The first week of the 2024 college football season is about to begin, and even this early, there is sure to be plenty of focus on the new 12-team College Football Playoff. A crucial domino it fell down last saturdayAs No. 10 Florida State dropped their season opener at Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland.
While the Seminoles aren’t out of the race just yet, it will certainly be an uphill battle to get back anywhere near the top-10. This has opened up the door for even more teams to join the fray.
More landscape-changing results are expected in Week 1. No. 14 Clemson and No. 1 Georgia are set to clash at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. No. 8 Penn State and No. 19 Miami will face tough road tests when they travel to West Virginia and Florida, respectively.
No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 20 Texas A&M will face off in College Station as the Aggies look to start the Mike Elko era off right. All of these games have a big impact on the College Football Playoff race, especially when every top-25 team — and even a handful of teams outside the rankings — has a realistic chance to make the final field.
With the 2024 season kicking off, here is a list of some potential playoff teams, broken down into tiers.
Tier 1: Conference champions
Georgia: Georgia missed the SEC title and then the College Football Playoff last year, giving Kirby Smart plenty of offseason bulletin board material. Not that he really needs it. The Bulldogs are as strong as ever on defense. Now they can pair that with potential first-round selection Carson Beck at quarterback, arguably the best offensive line in the country and some tremendous skill talent. The schedule is tough, but Georgia should be the favorite in every game.
Ohio State: A trendy pick to make it to the national title game, Ohio State certainly set that expectation with several bold offseason moves. Coach Ryan Day welcomed a quality transfer class and convinced UCLA coach Chip Kelly to leave his job and join the staff as offensive coordinator. With Michigan potentially facing a reset year given all that it lost in the NFL, the path back to the summit of the Big Ten seems relatively open. The Buckeyes just have to be wary of newcomer Oregon.
Clemson: Florida State was the favorite to win the ACC in the preseason, but the Seminoles have already put themselves behind the eight ball with a Week 0 loss to Georgia Tech. Clemson is now ready to pick up the pieces. It's been a while since the Tigers were on the national scene, leading some to declare the Dabo Swinney dynasty over. However, the Tigers have the defense to win a championship. It's the offense that needs to make some serious moves to get there.
Utah: Winning the Big 12 won't be easy. There are five or six teams that have a legitimate path to the championship game. But Kyle Whittingham is built for it. He has a knack for getting the most out of his players, which he demonstrated while winning two Pac-12 titles the past three years. Seventh-year quarterback Cam Rising is back to lead the offense, while the defense has one of the Big 12's best front sevens. Whittingham's physicality should help the Utes have great success in their new conference digs.
Tier 2: Most Preferred
Oregon: The Ducks are a legitimate threat to win the Big Ten, with their October 12th matchup against Ohio State shaping up to be the biggest game of the season. Dan Lanning has 22 wins in his two seasons at Oregon, and he and his staff are recruiting at a pace matched by only a handful of programs. As a result, it's hard to find any real flaws in this roster.
Texas, From one conference's newcomer to another ready to compete, Texas has a good chance to make it to Atlanta in its first year as an SEC program. The Longhorns brought back veteran starter Quinn Ewers fresh off his best collegiate season and reloaded wide receiver talent via the transfer portal. Their defense lost some key pieces, but like Lanning, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has recruited well enough to maintain a solid core. Running back injuries this offseason haven't dampened Texas' expectations much, but it's certainly worth watching as the year progresses.
Ole Miss: Lane Kiffin is putting all his energy in the middle of the table. The Rebels dug hard in the transfer portal this offseason, adding 25 new players to boost their returning production. Quarterback Jackson Dart tops the list of current Rebels players who are on the verge of becoming stars. It helps that Ole Miss has a very manageable schedule, with the Rebels looking like betting favorites in every game played away from Georgia.
Alabama: Alabama may have its toughest task of the 2024 season, as it has to replace legendary coach Nick Saban. Fortunately, the Crimson Tide hired a proven winner in Kalen DeBoer, who just came in after leading Washington to a 14-1 season and a run to the College Football Playoff National Championship. Despite some key transfer losses, the cupboard in Tuscaloosa is far from bare.
Penn State: James Franklin has done a great job keeping Penn State at the 10-win mark the past few years, but the Nittany Lions have left a lot to be desired. This could be the year they finally break through, thanks to the Big Ten's new scheduling model. Penn State is scheduled to play only two preseason AP Top 25 teams, one of which is No. 2 Ohio State. If that's the team's only loss in December, it will be hard to keep the Lions out of the field.
Tier 3: A group of five people monitors
Boise State: Boise State would have been a CFP mainstay under players like Dan Hawkins and Chris Peterson. New coach Spencer Danielson, who took over as interim 10 games into the 2023 season and led the Broncos to a Mountain West Conference title, wants to get his team back to those glory days.
Memphis: Ryan Silverfield has brought the Tigers back to national prominence thanks to 10 wins in 2023 as well as a win over Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl. Seventeen starters from that team are back, including QB Seth Hennigan, the most prolific passer in program history.
Freedom: Liberty coach Jamey Chadwell has posted at least 10 wins in three of the past four seasons, including a 13-1 effort in 2023 that included a C-USA championship game win the year before. The Flames have a very favorable schedule, with no Power Four teams in the non-conference, and they are the heavy favorites to repeat as conference champions.
Tier 4: Dark Horse
Notre Dame: Notre Dame has steadily improved each year under Marcus Freeman, and now they have a dynamic quarterback in Riley Leonard. As long as the Irish's weak offensive line can hold up, they have a chance.
Oklahoma State: Came in third in the Big 12 preseason media poll despite making it to the conference's championship game last year. They bring back 21 starters from that same team, including the best running back in college football, Ollie Gordon II.
Tennessee: There's a lot of optimism about Knoxville, thanks in large part to the presence of true superstars like freshman quarterback Niko Iamalewa and edge rusher James Pierce Jr. Coach Josh Heupel has a very deep team to work with in addition to those two, which could take the Vols a long way.
Miami: Florida State's loss makes the road to the ACC Championship Game easier for Miami, at least a little bit. The Hurricanes have the ACC's best quarterback in Cam Ward and have plenty of players around him who can make noise.