College football is a lot of things, but it’s rarely boring. Between the rivalries, playoff posturing and weekly NCAA football odds, there’s plenty to keep fans and bettors busy.
I spend most of the week breaking down various college football odds markets, trying to provide actionable angles to bettors. You can check some of those out here:
- College Football Picks This Week
- College Football Line Movement
- College Football National Championship Odds
- Heisman Trophy Odds
- College Football Playoff Odds
However, as someone who works and sleeps with ESPN and other college football media in the background, I consume quite a bit of college football news, too.
With the 2024 season now kicking into high gear, I thought I’d write a little recurring primer on the state of college football, including any major news storylines that color the season.
College Football Is Finally Back
Every year, the long wait from January to Labor Day weekend seemingly takes forever. Like a lot of fans, I spent most of it twiddling my thumbs and pretending I liked the NBA playoffs as much as a random Big 12 game in Week 6.
I wrote my college football season preview, monitored all the different transfer portal quarterbacks, and mourned a major changing of the guard in the coaching ranks.
I think that last bit has flown under the radar just a bit. Did you know only three active head coaches have won an FBS national championship? The list of longest-tenured college football coaches took a major haircut at the end of 2023.
Anyway, the Week 1 college football schedule is on the horizon, and we can all collectively start binging some games. With so many first-year head coaches in the P4 and the G5, keep an eye out for FCS vs. FBS upsets early. There were only four last season, but I’m expecting an uptick this year.
That should begin early, with Montana State expected to win handily at New Mexico. (By the way, I wrote out the full list of FCS vs. FBS Games this season for anyone curious.
The New Era: Realignment and Expansion
One of the top storylines for college football in 2024 will clearly be the new structure of both conference realignment and the postseason format. It shapes the discussions that fans and analysts will have throughout the season, the college football odds markets, and everything in between.
From a betting perspective, College Football Playoff expansion is great for futures bettors like me. But I’m much more excited about the on-field aspect.
College Football Playoff history is dominated by ethe selection and reselection of a small, elite group of programs, which has historically made postseason access feel impossible for many fans.
Compare that to something like March Madness, where every single team has access to the tournament as long as it keeps winning.
As an alumnus from a current G5 school with playoff ambitions, it’s a very exciting development.
And of course, you can read a bit more about the specifics of the College Football Playoff schedule by clicking there.
How Seriously Should We Take Coach Prime?
One prominent aspect of the 2024 college football season will be Year 2 of the Coach Prime experiment.
If last year was any indication, there will be heavy speculation about the health of Deion Sanders’ Colorado contract as long as he remains the head man in Boulder. It’s one topic that seemingly everyone has an opinion on.
As he’s already shown, Deion doesn’t need to crack the ranks of the highest-paid college football coaches to generate a ton of buzz. But so far, Deion Sanders’ coaching record has struggled to live up to the extremely high expectations he has helped create for himself.
I wrote down my own projections for Colorado this year in my 2024 Colorado football preview. While Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter remain great college players, I’m skeptical that the Colorado football transfers that Coach Prime has brought in will stabilize the team ahead of its return to the Big 12. That’s particularly true on the offensive line, where the players need time to gel together.
And if the Buffaloes can’t protect Shedeur, their problems will become insurmountable.
Like him or hate him, Deion’s Colorado team will be must-watch football as the 2024 season cranks up. Colorado vs. North Dakota State figures to be one of the most heavily anticipated games of Week 1.
And if we know anything about Deion and Colorado, it’s this: The man sends all kinds of bettors running to their favorite online sportsbook to bet – or fade – Colorado football odds.
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