The chaos of conference realignment for the 2024 season has given us bigger conferences. And those bigger conferences have led to some daunting schedules.
With the four remaining top conferences all without divisions this season, many teams’ chances of playing in the expanded College Football Playoff or even a bowl game could hinge on whether or not one or two top teams from their conference are on the schedule.
Other teams, like Florida, Colorado, and even Georgia, appear to have incredibly tough schedules lined up for the 2024 season. Here’s a look at the teams that appear to have some of the toughest schedules this fall.
Florida
Year 3 of the Billy Napier era at Florida features what looks to be the toughest schedule in the country. Not only does Florida play the toughest SEC schedule of any team in the conference, but the Gators also have Miami and Florida State as non-conference opponents.
Florida opens the season against Miami before traveling to Florida State to close out the season. After a week off in the final week of October, the Gators’ final stretch looks extremely tough with games against Georgia, Texas, LSU and Mississippi before taking on the Seminoles. Florida has won no more than six games in each of Napier’s first two seasons. A six-win season would be a feat in 2024, given the opponents on the schedule.
The Bruins’ first season in the Big Ten doesn’t look like it’s going to be an easy one, as former UCLA RB Deshaun Foster begins his time as the team’s head coach. The non-conference schedule begins with a game at Hawaii before a trip to LSU in Week 4.
After LSU, UCLA plays Oregon and Penn State before traveling across the country to Rutgers in the finale of six games in a six-week span. The final four games of the season are Iowa, Washington, USC and Fresno State. A bowl game will be a huge accomplishment.
Colorado
The Buffaloes have a much tougher schedule in 2024 than they did a season ago. And they’re not going to surprise anyone.
Seven of Colorado’s nine Big 12 games are against teams that made a bowl appearance last season. The Buffs’ schedule includes trips to Arizona and Kansas, plus home games against Big 12 favorites Kansas State, Utah and Oklahoma State. The non-conference schedule begins with a game against perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State on Aug. 29, followed by road games against an improved Nebraska and rival Colorado State.
Deion Sanders and his staff have done a lot of work through the transfer portal to upgrade the offensive and defensive lines for the 2024 season. That improvement will need to be significant if Colorado wants to reach a bowl game.
Georgia
The Bulldogs are the most talented team in the SEC. And they are the only team in the conference that has away games against three of the four favorites to win the conference.
Georgia visits Alabama on Sept. 28 before its annual rivalry game against Auburn a week later. On Oct. 19, the Bulldogs visit Texas for the first time since 1958. That game could be a preview of the SEC championship; Texas was voted second behind Georgia in the SEC’s preseason media poll.
And a week after playing Florida in Jacksonville, the Bulldogs visit Mississippi before hosting Tennessee on Nov. 16. Oh, and we didn’t mention Georgia opens the season against Clemson in Atlanta. An undefeated season in 2024 would be an incredible feat.
USC
Like their cross-town rivals, USC will also play LSU in 2024. The Trojans open against the Tigers on September 1 in one of the most important games of Week 1. Three weeks after the LSU game, USC visits Michigan and hosts Wisconsin a week later.
Penn State also travels to Los Angeles, and the Trojans are scheduled to visit Washington. USC avoids Oregon on its 2024 schedule, but ends the season against a Notre Dame team with its sights set on the College Football Playoff. We’ll find out very early on whether USC’s defense is much better than it was a season ago.
Alabama
The Crimson Tide’s schedule isn’t as intimidating as Georgia’s, but the schedule for Kalen DeBoer’s first season in Tuscaloosa is far from easy.
Alabama visits Wisconsin in Week 3, before a week of rest before Georgia’s visit in Week 5. In late October, there’s a trip to Tennessee on the 19th, a week before Missouri visits on the 26th. Both the Volunteers and Tigers enter 2024 with playoff hopes.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier in November, as the final four weeks of the season include trips to LSU and Oklahoma prior to the annual Iron Bowl.
