College Football Schedule 2024-25
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Troy | USA 25 , TROY 9 | Gio Lopez 158 | Gio Lopez 67 | Devonte Ross 70 | |
Kennesaw State | MIDDTN 14 , KENNST 5 | Nicholas Vattiato 199 | Qua Ashley 79 | Holden Willis 92 | |
Louisiana Tech | NMST 33 , LATECH 30 | Evan Bullock 225 | Seth McGowan 66 | Tru Edwards 102 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sam Houston | WESTKY 31 , SAMHOU 14 | Caden Veltkamp 281 | Elijah Young 97 | K.D. Hutchinson 88 | |
FIU |
@
UTEP
|
UTEP 30 , FIU 21 | Skyler Locklear 161 | Jevon Jackson 148 | Kenny Odom 95 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Georgia State |
@
Marshall
|
MARSH 35 , GAST 20 | Zach Gibson 192 | A.J. Turner 177 | Dorian Fleming 66 |
Boston College | VATECH 42 , BC 21 | Thomas Castellanos 205 | Bhayshul Tuten 266 | Benji Gosnell 49 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida State |
@
Duke
|
DUKE 23 , FSU 16 | Brock Glenn 110 | Star Thomas 88 | Ja'Khi Douglas 48 |
Brown |
@
Princeton
|
PRINCE 29 , BROWN 17 | Jake Willcox 271 | John Volker 79 | Luke Colella 96 |
Purdue |
vs
Oregon
|
ORE 35 , PUR 0 | Dillon Gabriel 290 | Reggie Love III 93 | Evan Stewart 96 |
Oklahoma State |
@
BYU
|
BYU 38 , OKST 35 | Jake Retzlaff 218 | LJ Martin 120 | Darius Lassiter 129 |
Nevada |
vs
Fresno State
|
FRES 24 , NEVADA 21 | Mikey Keene 190 | Elijah Gilliam 66 | Jaden Smith 134 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Auburn |
@
Missouri
|
MIZZOU 21 , AUBURN 17 | Brady Cook 194 | Jarquez Hunter 57 | Mookie Cooper 84 |
Northwestern |
vs
Wisconsin
|
WISC 23 , NW 3 | Braedyn Locke 160 | Tawee Walker 126 | Will Pauling 51 |
Northwestern State |
@
Nicholls
|
NICH 20 , NWST 0 | Pat McQuaide 186 | Collin Guggenheim 129 | Lee Negrotto 55 |
East Carolina | ARMY 45 , ECU 28 | Katin Houser 282 | Bryson Daily 171 | Chase Sowell 138 | |
Coastal Carolina |
vs
Louisiana
|
UL-LAF 34 , COASTC 24 | Ben Wooldridge 373 | Braydon Bennett 132 | Terrance Carter 149 |
Arizona State | CIN 24 , ASU 14 | Brendan Sorsby 206 | Corey Kiner 102 | Jordyn Tyson 108 | |
Virginia |
@
Clemson
|
CLEM 48 , UVA 31 | Cade Klubnik 308 | Phil Mafah 78 | T.J. Moore 78 |
Louisville |
vs
Miami (FL)
|
MIA-FL 52 , LOU 45 | Tyler Shough 342 | Damien Martinez 89 | Sam Brown Jr. 125 |
Connecticut |
vs
Wake Forest
|
WAKE 23 , UCONN 20 | Hank Bachmeier 274 | Demond Claiborne 60 | Taylor Morin 104 |
Nebraska |
@
Indiana
|
IU 56 , NEB 7 | Dylan Raiola 234 | Justice Ellison 105 | Thomas Fidone II 91 |
Rutgers |
vs
UCLA
|
UCLA 35 , RUT 32 | Ethan Garbers 383 | Kyle Monangai 106 | Keegan Jones 114 |
Holy Cross |
@
Harvard
|
HARV 35 , HOLYCR 34 | Joe Pesansky 277 | Jayden Clerveaux 165 | Max Mosey 149 |
LIU |
@
Robert Morris
|
RMOR 45 , LIU 31 | Anthony Chiccitt 351 | Ethan Greenwood 147 | Shawn Charles 141 |
Saint Francis U |
@
Wagner
|
WAGNER 14 , STF-PA 0 | Jake Cady 290 | DeMarcus McElroy 50 | Jaylen Bonelli 91 |
Lehigh |
@
Yale
|
YALE 38 , LEHIGH 23 | Grant Jordan 107 | Luke Yoder 143 | Mason Shipp 55 |
Sacred Heart |
@
Lafayette
|
LAF 31 , SHEART 17 | John Michalski 144 | Jamar Curtis 156 | Jamar Curtis 42 |
Oklahoma | SCAR 35 , OKLA 9 | Jackson Arnold 225 | Jovantae Barnes 70 | Jacob Jordan 86 | |
Stonehill |
@
Merrimack
|
MERRIM 48 , STONEH 28 | Jack O'Connell 166 | Jermaine Corbett 170 | Cody Ruff 56 |
Villanova |
@
Maine
|
MAINE 35 , VILL 7 | Carter Peevy 173 | Brian Santana-Fis 56 | Joe Gillette 81 |
Presbyterian |
vs
Drake
|
DRAKE 19 , PRESBY 16 | Luke Bailey 375 | Zach Switzer 87 | Trey Radocha 125 |
Stetson |
@
Davidson
|
DAV 70 , STET 48 | Brady Meitz 280 | Mari Adams 135 | Ronnel Johnson 131 |
Butler |
vs
Dayton
|
DAYTON 21 , BUTLER 14 | Drew VanVleet 137 | Mason Hackett 111 | Luke Brenner 56 |
Central Connecticut State |
@
Dartmouth
|
DART 20 , CENTCT 16 | Grayson Saunier 177 | Jadon Turner 66 | Dave Pardo 67 |
Georgetown |
@
Colgate
|
COLG 38 , GTOWN 28 | Danny Lauter 272 | Marco Maldonado 112 | Jimmy Kibble 128 |
North Carolina A&T |
vs
Hampton
|
HAMP 59 , NCA&T 17 | Justin Fomby 240 | Ja'Quan Snipes 71 | Ger-Cari Caldwell 98 |
Towson |
vs
Stony Brook
|
STNYBR 52 , TOWSON 24 | Tyler Knoop 387 | Tyrell Greene Jr. 115 | Jasiah Williams 92 |
New Hampshire |
vs
Rhode Island
|
URI 26 , UNH 9 | Devin Farrell 147 | Malik Grant 127 | Marquis Buchanan 62 |
Bryant |
@
Monmouth
|
MONM 55 , BRYANT 17 | Derek Robertson 237 | Rodney Nelson 101 | Landon Ruggieri 95 |
Penn |
vs
Columbia
|
COLUM 23 , PENN 17 | Chase Goodwin 334 | Malachi Hosley 50 | Bryson Canty 137 |
Bucknell |
vs
Cornell
|
COR 34 , BUCK 21 | Jameson Wang 274 | Ean Pope 111 | Parker Woodring 95 |
Wofford |
@
Chattanooga
|
CHAT 37 , WOF 5 | Chase Artopoeus 145 | Reggie Davis 74 | Chris Domercant 101 |
VMI |
vs
Citadel
|
CIT 13 , VMI 10 | Chandler Wilson 83 | Hunter Rice 70 | Tyler Cherry 78 |
Lindenwood |
@
Gardner-Webb
|
G-WEBB 42 , LINDEN 35 | Nate Glantz 244 | Quasean Holmes 156 | Jeff Caldwell 174 |
Valparaiso |
vs
St. Thomas (MN)
|
STTHMN 42 , VALPO 14 | Tak Tateoka 211 | Hope Adebayo 100 | Colin Chase 112 |
UNI |
@
North Dakota
|
NORDAK 31 , UNI 7 | Matthew Schecklman 178 | Gaven Ziebarth 83 | JC Roque Jr. 85 |
Tulsa |
@
Temple
|
TEM 20 , TLSA 10 | Evan Simon 297 | Terrez Worthy 41 | Landon Morris 97 |
Central Michigan | EASTMI 38 , CMU 34 | Cole Snyder 300 | Marion Lukes 118 | Markus Allen 140 | |
Furman |
vs
Western Carolina
|
WCU 52 , FURMAN 20 | Cole Gonzales 620 | Branson Adams 70 | Isaiah Johnson 117 |
Mississippi Valley State |
vs
Bethune-Cookman
|
B-C 20 , MSVL 10 | Ty'Jarian Williams 175 | Dennis Palmer 126 | Nathan Rembert 111 |
Mercer |
@
Samford
|
SAM 55 , MERC 35 | Quincy Crittendon 378 | Damonta Witherspoon 47 | Kelin Parsons 106 |
Arkansas-Pine Bluff |
@
Grambling State
|
GRAM 31 , ARK-PB 21 | Mekhi Hagens 230 | Za'Marion Webber 93 | JaVonnie Gibson 84 |
Indiana State |
@
Missouri State
|
MOSTU 46 , INST 21 | Jacob Clark 379 | Jacardia Wright 77 | Lance Mason 111 |
Murray State |
vs
Illinois State
|
ILLST 40 , MUR 32 | Tommy Rittenhouse 347 | Tommy Rittenhouse 128 | Xavier Loyd 148 |
Hawaii | WSU 42 , HAWAII 10 | John Mateer 295 | Djouvensky Schlenbaker 48 | Kris Hutson 90 | |
California | NCSU 24 , CAL 23 | CJ Bailey 306 | Jaivian Thomas 78 | Jack Endries 101 | |
Florida Atlantic |
@
UTSA
|
TX-SA 38 , FLAATL 24 | Owen McCown 340 | Brandon High Jr. 65 | Houston Thomas 63 |
Rice |
@
Tulane
|
TULN 24 , RICE 10 | E.J. Warner 271 | Makhi Hughes 140 | Kobie Campbell 100 |
Houston |
@
Kansas
|
KU 42 , HOU 14 | Jalon Daniels 247 | Devin Neal 108 | Mekhi Mews 99 |
Northern Illinois |
vs
Toledo
|
TOL 13 , NIU 6 | Josh Holst 210 | Gavin Williams 78 | Cam Thompson 80 |
Michigan |
@
Illinois
|
ILL 21 , MICH 7 | Jack Tuttle 208 | Kalel Mullings 87 | Colston Loveland 83 |
Florida A&M |
@
Jackson State
|
JKST 35 , FLAA&M 21 | Daniel Richardson 248 | Irv Mulligan 139 | A'Ceon Cobb 92 |
UAB | USF 35 , UAB 25 | Jalen Kitna 384 | Kelley Joiner 94 | Keshaun Singleton 105 | |
Charlotte |
@
Navy
|
NAVY 51 , CHAR 17 | Max Brown 152 | Alex Tecza 68 | Miles Burris 48 |
Alabama | TENN 24 , BAMA 17 | Jalen Milroe 239 | Dylan Sampson 139 | Bru McCoy 80 | |
Texas State | ODU 24 , TXST 14 | Jordan McCloud 173 | Ismail Mahdi 139 | Joey Hobert 88 | |
Kent State | BGSU 27 , KENTST 6 | Connor Bazelak 313 | Terion Stewart 124 | Harold Fannin Jr. 171 | |
Buffalo | WESTMI 48 , BUFF 41 | C.J. Ogbonna 309 | Jaden Nixon 112 | Blake Bosma 85 | |
Ohio | MIA-OH 30 , OHIO 20 | Brett Gabbert 178 | Keyon Mozee 111 | Cade McDonald 84 | |
Georgia Tech |
vs
Notre Dame
|
ND 31 , GT 13 | Zach Pyron 269 | Jadarian Price 69 | Abdul Janneh Jr. 60 |
Campbell |
@
William & Mary
|
W&M 35 , CAMP 28 | Chad Mascoe Jr. 320 | Bronson Yoder 131 | Randall King 99 |
Delaware |
@
Richmond
|
RICH 28 , DEL 9 | Zach Marker 251 | Camden Coleman 79 | Phil Lutz 93 |
Albany |
vs
Elon
|
ELON 30 , ALBANY 14 | Myles Burkett 214 | TJ Thomas Jr. 138 | MarQeese Dietz 97 |
Howard |
vs
Tennessee State
|
TENNST 27 , HOW 14 | Draylen Ellis 289 | Jarett Hunter 102 | Karate Brenson 153 |
Wyoming | SJSU 24 , WYO 14 | Walker Eget 318 | Floyd Chalk IV 91 | John Michael Gyllenborg 137 | |
Arizona |
vs
Colorado
|
CU 34 , ARI 7 | Shedeur Sanders 250 | Isaiah Augustave 53 | LaJohntay Wester 127 |
Idaho State |
@
Northern Arizona
|
NOARI 30 , IDAST 26 | Kobe Tracy 271 | Ty Pennington 88 | Christian Fredericksen 100 |
Portland State |
vs
Montana State
|
MONTST 44 , PORST 14 | Tommy Mellott 239 | Scottre Humphrey 160 | Taco Dowler 78 |
Cal Poly |
@
Idaho
|
IDAHO 34 , CALPLY 29 | Jack Wagner 347 | Art Williams 86 | Mark Hamper 103 |
Utah State |
vs
New Mexico
|
NM 50 , USU 45 | Spencer Petras 360 | Devon Dampier 105 | Jalen Royals 188 |
Utah Tech |
vs
Austin Peay
|
APSU 13 , UTAHTE 7 | Austin Smith 93 | Austin Smith 83 | Jaden Barnes 80 |
Texas Tech |
vs
Baylor
|
BAYLOR 59 , TTU 35 | Behren Morton 286 | Tahj Brooks 125 | Caleb Douglas 99 |
Tennessee Tech |
@
Western Illinois
|
WESTIL 37 , TNTECH 21 | Dylan Laible 262 | Nathan Lamb 90 | Matthew Henry 181 |
Eastern Kentucky |
@
Abilene Christian
|
ABICHR 34 , EASTKY 20 | Maverick McIvor 340 | Sam Hicks 146 | Blayne Taylor 154 |
James Madison | GASO 28 , JMU 14 | JC French 215 | Jalen White 134 | Derwin Burgess Jr. 52 | |
USC |
@
Maryland
|
MD 29 , USC 28 | Billy Edwards Jr. 373 | Woody Marks 82 | Kaden Prather 111 |
Charleston Southern |
vs
Southeast Missouri State
|
SEMO 26 , CHSOU 13 | Paxton DeLaurent 335 | Jacorey Love 65 | Chris Rhone 98 |
Mississippi State |
vs
Texas A&M
|
TEXA&M 34 , MSST 24 | Michael Van Buren Jr. 242 | Davon Booth 79 | Jabre Barber 92 |
East Texas A&M |
vs
Lamar
|
LAMAR 29 , ETA&M 20 | Ron Peace 237 | Khalan Griffin 158 | Christian Jourdain 136 |
Marist |
@
San Diego
|
SD 34 , MARIST 6 | Grant Sergent 202 | Isaiah Smith 104 | Ja'seem Reed 162 |
McNeese |
@
UIW
|
INCWOR 30 , MCNE 17 | Kamden Sixkiller 219 | Dekalon Taylor 103 | Josh Lorick 76 |
Stephen F. Austin |
@
Southeastern Louisiana
|
SELA 24 , SFA 23 | Sam Vidlak 244 | Antonio Martin Jr. 87 | Kylon Harris 116 |
Youngstown State |
vs
South Dakota
|
SOUDAK 27 , YSU 17 | Aidan Bouman 223 | Charles Pierre Jr. 153 | Max Tomczak 90 |
Eastern Washington |
vs
UC Davis
|
UCDAV 48 , EASTWA 38 | Miles Hastings 329 | Lan Larison 182 | Efton Chism III 170 |
Arkansas |
vs
LSU
|
LSU 34 , ARK 10 | Taylen Green 239 | Caden Durham 101 | Andrew Armstrong 94 |
Ball State | VANDY 24 , BALLST 14 | Diego Pavia 275 | Diego Pavia 82 | Eli Stowers 130 | |
Southern Miss | ARKST 44 , SOUMIS 28 | Ethan Crawford 187 | Ja'Quez Cross 127 | Courtney Jackson 55 | |
Alcorn State |
@
Southern University
|
SOU 24 , ALC 14 | Noah Bodden 141 | Kendric Rhymes 133 | Datraveon Brown 59 |
North Texas |
@
Memphis
|
MEM 52 , UNT 44 | Chandler Morris 445 | Mario Anderson Jr. 183 | DT Sheffield 122 |
Texas |
vs
Georgia
|
UGA 30 , TEX 15 | Quinn Ewers 211 | Trevor Etienne 87 | Matthew Golden 77 |
UCF | IAST 38 , UCF 35 | Rocco Becht 274 | RJ Harvey 196 | Jaylin Noel 153 | |
West Virginia |
vs
Kansas State
|
KSU 45 , WVU 18 | Avery Johnson 298 | Garrett Greene 89 | Jadon Jackson 84 |
Iowa | MSU 32 , IOWA 20 | Aidan Chiles 256 | Kaleb Johnson 98 | Nick Marsh 113 | |
Kentucky |
@
Florida
|
FLA 48 , UK 20 | DJ Lagway 259 | Jadan Baugh 106 | Elijhah Badger 148 |
Stanford |
vs
SMU
|
SMU 40 , STAN 10 | Kevin Jennings 322 | Brashard Smith 67 | Moochie Dixon 87 |
Air Force | CSU 21 , AF 13 | Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi 178 | Avery Morrow 132 | Caleb Goodie 103 | |
South Dakota State |
@
North Dakota State
|
NDAKST 13 , SDAKST 9 | Cam Miller 163 | Chase Mason 80 | RaJa Nelson 48 |
Weber State |
@
Sacramento State
|
SAC 51 , WEB 48 | Carson Conklin 357 | Damon Bankston 234 | Anderson Grover 136 |
Oregon State |
vs
UNLV
|
UNLV 33 , ORST 25 | Gevani McCoy 231 | Gevani McCoy 81 | Trent Walker 88 |
Utah |
vs
TCU
|
TCU 13 , UTAH 7 | Josh Hoover 263 | Savion Williams 72 | Money Parks 79 |
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.