College Football’s New Reality: Realignment, Expanded Playoffs, and Rising Ticket Costs
The season kicks off with more teams looking to win the coveted national championship.
A new era of college football begins this weekend marked by extensive conference realignment, new rules, increased ticket prices, and a revamped playoff system. Don’t feel bad if it takes a while to catch on.
Here’s a breakdown of potentially the most exciting season ever in college football:
Realignment
The Power 5 is now a Power 4 after the major conferences added and lost teams to create new rivalries and more television revenue. The Big Ten added Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington from the Pac-12 and is technically the Big 18. The Big 12 lost Oklahoma and Texas to the Southeastern Conference but added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. The Atlantic Coast Conference invited Cal, SMU, and Stanford, while Conference USA recruited Kennesaw State. The Pac-12 is now essentially the Pac-2 with Oregon State and Washington State remaining from last season’s membership.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark predicted more changes in the future. “We will be the deepest conference in America and every week will matter,” Mr. Yormark said at the Big 12 media day, adding, “We will not stumble into this new era. In fact, we’ll be aggressive and very proactive.”
Ticket Sales
The price of season tickets suggests fans are excited about the new matchups and rivalries created by conference realignment. According to data from Stubhub, the average price for a season ticket in the Big Ten has increased from $104 in 2023 to $180 in 2024. Big 12 season ticket prices have risen from $90 to $168, while the SEC went from $119 last year to $188 this season. The ACC also increased its season ticket prices from $81 to $137.
Single-game tickets aren’t cheap either. Tickets for Georgia’s SEC visit to Texas on October 19 already range from roughly $450 each for nosebleed seats to $1,000 and more for anything close to the field.
A revamped playoff system
The playoff for college football’s national championship is expanding from four to 12 teams. The idea is to take pressure off the 13-member selection committee by inviting more teams to compete for a national championship. The various media outlets that will televise the playoffs won’t mind either. The new format will slot teams according to their final rankings. The five highest-ranked conference champions receive a first-round bye. The next seven highest-ranked teams complete the 12-team tournament.
“There will be more people in the hunt now, so there will be a lot of meaningful games,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart told ESPN. “That team with two losses late in the year that played a tough schedule is going to be fighting and scratching to earn that 12th spot.”
Rule Changes
The most significant rule change is the institution of a two-minute warning, a rule featured in the National Football League for decades. An official will signal for a timeout after the last play when the clock reaches the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters. The two-minute warning becomes a major part of clock management in college football as coaches look to keep their timeouts for late-game maneuvers.
College football also borrowed another NFL staple by allowing one player per team to have a device in his helmet to communicate with coaches. The device can be used until the final 15 seconds of the play clock or once the ball is snapped, whichever comes first. “It’s something new in college,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day told reporters at Columbus, Ohio. “Each day we’re learning a little bit more about it.”
The GOAT is gone
We’re not talking about former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh who left Michigan to become head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers after leading the Wolverines to the national championship last year. Of course, we’re referring to Nick Saban, who retired at the end of last season after winning seven national championships including six at Alabama and one at Louisiana State University. Mr. Saban was 292-71-1 as a college coach before retiring at age 72. Kalen DeBoer is the new head coach at Alabama. Mr. DeBoer spent his last two seasons at Washington and was the Associated Press Coach of the Year in 2023 when he guided the Huskies to the CFP championship game.
Sports betting
The expanded CFP format has increased speculative sports betting on teams that might win the national championship. According to ESPN, someone placed a $200 bet on Army to win the title, a wager that would reap $1 million. DraftKings took a $100 wager on Kent State to be crowned champion at 10,000 to 1 odds. Meanwhile, the top betting favorites to win it all according to DraftKings are Georgia (+300), Oregon (+750), Alabama (+1200), LSU (+2000), Notre Dame (+2200), and Tennessee (+3500).
Heisman hopefuls
Early candidates to win the Heisman Trophy, college football’s top individual honor, include quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel (Oregon), Carson Beck (Georgia), Quinn Ewers (Texas), and Shedeur Sanders (Colorado).
