2024 college football offseason thread

Every conference has powers and well, non-powers. There's no avoiding games between the two. That is way different than scheduling FCS opponents. Of course, both the Big Ten and SEC do that. It's just that the Big Ten front loads its non-conference patsies while the SEC puts 'em in November. There's no actual difference except the calendar.

 

Thank you.

 

They are still conference games. Between programs that have played each other for more than a century (UCLA-USC, Ohio State-Indiana, Michigan-Northwestern), for more than 30 years (Minnesota-Penn State) or at least a decade (Iowa-Maryland).

All are more attractive than Alabama-UT Chattanooga or Auburn-Furman or Georgia-The Citadel or whatever FCS mismatches the SEC will play that week, in addition to the three OOC home mismatches most of them played in September.

 

No clue where these rankings come from, but looks like a bunch of conference games to me.

SEC schools play trash teams, same as other leagues. When they play them is meaningless. And other than maybe USC-UCLA, none of the Big 10 matchups I listed for that same weekend are particularly compelling.

 

Man, poor UMass will do anything for a payday.

 

True. And except for OU-Alabama, none of the games you listed have more than a regional appeal.

 

Don't cornfuse them with facts.

Those body-bag games probably provide Mass with 1/3 of its football budget. Gonna be a long trip for them to NIU when they join the MAC and their closest conference opponent (UB) is 7-8 hours away.

 

That's pretty damning, right there.

Five hours and 44 minutes, but what's a few hours between friends.

Google Maps

 

Nine of the 16 SEC teams play a Power 4 OOC in either Week 1 or 2. Four more play one in Week 3. Six of the 13 OOC games are on the road, or in a neutral location that could be considered a road game (LSU vs. USC in Vegas, Tennessee vs. N.C. State in Charlotte).
And out of the three teams that don't play a P4 OOC opponent by Week 3, only one (newcomer Oklahoma) doesn't play a P4 at all. Kentucky and South Carolina both play two conference games in the first three weeks.