This season’s toughest – and easiest
- Chris Low, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterJul 31, 2024, 07:00 AM ET Close College football reporter Signed up with ESPN.com in 2007
- Graduate of the University of Tennessee
Covering your mind around all the motion in college football is frustrating as we expect the 2024 season.Can you imagine suggesting to someone as we got in the 21st century that Oregon would remain in the Big Ten, Oklahoma in the SEC, Stanford in the ACC and UCF in the Big 12? Invite to the world of superconferences, or as one previous conference commissioner called them,”associations.”The ACC, Big 12, Big 10 and
SEC will all have make overs in 2024, and the Pac-12 has been picked apart to the point that it consists of just two teams– Oregon State and Washington State. None of the staying Power 4 conferences will feature divisions, and the overhaul of rosters through the transfer portal makes NFL complimentary company appearance tame.As we do every year at this time, we’ll acknowledge some schedule superlatives for the 2024 season– some lovely and some not so flattering. All rankings referenced are from ESPN’s post-spring Leading 25. And yes, it’s important we all bear in mind that the strength of schedules typically looks a lot different in the summer season than in late October. Toughest general Power 4 schedule: Florida No, it’s not a bad dream for Billy Napier and the Florida football program. The schedule is once again brutal as Napier goes into a vital third season in Gainesville with the Gators trying to prevent their fourth straight losing season, which hasn’t took place considering that the 1930s. They play 7 Top 25 teams, and 3 of their 4 nonconference games are against Power 4 groups. They deal with 4 top-15 groups far from home, with a three-game stretch of No. 1 Georgia (in Jacksonville)on Nov. 2, No. 3 Texas on the road on Nov. 9 and No. 14 LSU in the house on Nov. 16. Georgia Tech also belongs in this conversation. The Yellow Jackets open the season in Dublin against No. 11 Florida State and close the season on the roadway against No. 1 Georgia. In between, they deal with four more ranked challengers, including No. 5 Notre Dame in Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta on Oct. 19. Simplest general Power 4 schedule: SMU It didn’t take Rhett Lashlee long to win
a championship at SMU. The Mustangs won the AAC title a year ago in his 2nd season in Dallas, the program’s very first championship game since 1984. Now comes life in the ACC, and the schedule is workable enough that the Mustangs might once again remain in position for double-digit wins. Their only Leading 25 enemy(Florida State)is at home on Sept. 28. In reality, four of their very first five games are at home, and they end the season against Pittsburgh, Boston College, Virginia and Cal. Just the Virginia game is on the road.Missouri and Syracuse both get”respectable”discusses here. The Tigers’ nonconference schedule is especially soft.
Hardest total non-Power 4 schedule: Louisiana-Monroe
Louisiana-Monroe has actually constantly been a hard job, and Bryant Vincent doesn’t get any breaks with the schedule in his very first season as coach. The Warhawks, who last had a winning season in 2012, travel to No. 3 Texas on Sept. 21, then square off versus two of the leading Sun Belt Conference groups the next two weeks– at Troy on Sept. 28 and versus James Madison at home on Oct. 5. Then late in the season, ULM goes back on the road versus SEC foe Auburn on Nov. 16 and ends the season at home versus Louisiana, among the favorites to win the Sun Belt’s West Division.
Simplest total non-Power 4 schedule: Liberty Jamey Chadwell assisted Liberty to a Fiesta Bowl berth and unbeaten routine season a year earlier. The path back to another huge season doesn’t appear extremely treacherous. There are no nonconference games versus Power 4 opponents, and two of the Flames’ most difficult conference tests (Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State) are both in your home. The schedule is tailor-made to challenge for a second straight Conference USA title and the Group of 5’s area in the broadened 12-team playoff.
Toughest Power 4 nonconference schedule: USC
Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Not only is USC transferring to the Huge 10, but the Trojans likewise have some heavy lifting to do out of conference. They open the season on Sept. 1 against No. 14 LSU in Las Vegas and close the season Nov. 30 in your home versus No. 5 Notre Dame. The Irish have won five of the past 6 games in the series, and it’s never ever simple to play a game of that magnitude coming off a rivalry game– USC deals with UCLA the week before in Pasadena. This also would be the very first time since 2018 that USC has actually played 2 nonconference games versus groups nationally ranked in the preseason.Let’s not forget Florida, either. As if the Gators’ SEC slate weren’t enough, they deal with No. 24 Miami in the house to open the season, play UCF in your home midway through the season and end the season on the road versus No. 11 Florida State.
Easiest Power 4 nonconference schedule: Ohio State Last year, Michigan got approval here. This year, it’s Ohio State that should not perspire in its 3 nonconference games, all at home versus non-Power 4 opponents. The Buckeyes open the season versus Akron and Western Michigan, then have a week off before dealing with Marshall on Sept. 21. Simply put, Ohio State is currently 3-0. The Buckeyes do have a brutal Huge Ten schedule with road games at Oregon and Penn State and home games against Iowa and Michigan. Ohio State was originally arranged to deal with brand-new Big Ten member Washington in 2024 and 2025, however canceled that home-and-home series in 2023 and paid a $500,000 penalty to get out of those games and add a 8th home game this season.
Hardest non-Power 4 nonconference schedule:
Kent State The Golden Flashes won one game a year ago in Kenni Burns’ first season as coach. It won’t get any simpler in Year 2, at least in terms of the nonconference schedule. The opener is Aug. 31 at Pittsburgh, and after a home date with FCS challenger Saint Francis, Kent State takes a trip to No. 15 Tennessee on Sept. 14 and to No. 12 Penn State on Sept. 21. That makes three journeys to Power 4 schools in a period of four weeks. The Golden Flashes be worthy of every cent they’re getting for their buy games.
We’re thinking about just true roadway games here, and Jeff Lebby and the Bulldogs win the grand” prize “as Lebby start his first season in Starkville. If there’s such a thing as a simple game in this gauntlet, it’s a cross-country trek to deal with Arizona State in Week 2. Then in SEC play, Mississippi State visits three top-10 teams– No. 3 Texas on Sept. 28, No. 1 Georgia on Oct. 12 and No. 6 Ole Miss on Nov. 29 to close the season. There’s also a journey to No. 15 Tennessee on Nov. 9. And if that’s not enough, Mississippi State gets No. 8 Missouri in the house on Nov. 23 to establish a brief week before playing the Egg Bowl the following Friday. Mississippi State is the only SEC group that needs to play both Georgia and Texas on the roadway this season.Arizona State’s
away schedule isn’t as difficult as Mississippi State’s, however the Sun Devils play 6 real road games.
Hardest available to the season: Clemson It does not get much tougher than facing No. 1 Georgia in the Aug. 31 opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. A week later on, Appalachian State pertains to Death Valley. The Mountaineers are perhaps the Sun Belt Conference’s best team and no complete stranger to making life hard for the big young boys. After a bye, Clemson deals with a pair of top-15 teams over the next 3 weeks– No. 13 N.C. State at home Sept. 21 and No. 11 Florida State on the roadway Oct. 5. The schedule is top-heavy for the Tigers, suggesting we should know by mid-October if they’re a major playoff contender.
Toughest close to the season: Florida Yep, the Gators once again. From Oct. 12 on, they play 6 of their final 7 games versus Top 25 opponents– four of those away from home. They end the season by playing 5 straight weeks, all against top-15 groups. Napier stated previously this month that this will be the best team he has had because he has been at Florida. It’s going to need to be, and then some, if the Gators are going to emerge from the swampy waters of the past few seasons.
Cushiest available to the season: Ole Miss Rat toxin alert! Ole Miss’schedule to open the season establishes for what ought to be some severe partying in the Grove. The Rebels, ranked in the leading 10 in the majority of preseason polls, play 4 of their very first five games in your home, against Furman, Middle Tennessee, Georgia Southern and Kentucky. The away game because stretch is Wake Forest in Week 3. If we extend our view out to six weeks, Ole Miss travels to South Carolina on Oct. 5, suggesting there are going to be a great deal of long faces in the Sip if the Rebels aren’t 6-0.
Most difficult three-game stretch: UCLA The criteria for this classification is three games in 3 consecutive weeks without any byes. DeShaun Foster, in his very first season as head coach at his university, is rewarded with the most grueling three-game gauntlet in college football. The Bruins take a trip across the country to handle No. 14 LSU in Baton Rouge on Sept. 21, then come back home to deal with No. 4 Oregon on Sept. 28, then fly back across the nation to play No. 12 Penn State at Beaver Arena on Oct. 5, all in the middle of six straight weeks without a break.Must-see nonconference games For this list, we’re considering just games that are used school, not at a neutral site: – Miami at Florida, Aug. 31 – Notre Dame at Texas A&M, Aug. 31
– Penn State at West Virginia, Aug. 31 – Texas at Michigan, Sept. 7 – Colorado at Nebraska, Sept. 7
– Alabama at Wisconsin, Sept. 14 – Oregon at Oregon State, Sept. 14
– UCLA at LSU, Sept. 21
– Florida State at Notre Dame,
Nov. 9 – Florida at Florida State, Nov. 30 – Notre Dame at USC, Nov. 30
Better be careful Some sly great games
matching Power 4 teams against Group of 5 groups: Conference breakdowns To assist you prepare for the 2024 season, Costs Connelly is previewing every conference and breaking down the leading players and postseason contenders. Previews”- Boise State at Oregon, Sept. 7 – Kansas State at Tulane, Sept. 7 – Appalachian State at Clemson
, Sept. 7 – Arizona State at Texas State
, Sept. 12 – UNLV at Kansas, Sept. 13 – Colorado at Colorado State, Sept. 14 – Memphis at Florida State, Sept. 14
– Tulane at Oklahoma, Sept. 14
– Miami at South Florida, Sept. 21
– South Alabama at LSU, Sept. 28
– Syracuse at UNLV, Oct. 4
– Fresno State at UCLA, Nov. 30
Power outages Ohio State Buckeyes and Syracuse are the only two Power 4 schools not playing a nonconference game versus another Power 4 school, Notre Dame or the Pac-12’s remaining two schools. It’s the first time Ohio State has not played a “marquee” nonconference game in the AP survey period, dating back to 1936. Every other year, the Buckeyes have played a school that is either presently in a Power 4 conference or the Pac-12, or Notre Dame. In 2019, Ohio State’s toughest nonconference game protested Cincinnati, which at the time was a member of the AAC. But that Cincinnati group won 11 games and finished the season ranked No. 21 in the AP survey. This scenario changes significantly the next few seasons for the Buckeyes, who play Texas in 2025 and 2026 and Alabama in 2027 and 2028.
Frequent flyer miles Forgive Cal if the Bears get a touch of jetlag this season. And now that we’re in the world of NIL, the players should get some frequent leaflet points. Cal plays Sept. 7 at Auburn (2,466 miles), Sept. 21 at Florida State (2,575), Oct. 12 at Pitt (2,572), Nov. 8 at Wake Forest (2,769) and Nov. 30 at SMU (1,754). That’s a total of 12,136 miles for 5 away games.
Welcome to the SEC Between SEC newbies Texas and Oklahoma, the Sooners got the short end of the stick in terms of the league schedule in Year 1. 6 of the Sooners’ eight SEC games are against Top 25 groups whereas just 2 of the Longhorns’ eight SEC games are against Top 25 foes.
Welcome to the Big Ten Washington deals with 5 Top 25 teams in league play, including Oregon, Penn State and Iowa on the road. Michigan and USC come to Seattle.
No party for Sparty In the new-look Big Ten, Michigan State is the only school that will play No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Oregon and No. 10 Michigan. The Ohio State and Oregon games remain in back-to-back weeks, Sept. 28 and Oct. 4, which is a Friday, making it a brief week for the Spartans. Both the Oregon and Michigan (Oct. 26) games are on the roadway.
Alabama’s SEC five-pack Alabama is the only SEC group that deals with conference opponents in five successive weeks– Sept. 28 vs. Georgia in your home, Oct. 5 vs. Vanderbilt on the road, Oct. 12 vs. South Carolina at home, Oct. 19 vs. Tennessee on the road and Oct. 26 vs. Missouri at home. The Tide get a bye on each end of that stretch, a minimum of. But prior to those byes are two difficult roadway games– at Wisconsin on Sept. 14 and at LSU on Nov. 9.
The Scarlet Knights managed to avoid Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan and Penn State this season, the only team in the Big 10 to do so. Rutgers is also one of 4 groups in the league, along with Maryland, UCLA and Wisconsin, that won’t need to play either Michigan or Ohio State.
City-hopping Hogs Arkansas will play five games in 5 cities to open the season. The Hogs face Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Little Rock on Aug. 29, Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Sept. 7, UAB in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Sept. 14, Auburn in Auburn, Alabama, on Sept. 21 and Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 28.
Carolina on their mind North Carolina plays just one game outside the state of North Carolina before traveling to face Virginia on Oct. 26. The Tar Heels open the season at Minnesota on Thursday, Aug. 29, then play 6 straight games in their home state before having an off week. Then they finally hit the road to face the Cavaliers.Catching up with old teammates With the transfer portal an essential part
of college football, players breaking their previous schools and former teammates has actually become commonplace. Some of the more noteworthy examples this season: – Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff and linebacker Jamon-Dumas
Johnson vs. Georgia on Sept. 14 in Lexington. – Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei vs. Clemson on Oct. 5 in Tallahassee. – Kansas State running back Dylan Edwards vs. Colorado on Oct. 12 in Stone.
– UCF safety Deshawn Pace vs. Cincinnati on Oct. 12 in Orlando. – LSU safety Jardin
Gilbert vs. Texas A&M on Oct. 26 in College Station.
– Michigan security Jaden Mangham vs. Michigan State on Oct. 26 in Ann Arbor.
– Georgia running back Trevor Etienne vs. Florida on Nov. 2 in Jacksonville. – Penn State receiver Julian Fleming vs. Ohio State on Nov. 2 in State College.
– N.C. State running back Jordan Waters vs. Duke on Nov. 9 in Raleigh.
– Missouri offensive take on Cayden Green vs. Oklahoma on Nov. 9 in Missouri
. – Oregon cornerback Jabbar Muhammad vs. Washington on Nov. 30 in Eugene.
Friday night lights Duke plays three Friday night games– Elon in your home on Aug. 30
, at Northwestern on Sept. 6 and Florida State at home on Oct. 18. Conference mayhem Searching for that one weekend that could shake things up and offer some clearness for the conference races? Week 7 has guaranteed
possibilities: – American: Memphis at South Florida – Sun Belt: Appalachian State at Louisiana – SEC: Ole Miss at LSU – SEC: Florida at Tennessee – SEC: Texas vs. Oklahoma at Dallas – Big 10: Ohio State at Oregon – Big 10: Penn State at USC – Big 12: Kansas State at Colorado Conference opponents, nonconference games Arizona and Kansas State, despite being Big 12 members in 2024, will play a nonconference
game Sept. 13 in Manhattan, Kansas. The groups