron Rising 209 | Cam Skattebo 158 | Jordyn Tyson 84 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
South Carolina |
@
Alabama
|
BAMA 27 , SCAR 25 | LaNorris Sellers 238 | Raheim Sanders 78 | Germie Bernard 89 |
Washington |
@
Iowa
|
IOWA 40 , UW 16 | Will Rogers 195 | Kaleb Johnson 166 | Giles Jackson 63 |
UAB | ARMY 44 , UAB 10 | Jalen Kitna 242 | Bryson Daily 136 | Kam Shanks 119 | |
Massachusetts |
vs
Missouri
|
MIZZOU 45 , UMASS 3 | Brady Cook 219 | Marcus Carroll 91 | Jakobie Keeney-James 80 |
Kent State |
vs
Ball State
|
BALLST 37 , KENTST 35 | Tommy Ulatowski 394 | Braedon Sloan 76 | Chrishon McCray 213 |
Toledo |
@
Buffalo
|
BUFF 30 , TOL 15 | John Alan Richter 227 | Al-Jay Henderson 142 | Jerjuan Newton 159 |
Wake Forest |
vs
Clemson
|
CLEM 49 , WAKE 14 | Cade Klubnik 309 | Phil Mafah 108 | Jake Briningstool 104 |
North Carolina |
vs
Georgia Tech
|
GT 41 , UNC 34 | Jacolby Criswell 209 | Jamal Haynes 170 | J.J. Jones 64 |
Rutgers |
vs
Wisconsin
|
WISC 42 , RUT 7 | Braedyn Locke 240 | Tawee Walker 198 | Vinny Anthony II 81 |
Davidson |
@
Dayton
|
DAYTON 16 , DAV 14 | Drew VanVleet 110 | Mason Hackett 218 | Gavin Lochow 58 |
Marist |
vs
St. Thomas (MN)
|
STTHMN 39 , MARIST 32 | Sonny Mannino 211 | Hope Adebayo 113 | Jack Melore 47 |
Saint Francis U |
vs
Duquesne
|
DUQ 38 , STF-PA 7 | Darius Perrantes 185 | JaMario Clements 87 | Joey Isabella 94 |
Stonehill |
@
LIU
|
LIU 31 , STONEH 7 | Jack O'Connell 112 | Ethan Greenwood 184 | Chase Miller 66 |
Wagner |
vs
Columbia
|
COLUM 24 , WAGNER 6 | Jake Cady 207 | Joey Giorgi 111 | Jaylen Bonelli 114 |
Yale |
vs
Dartmouth
|
DART 44 , YALE 43 | Grant Jordan 412 | Q Jones 84 | David Pantelis 117 |
Mercyhurst |
@
Central Connecticut State
|
CENTCT 38 , MERCYH 20 | Adam Urena 286 | Elijah Howard 169 | Cameron Barmore 103 |
Lafayette |
vs
Georgetown
|
GTOWN 17 , LAF 0 | Dean DeNobile 167 | Bryce Cox 74 | Elijah Steward 79 |
Illinois State |
vs
Missouri State
|
MOSTU 41 , ILLST 7 | Jacob Clark 343 | Wenkers Wright 58 | Xavier Loyd 99 |
Maine |
@
Delaware
|
DEL 44 , MAINE 21 | Zach Marker 279 | Quincy Watson 66 | Phil Lutz 133 |
Valparaiso |
@
Stetson
|
Postponed | |||
Murray State |
@
Indiana State
|
INST 31 , MUR 27 | Jayden Johannsen 256 | Shen Butler-Lawson 68 | Justice Hill 103 |
Bryant |
vs
Albany
|
ALBANY 24 , BRYANT 17 | Jarrett Guest 233 | Fabrice Mukendi 94 | Levi Wentz 106 |
Brown |
@
Rhode Island
|
URI 31 , BROWN 21 | Devin Farrell 244 | Devin Farrell 65 | Marquis Buchanan 107 |
Fordham |
@
Holy Cross
|
HOLYCR 19 , FORD 16 | Jack Capaldi 199 | Jayden Clerveaux 159 | Mekai Felton 53 |
Bucknell |
@
Penn
|
PENN 31 , BUCK 21 | Ralph Rucker IV 241 | Malachi Hosley 146 | Josh Gary 137 |
Sacred Heart |
@
Howard
|
HOW 21 , SHEART 14 | Ja'Shawn Scroggins 153 | Ja'Shawn Scroggins 85 | Kasey Hawthorne 53 |
VMI |
@
Wofford
|
WOF 31 , VMI 16 | Pauly Seeley V 188 | J.T. Smith Jr. 89 | Rickie Shaw II 103 |
Butler |
@
Drake
|
DRAKE 27 , BUTLER 17 | Luke Bailey 213 | Reagan Andrew 81 | Taj Hughes 127 |
Charleston Southern |
@
Lindenwood
|
LINDEN 29 , CHSOU 14 | Nate Glantz 152 | Nate Glantz 103 | Jeff Caldwell 52 |
Eastern Michigan |
vs
Miami (OH)
|
MIA-OH 38 , EASTMI 14 | Brett Gabbert 222 | Keyon Mozee 100 | Reggie Virgil 113 |
Norfolk State |
vs
Towson
|
TOWSON 28 , NOR 23 | Sean Brown 306 | Kevon King 96 | Elyjah Mitchell 105 |
Presbyterian |
@
Morehead State
|
MOR 14 , PRESBY 7 | Carter Cravens 212 | Zach Switzer 39 | Ryan Upp 97 |
Furman |
vs
Chattanooga
|
CHAT 41 , FURMAN 10 | Chase Artopoeus 232 | Reggie Davis 93 | Javin Whatley 168 |
Elon |
vs
New Hampshire
|
UNH 17 , ELON 10 | Jack Salopek 185 | TJ Thomas Jr. 78 | Chandler Brayboy 72 |
Citadel |
@
Western Carolina
|
WCU 30 , CIT 16 | Cole Gonzales 294 | Johnathan Bennett 155 | Zion Booker 102 |
Mississippi Valley State |
@
Alabama State
|
ALST 54 , MSVL 17 | Kareem Keye 326 | Jamarie Hostzclaw 54 | Robert McMinn 122 |
Northwestern State |
vs
East Texas A&M
|
ETA&M 42 , NWST 21 | Abram Johnston 301 | BK Jackson 62 | Amaaz Eugene 96 |
Southern Illinois |
vs
North Dakota State
|
NDAKST 24 , SIU 3 | Cam Miller 193 | CharMar Brown 95 | Bryce Lance 63 |
UNI |
@
South Dakota
|
SOUDAK 42 , UNI 17 | Aidan Bouman 284 | Charles Pierre Jr. 105 | Desmond Hutson 94 |
Bethune-Cookman |
@
Alabama A&M
|
ALAA&M 56 , B-C 12 | Xavier Lankford 315 | Donovan Eaglin 125 | Keenan Hambrick 111 |
Grambling State |
vs
Alcorn State
|
ALC 17 , GRAM 15 | Myles Crawley 149 | Jacorian Sewell 102 | Stemarion Edwards 73 |
Youngstown State |
@
South Dakota State
|
SDAKST 63 , YSU 13 | Beau Brungard 169 | Chase Mason 161 | Max Tomczak 78 |
Houston Christian |
vs
Southeastern Louisiana
|
SELA 37 , HOUCHR 7 | Eli Sawyer 144 | Darryle Evans 128 | Deuce McMillan 47 |
Morgan State |
vs
Merrimack
|
MERRIM 32 , MORGST 24 | Duce Taylor 186 | J.J. Davis 71 | Marquez Phillips 54 |
Delaware State |
@
Robert Morris
|
RMOR 23 , DELST 0 | Anthony Chiccitt 224 | Tyvon Edmonds Jr. 70 | Carl Smith Jr. 88 |
USC |
vs
Penn State
|
PSU 33 , USC 30 | Drew Allar 391 | Woody Marks 111 | Tyler Warren 224 |
San Jose State | CSU 31 , SJSU 24 | Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi 269 | Avery Morrow 100 | Armani Winfield 108 | |
Wyoming | SDSU 27 , WYO 24 | Danny O'Neil 254 | Sam Scott 94 | Jordan Napier 91 | |
Oklahoma |
vs
Texas
|
TEX 34 , OKLA 3 | Quinn Ewers 199 | Quintrevion Wisner 118 | Gunnar Helm 91 |
Purdue |
@
Illinois
|
ILL 50 , PUR 49 | Luke Altmyer 379 | Ryan Browne 118 | Max Klare 133 |
South Florida |
vs
Memphis
|
MEM 21 , USF 3 | Bryce Archie 234 | Brandon Thomas 67 | Joshua Hardeman 69 |
Georgia State |
vs
Old Dominion
|
ODU 21 , GAST 14 | Christian Veilleux 191 | Colton Joseph 98 | Michel Dukes 73 |
UCF |
vs
Cincinnati
|
CIN 19 , UCF 13 | Brendan Sorsby 241 | RJ Harvey 94 | Kobe Hudson 114 |
Akron | WESTMI 34 , AKRON 24 | Ben Finley 395 | Jalen Buckley 103 | Adrian Norton 168 | |
Bowling Green | NIU 17 , BGSU 7 | Josh Holst 89 | Gavin Williams 102 | Andrew McElroy 47 | |
California | PITT 17 , CAL 15 | Fernando Mendoza 272 | Desmond Reid 120 | Jack Endries 119 | |
Virginia |
vs
Louisville
|
LOU 24 , UVA 20 | Anthony Colandrea 279 | Isaac Brown 146 | Malachi Fields 129 |
Stanford | ND 49 , STAN 7 | Riley Leonard 229 | Jeremiyah Love 53 | Beaux Collins 85 | |
Princeton |
@
Mercer
|
MERC 34 , PRINCE 7 | Whitt Newbauer 125 | Ethan Clark 117 | AJ Barber 51 |
Samford |
@
ETSU
|
EASTTN 31 , SAM 28 | Quincy Crittendon 306 | Jaylen King 80 | AJ Johnson 146 |
Arizona |
@
BYU
|
BYU 41 , ARI 19 | Noah Fifita 275 | Hinckley Ropati 65 | Darius Lassiter 86 |
Northern Arizona |
@
Montana
|
MONT 31 , NOARI 20 | Logan Fife 199 | Eli Gillman 76 | Kolbe Katsis 98 |
Eastern Kentucky |
@
Southern Utah
|
SOUT 42 , EASTKY 21 | Matt Morrissey 207 | Targhee Lambson 170 | Devin Downing 69 |
Tennessee Tech |
@
Southeast Missouri State
|
SEMO 34 , TNTECH 3 | Paxton DeLaurent 418 | Cole Ruble 31 | Cam Pedro 111 |
Western Illinois |
vs
UT Martin
|
TN-MAR 45 , WESTIL 17 | Kinkead Dent 194 | Patrick Smith 145 | Max Dowling 88 |
Lamar |
vs
Stephen F. Austin
|
SFA 27 , LAMAR 20 | Sam Vidlak 329 | Qualan Jones 119 | Sevonne Rhea 166 |
Central Michigan |
vs
Ohio
|
OHIO 27 , CMU 25 | Parker Navarro 147 | Parker Navarro 176 | Chase Hendricks 74 |
Mississippi State |
@
Georgia
|
UGA 41 , MSST 31 | Carson Beck 459 | Anthony Evans III 52 | Arian Smith 134 |
Southern Miss | UL-MON 38 , SOUMIS 21 | Aidan Armenta 188 | Ahmad Hardy 121 | Ahmad Hardy 53 | |
West Georgia |
@
Central Arkansas
|
CENARK 34 , WESTGA 33 | Quincy Casey 299 | ShunDerrick Powell 142 | Karmello English 143 |
Idaho State |
vs
Portland State
|
PORST 42 , IDAST 38 | Kobe Tracy 275 | Dante Chachere 202 | Eric Denham 127 |
Eastern Illinois |
@
Tennessee State
|
TENNST 41 , EASTIL 17 | Pierce Holley 338 | MJ Flowers 57 | Cooper Willman 141 |
Fresno State | WSU 25 , FRES 17 | Mikey Keene 220 | Elijah Gilliam 120 | Mac Dalena 61 | |
Cal Poly |
@
UC Davis
|
UCDAV 56 , CALPLY 10 | Miles Hastings 458 | Lan Larison 76 | Michael Briscoe 103 |
Air Force | NM 52 , AF 37 | Devon Dampier 179 | Quentin Hayes 103 | Nic Trujillo 85 | |
UTSA |
@
Rice
|
RICE 29 , TX-SA 27 | E.J. Warner 347 | Owen McCown 53 | Dean Connors 109 |
Arkansas State | TXST 41 , ARKST 9 | Jordan McCloud 320 | Ismail Mahdi 164 | Joey Hobert 101 | |
Nicholls |
@
UIW
|
INCWOR 55 , NICH 10 | Zach Calzada 270 | Jaylon Spears 44 | Jalen Walthall 80 |
Abilene Christian |
@
North Alabama
|
NORTAL 47 , ABICHR 34 | Maverick McIvor 275 | Jalen Fletcher 123 | Kobe Warden 112 |
Texas Southern |
vs
Southern University
|
SOU 22 , TXSO 19 | Noah Bodden 181 | Corey Russell 55 | Trenton Leary 59 |
Utah Tech |
@
Tarleton State
|
TARLST 42 , UTAHTE 0 | Victor Gabalis 201 | Kayvon Britten 135 | Darius Cooper 141 |
Florida Atlantic |
vs
North Texas
|
UNT 41 , FLAATL 37 | Cam Fancher 351 | CJ Campbell Jr. 89 | DT Sheffield 126 |
Florida | TENN 23 , FLA 17 | Nico Iamaleava 169 | Dylan Sampson 112 | Chimere Dike 76 | |
Oregon State |
@
Nevada
|
NEVADA 42 , ORST 37 | Gevani McCoy 348 | Anthony Hankerson 154 | Trent Walker 96 |
Ohio State |
@
Oregon
|
ORE 32 , OHIOST 31 | Dillon Gabriel 341 | Jordan James 115 | Evan Stewart 149 |
Ole Miss |
@
LSU
|
LSU 29 , MISS 26 | Garrett Nussmeier 337 | Ulysses Bentley IV 107 | Cayden Lee 132 |
Appalachian State | UL-LAF 34 , APP 24 | Joey Aguilar 236 | Kanye Roberts 148 | Terrance Carter 107 | |
Kentucky |
vs
Vanderbilt
|
VANDY 20 , UK 13 | Brock Vandagriff 158 | Demie Sumo-Karngbaye 59 | Dane Key 83 |
Weber State |
vs
Northern Colorado
|
NORCOL 21 , WEB 17 | Richie Munoz 171 | Damon Bankston 108 | Marcus Chretien 57 |
Marshall | GASO 24 , MARSH 23 | JC French 194 | A.J. Turner 97 | Dalen Cobb 93 | |
West Virginia |
vs
Iowa State
|
IAST 28 , WVU 16 | Rocco Becht 265 | Carson Hansen 96 | Jayden Higgins 102 |
North Carolina State |
vs
Syracuse
|
SYR 24 , NCSU 17 | Kyle McCord 346 | LeQuint Allen 91 | Jackson Meeks 116 |
UCLA |
vs
Minnesota
|
MINN 21 , UCLA 17 | Ethan Garbers 293 | Darius Taylor 30 | J.Michael Sturdivant 107 |
Sacramento State |
vs
Eastern Washington
|
EASTWA 35 , SAC 28 | Carson Conklin 238 | Tuna Altahir 102 | Jared Gipson 68 |
Colorado |
vs
Kansas State
|
KSU 31 , CU 28 | Shedeur Sanders 388 | DJ Giddens 182 | Omarion Miller 145 |
Idaho |
@
Montana State
|
MONTST 38 , IDAHO 7 | Jack Wagner 134 | Tommy Mellott 140 | Tony Harste 48 |
Hawaii |
vs
Boise State
|
BOISE 28 , HAWAII 7 | Brayden Schager 264 | Ashton Jeanty 217 | Cameron Camper 111 |
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.