College Football Schedule 2024-25
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UAB |
vs
NAVY
|
NAVY 41 , UAB 18 | B Horvath 225 | B Horvath 84 | E Heidenreich 108 |
USF |
@
TULN
|
TULN 45 , USF 10 | D Mensah 326 | M Hughes 61 | D Fleming 128 |
MISS |
vs
UK
|
UK 20 , MISS 17 | J Dart 261 | H Parrish Jr. 62 | T Harris 176 |
BAYLOR |
vs
BYU
|
BYU 34 , BAYLOR 28 | S Robertson 324 | J Retzlaff 53 | J Cameron 125 |
OKST |
@
KSU
|
KSU 42 , OKST 20 | A Bowman 364 | D Giddens 187 | D Stribling 157 |
BUFF |
@
UCONN
|
UCONN 47 , BUFF 3 | J Fagnano 217 | C Edwards 97 | S Bell 153 |
NIU |
@
NCSU
|
NCSU 24 , NIU 17 | E Hampton 159 | A Brown 114 | A McElroy 58 |
WESTKY |
@
BC
|
BC 21 , WESTKY 20 | C Veltkamp 232 | E Young 85 | R Helms 72 |
HOLYCR |
@
SYR
|
SYR 42 , HOLYCR 14 | K McCord 385 | L Allen 81 | J Meeks 161 |
MD |
@
IU
|
IU 42 , MD 28 | K Rourke 359 | R Hemby 117 | E Sarratt 128 |
MINN |
@
MICH
|
MICH 27 , MINN 24 | M Brosmer 258 | K Mullings 111 | E Spencer 67 |
PUR |
vs
NEB
|
NEB 28 , PUR 10 | D Raiola 244 | J Barney Jr. 66 | J Banks 82 |
HARV |
@
BROWN
|
BROWN 31 , HARV 28 | J Willcox 288 | X Bascon 63 | M Childs 101 |
MARIST |
vs
DAYTON
|
DAYTON 47 , MARIST 14 | D VanVleet 323 | M Hackett 110 | J Coleman 114 |
LEHIGH |
vs
BUCK
|
BUCK 38 , LEHIGH 35 | H Johnson 200 | L Yoder 137 | G Jamiel 136 |
COLUM |
@
GTOWN
|
GTOWN 20 , COLUM 17 | D Lauter 292 | M Terry II 59 | J Kibble 164 |
SD |
@
DRAKE
|
DRAKE 30 , SD 28 | G Sergent 292 | B Ellingson 69 | C Monach 122 |
MERRIM |
vs
DART
|
DART 16 , MERRIM 14 | J Proctor 161 | J Corbett 137 | P Richards-Baker 75 |
VALPO |
@
MOR
|
MOR 17 , VALPO 5 | C Cravens 132 | J Louis 60 | N Garnett 75 |
INST |
vs
HOUCHR
|
HOUCHR 27 , INST 24 | E Owens 131 | P Lawrence 160 | D McMillan 37 |
FORD |
@
MONM
|
MONM 63 , FORD 21 | D Robertson 180 | S Ntoh 136 | G Nelson 62 |
COLG |
@
PENN
|
PENN 27 , COLG 17 | A Sayin 320 | M Hosley 131 | T Saunders 123 |
BALLST |
@
JMU
|
JMU 63 , BALLST 7 | A Barnett III 280 | B Sloan 72 | T Thompson 91 |
SIU |
@
SOUDAK
|
SOUDAK 42 , SIU 13 | H Simmons 306 | T Theis 147 | J Galbreath 100 |
APSU |
vs
SOUT
|
SOUT 28 , APSU 17 | B Barron 243 | T Lambson 163 | G Nunez 149 |
MUR |
@
NORDAK
|
NORDAK 72 , MUR 35 | S Romfo 276 | I Smith 142 | B Belquist 121 |
WESTGA |
vs
NORTAL
|
NORTAL 25 , WESTGA 16 | T Smith 184 | R Mosley 66 | C Belcher 75 |
DELST |
@
CAMP
|
CAMP 44 , DELST 41 | C Mascoe Jr. 323 | J Sutton 198 | S Brown 133 |
RMOR |
@
EASTKY
|
EASTKY 31 , RMOR 7 | M Morrissey 265 | J Carter 123 | N Robinson 89 |
SAM |
@
FURMAN
|
Postponed | |||
ELON |
vs
RICH
|
RICH 27 , ELON 17 | C Coleman 203 | Z Palmer-Smith 167 | C Brayboy 88 |
G-WEBB |
vs
TNTECH
|
TNTECH 52 , G-WEBB 21 | R Hefley 116 | A Littles 118 | J Bly 66 |
YALE |
@
COR
|
COR 47 , YALE 23 | J Wang 278 | E Pope 72 | B Lee 99 |
NORCOL |
vs
CALPLY
|
CALPLY 28 , NORCOL 7 | J Jones 189 | A Ramos 120 | M Briscoe 108 |
TXST |
@
SAMHOU
|
SAMHOU 40 , TXST 39 | J McCloud 326 | H Watson 105 | J Williams 133 |
EASTIL |
vs
LINDEN
|
LINDEN 28 , EASTIL 25 | P Holley 326 | M Flowers 123 | J Caldwell 115 |
YSU |
@
MOSTU
|
MOSTU 38 , YSU 31 | J Clark 325 | B Brungard 110 | J Robinson 104 |
ILLST |
vs
NDAKST
|
NDAKST 42 , ILLST 10 | C Miller 216 | C Brown 100 | B Lance 65 |
NOR |
vs
NCCENT
|
NCCENT 37 , NOR 10 | W Harris 245 | J Taylor 86 | M Quick 124 |
HOW |
@
PRINCE
|
PRINCE 30 , HOW 13 | J Tolbert 134 | J Volker 88 | S Osborne 42 |
WOF |
vs
MERC
|
MERC 22 , WOF 3 | H Horne 100 | D McGee 55 | K Harris 59 |
B-C |
vs
ALST
|
ALST 26 , B-C 21 | C Ransom 143 | J Hostzclaw 120 | O Stewart 53 |
FRES |
@
UNLV
|
UNLV 59 , FRES 14 | M Keene 316 | H Williams 119 | R White III 127 |
WISC |
@
USC
|
USC 38 , WISC 21 | M Moss 308 | W Marks 63 | J Lane 105 |
ARK |
@
TEXA&M
|
TEXA&M 21 , ARK 17 | T Green 279 | L Moss 117 | I TeSlaa 120 |
KU |
vs
TCU
|
TCU 38 , KU 27 | J Hoover 356 | D Hishaw Jr. 85 | J Bech 131 |
SDSU |
@
CMU
|
CMU 22 , SDSU 21 | J Labas 275 | M Cooper 111 | L Brown IV 149 |
LIB |
@
APP
|
Cancelled | |||
GAST |
vs
GASO
|
GASO 38 , GAST 21 | C Veilleux 356 | J White 114 | T Hurst 112 |
WESTMI |
@
MARSH
|
MARSH 27 , WESTMI 20 | S Earle 177 | J Nixon 146 | A Sambucci 56 |
WAKE |
vs
UL-LAF
|
UL-LAF 41 , WAKE 38 | B Wooldridge 257 | B Davis 95 | L LeGendre 123 |
UCF |
vs
CU
|
CU 48 , UCF 21 | S Sanders 290 | R Harvey 77 | W Sheppard 99 |
AKRON |
@
OHIO
|
OHIO 30 , AKRON 10 | P Navarro 204 | P Navarro 113 | C Owen 130 |
KENTST |
vs
EASTMI
|
EASTMI 52 , KENTST 33 | T Ulatowski 345 | D Mimms III 145 | C McCray 188 |
UMASS |
@
MIA-OH
|
MIA-OH 23 , UMASS 20 | B Gabbert 181 | K Mozee 114 | J Keeney-James 150 |
LOU |
@
ND
|
ND 31 , LOU 24 | T Shough 264 | I Brown 72 | J Brooks 71 |
ALBANY |
vs
MAINE
|
MAINE 34 , ALBANY 20 | M Burkett 202 | J Martin 82 | S McGee 72 |
MORGST |
@
STNYBR
|
STNYBR 22 , MORGST 3 | M Marshall 132 | R Dempster 158 | C Redman 62 |
SHEART |
@
DEL
|
DEL 49 , SHEART 0 | Z Marker 183 | J Silver 53 | P Lutz 62 |
AUBURN |
vs
OKLA
|
OKLA 27 , AUBURN 21 | P Thorne 338 | J Hunter 97 | J Hester 86 |
SAC |
@
NOARI
|
NOARI 34 , SAC 16 | T Pennington 240 | E Tau-Tolliver 77 | B White 89 |
NWST |
@
SEMO
|
SEMO 19 , NWST 0 | P DeLaurent 237 | D Smith 127 | C Pedro 58 |
TX-SA |
@
ECU
|
ECU 30 , TX-SA 20 | J Garcia 294 | B High Jr. 92 | W McCoy 91 |
UNC |
@
DUKE
|
DUKE 21 , UNC 20 | J Criswell 251 | S Thomas 166 | J Jones 89 |
MSST |
@
TEX
|
TEX 35 , MSST 13 | A Manning 325 | Q Wisner 88 | D Moore Jr. 104 |
BGSU |
vs
ODU
|
ODU 30 , BGSU 27 | C Bazelak 303 | A Young 74 | H Fannin Jr. 192 |
CIT |
vs
EASTTN
|
EASTTN 34 , CIT 17 | J Bennett 187 | B Irby 126 | T Cherry 69 |
IDAST |
vs
MONTST
|
MONTST 37 , IDAST 17 | K Tracy 183 | S Humphrey 159 | R Jones 93 |
CHSOU |
@
TENNST
|
TENNST 13 , CHSOU 9 | D Ellis 105 | A Ison 157 | B Williams 49 |
WAGNER |
@
FLAATL
|
FLAATL 41 , WAGNER 10 | C Fancher 150 | C Campbell Jr. 129 | O Hayes 137 |
LATECH |
@
FIU
|
FIU 17 , LATECH 10 | E Bullock 218 | L Joseph 73 | E Rivers 97 |
KENNST |
vs
TN-MAR
|
TN-MAR 24 , KENNST 13 | K Dent 132 | P Smith 123 | B Bohannon 54 |
NCA&T |
@
SCST
|
SCST 45 , NCA&T 25 | E Phoenix 367 | C Dalrymple 93 | C High 152 |
LIU |
@
VILL
|
VILL 24 , LIU 10 | C Watkins 128 | D Avit 160 | J Sanchez 55 |
HAMP |
@
W&M
|
W&M 49 , HAMP 7 | D Wilson 198 | T Hughes 130 | S McElwain 97 |
RICE |
vs
CHAR
|
CHAR 21 , RICE 20 | E Warner 254 | D Connors 121 | O Blake 153 |
TLSA |
@
UNT
|
UNT 52 , TLSA 20 | C Morris 439 | B Jackson 77 | B Conwright 115 |
TROY |
vs
UL-MON
|
UL-MON 13 , TROY 9 | A Armenta 108 | A Hardy 106 | J Godfrey 57 |
HOU |
vs
IAST
|
IAST 20 , HOU 0 | R Becht 153 | A Sama III 101 | J Higgins 79 |
MSVL |
vs
ALC
|
ALC 42 , MSVL 21 | X Vaughn 105 | J Sewell 164 | K Ross 64 |
GRAM |
vs
PVA&M
|
PVA&M 36 , GRAM 34 | M Crawley 286 | C Wisham 85 | J Robinson 48 |
TXSO |
vs
JKST
|
JKST 43 , TXSO 14 | J Morgan 185 | J Morgan 96 | J Fortilien 62 |
SELA |
@
TARLST
|
TARLST 36 , SELA 33 | V Gabalis 203 | A Martin Jr. 206 | D Cooper 90 |
LAMAR |
@
CENARK
|
CENARK 34 , LAMAR 14 | W McElvain 158 | S Powell 187 | T Bridges 60 |
STAN |
@
CLEM
|
CLEM 40 , STAN 14 | C Klubnik 255 | M Ford 122 | B Wesco Jr. 104 |
PORST |
@
CHAT
|
CHAT 45 , PORST 30 | C Artopoeus 396 | R Davis 116 | S Phillips 150 |
MIDDTN |
@
MEM
|
MEM 24 , MIDDTN 7 | N Vattiato 283 | M Anderson Jr. 118 | O Kelly 174 |
UGA |
@
BAMA
|
BAMA 41 , UGA 34 | C Beck 439 | J Milroe 117 | R Williams 177 |
ILL |
@
PSU
|
PSU 21 , ILL 7 | L Altmyer 185 | K Allen 102 | H Wallace III 50 |
MSU |
vs
OHIOST
|
OHIOST 38 , MSU 7 | W Howard 244 | T Henderson 69 | E Egbuka 96 |
USA |
@
LSU
|
LSU 42 , USA 10 | G Nussmeier 409 | C Durham 128 | K Lacy 107 |
EASTWA |
vs
MONT
|
MONT 52 , EASTWA 49 | L Fife 364 | N Ostmo 160 | J Bergen 150 |
AF |
@
WYO
|
WYO 31 , AF 19 | E Svoboda 165 | S Scott 97 | C Harris 106 |
NMST |
vs
NM
|
NM 50 , NMST 40 | D Dampier 248 | N Rogers 122 | C Medford 91 |
WEB |
vs
MCNE
|
MCNE 28 , WEB 26 | C McDowell 203 | D Bankston 140 | J Harris 76 |
CIN |
@
TTU
|
TTU 44 , CIN 41 | B Sorsby 426 | T Brooks 172 | X Henderson 127 |
FSU |
@
SMU
|
SMU 42 , FSU 16 | K Jennings 254 | B Smith 129 | J Bailey 65 |
UTAHTE |
vs
ABICHR
|
ABICHR 55 , UTAHTE 30 | M McIvor 286 | S Hicks 203 | B Taylor 128 |
IDAHO |
@
UCDAV
|
UCDAV 28 , IDAHO 26 | M Hastings 248 | E Cummings 72 | J Dwyer 114 |
WSU |
@
BOISE
|
BOISE 45 , WSU 24 | J Mateer 327 | A Jeanty 259 | K Williams 142 |
UTAH |
vs
ARI
|
ARI 23 , UTAH 10 | I Wilson 280 | M Bernard 91 | D Singer 155 |
UCLA |
vs
ORE
|
ORE 34 , UCLA 13 | D Gabriel 278 | J James 103 | T Johnson 121 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PRESBY |
@
DAV
|
DAV 48 , PRESBY 37 | C Hurst 358 | M Adams 128 | W Warner 132 |
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.