100 Days Out: College football names, games, storylines to follow as we count down to the 2024 season

Dating back to 2014, CBS Sports has compiled some of the biggest names, games and stories to commemorate the 100-day countdown to the college football season’s kickoff. It’s the perfect point to take stock of what’s ahead as the conclusion of spring practice aligns with the midway point in the offseason. Before you know it, we’ll be breaking down win totals and making official predictions for the upcoming season.

We’ve never had the kind of seismic shifts we are facing heading into the 2024 season. The context for every name, game, storyline and burning question is the fact that we are entering uncharted waters for the sport. Conference realignment, College Football Playoff expansion, a deregulated transfer portal and so much more are all coming to a head, with speculation that more realignment and even revenue sharing is on the horizon. Some of these changes have been bubbling for years, while others — like the exodus of 10 Pac-12 schools to three different conferences — seemingly happened overnight ahead of the 2023 season.

It’s going to be a new era for a sport that doesn’t exactly do “new” very well. So join us while we power ahead into the exciting unknown that is the 2024 college football season. We’re going to keep that theme of “new” going with our first big storyline, which includes both the structural changes and the sudden absence of a couple of college football’s most recognizable figures.

Big storylines

  There’s no amount of advanced warning that will adequately prepare college football fans for the fact that UCLA and Rutgers are going to play a conference game, or that the ACC now spans all of the coasts. All four power conferences are welcoming at least two new members in 2024, and the impact includes not just new matchups in conference play but also new scheduling models and the elimination of divisions. But the discomfort from a new era is also met with excitement for what these changes are going to bring.

We get to see USC travel to the Big House to play Michigan in an early season game with Big Ten title implications. When Texas and Georgia square off, it’s not just one of the most anticipated matchups of the year but potentially a preview of the SEC title race. No divisions means one conference loss doesn’t shut the door on a path to the title game, and taking the top two teams in the full conference standings better guarantees a matchup that will carry significant College Football Playoff implications. There are trade-offs, such as how the new scheduling models will lead to less meetings between older traditional conference foes. But from the lens of 2024, it’s hard not to get fired up for what should be four intense conference races with plenty of new contenders added to the mix.