Recapping college football’s wild 2024 realignment

Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC wasn’t the only piece of major college football realignment news in the last several months.

The Sooners and Longhorns officially become SEC members on July 1, part of a two-year cycle that saw 16 FBS teams change conferences and one Power 5 conference dissolve entirely. In case you need a refresher, here’s a conference-by-conference rundown as to who’s playing where in 2024 (with some easy-to-read charts for reinforcement; * indicates new member of conference):

Southeastern Conference

This one’s fairly straightforward, as Oklahoma and Texas come from the Big 12 to make the SEC a 16-team league. A powerhouse conference gets even stronger.

The other bit of news is that the SEC has scrapped divisional play, so no more East and West. Now, the top two teams in the overall standings will play for the SEC championship on the first Saturday in December.

SEC 2023 (14) SEC 2024 (16)
East Division No divisions
Florida Alabama
Georgia Arkansas
Kentucky Auburn
Missouri Florida
South Carolina Georgia
Tennessee Kentucky
Vanderbilt LSU
West Division Mississippi State
Alabama Missouri
Arkansas Oklahoma*
Auburn Ole Miss
LSU South Carolina
Mississippi State Tennessee
Ole Miss Texas*
Texas A&M Texas A&M
  Vanderbilt

Atlantic Coast Conference

The ACC goes from 14 teams to 17, with California and Stanford coming in from the sinking Pac-12, and SMU joining up from the American Athletic Conference. Clemson and Florida State, among others, have made rumblings about trying to leave for other leagues, but for now remain in the ACC.

ACC 2023 (14) ACC 2024 (17)
Boston College Boston College
Clemson California*
Duke Clemson
Florida State Duke
Georgia Tech Florida State
Louisville Georgia Tech
Miami Louisville
North Carolina Miami
N.C. State North Carolina
Pittsburgh N.C. State
Syracuse Pittsburgh
Virginia SMU*
Virginia Tech Stanford•
Wake Forest Syracuse
  Virginia
  Virginia Tech
  Wake Forest

Big Ten

The 14-team Big Ten is now the 18-team Big(ger) Ten, with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington all joining from the Pac-12. The Trojans and Bruins came in tandem, with the Ducks and Huskies following soon after.

Like the SEC, the Big Ten has also done away with divisions in 2024. The league will send the top two teams in its standings to the title game.

Big Ten 2023 (14) Big Ten 2024 (18)
East Division No divisions
Indiana Illinois
Maryland Indiana
Michigan Iowa
Michigan State Maryland
Ohio State Michigan
Penn State Michigan State
Rutgers Minnesota
West Division Nebraska
Illinois Northwestern
Iowa Ohio State
Minnesota Oregon*
Nebraska Penn State
Northwestern Purdue
Purdue Rutgers
Wisconsin UCLA*
  USC*
  Washington*
  Wisconsin

Big 12

The Big 12 has expanded for the second straight year and has now gone more than a decade without actually having 12 teams. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah come in from … you guessed it … the Pac-12.

Big 12 2023 (14) Big 12 2024 (16)
Baylor Arizona*
BYU Arizona State*
Central Florida Baylor
Cincinnati BYU
Houston Central Florida
Iowa State Cincinnati
Kansas Colorado*
Kansas State Houston
Oklahoma Iowa State
Oklahoma State Kansas
Texas Kansas State
TCU Oklahoma State
Texas Tech TCU
West Virginia Texas Tech
  Utah*
  West Virginia

Pac-12/Mountain West

Oregon State and Washington State were left all alone after their 10 conference mates hightailed it for more stable conferences. To that end, the “Pac-2″ reached an agreement with the 12-team Mountain West to play an MWC schedule, though the Beavers and Cougars will not be eligible for the conference championship.

Pac-12 2023 (12) MWC 2023 (12) Pac-12/MWC 2024 (14)
Arizona Air Force Air Force
Arizona State Boise State Boise State
California Colorado State Colorado State
Colorado Fresno State Fresno State
Oregon Hawaii Hawaii
Oregon State Nevada Nevada
Stanford New Mexico New Mexico
UCLA San Diego State Oregon State*
USC San Jose State San Diego State
Utah UNLV San Jose State
Washington Utah State UNLV
Washington State Wyoming Utah State
    Washington State*
    Wyoming

American Athletic Conference

The AAC lost SMU to the ACC and replaced the Mustangs with former independent Army. That kept the American at 14 teams.

American 2023 (14) American 2024 (14)
Charlotte Army*
East Carolina Charlotte
Florida Atlantic East Carolina
Memphis Florida Atlantic
Navy Memphis
North Texas Navy
Rice North Texas
SMU Rice
South Florida South Florida
Temple Temple
Tulane Tulane
Tulsa Tulsa
UAB UAB
UT-San Antonio UT-San Antonio

Conference USA

The only change in CUSA is that Kennesaw State moves up from the FCS ranks to make it a 10-team conference. Delaware and Missouri State will come on board in 2025 to make CUSA a 12-team league.

CUSA 2023 (9) CUSA 2024 (10)
Florida International Florida International
Jacksonville State Jacksonville State
Liberty Kennesaw State*
Louisiana Tech Liberty
Middle Tennessee Louisiana Tech
New Mexico State Middle Tennessee
Sam Houston New Mexico State
UTEP Sam Houston
Western Kentucky UTEP
  Western Kentucky

Mid-American Conference

There’s been no change to membership, but the MAC has scrapped the divisional format in 2024.

MAC 2023 (12) MAC 2024 (12)
East Division No divisions
Akron Akron
Bowling Green Ball State
Buffalo Bowling Green
Kent State Buffalo
Miami (Ohio) Central Michigan
Ohio Eastern Michigan
West Division Kent State
Ball State Miami (Ohio)
Central Michigan Northern Illinois
Eastern Michigan Ohio
Northern Illinois Toledo
Toledo Western Michigan
Western Michigan

Sun Belt Conference

Of the nine remaining FBS conferences, the Sun Belt is the only one that made no membership or structural changes in 2024. It’s the same 14 teams as last year (when four new teams joined), and the Sun Belt alone remains split into divisions (the East and West).

Sun Belt 2023 (14) Sun Belt 2024 (14)
East Division East Division
Appalachian State Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern Georgia Southern
Georgia State Georgia State
James Madison James Madison
Marshall Marshall
Old Dominion Old Dominion
West Division West Division
Arkansas State Arkansas State
Louisiana Louisiana
Louisiana-Monroe Louisiana-Monroe
South Alabama South Alabama
Southern Miss Southern Miss
Texas State Texas State
Troy Troy

FBS Independents

The Independents shrank from four to three, with Army departing for the AAC. That leaves just Notre Dame, Connecticut and Massachusetts as FBS programs not fully affiliated with a conference (though the Fighting Irish will once again play five games against ACC teams).

Independents 2023 (4) Independents 2024 (3)
Army Connecticut
Connecticut Massachusetts
Massachusetts Notre Dame
Notre Dame