Top 20 most intriguing storylines heading into spring football in 2024

You might have seen plenty of football in your lifetime. You won’t see anything like what will ensue in the 2024 college football season.

Multiple changes are set to take place in a pivotal year for several teams. Big 12 and ACC teams are set to fight for their place in the future of college football. SEC and Big Ten teams are battling for high positions in the initial pecking order of the standings in their expanded leagues.

Bounce back candidates who drew attention early last season will look to have better years in their next campaign. The Colorado Buffaloes and Clemson Tigers didn’t live up to early hype, but will look to right the ship in the fall.

Let’s give our Top 20 storylines for the 2024 season.

Playoff format advantages

The 2024 playoff format will include 12 teams with four conference title winners given a bye. One Group of Five conference champion will be given a playoff spot. The power conference non-champion who draws the smaller school could have a favorable first game.

Portal winners

Who won the portal? We’ll have a better idea in August. Some suggest Texas A&M, who lost arguably the top two transfers in college football in defensive tackle Walter Nolen and wide receiver Evan Stewart among others, has the best transfer portal class. By necessity the Aggies added quantity, but do they have the net quality to consider themselves the winners of the portal?

Can Utah make the playoff?

For several offseasons, Utah has been hyped as a national playoff contender. And over the course of those seasons the team has fallen flat each time. The Utes are a gritty team and have impressed in recent seasons with a Pac 12 title in 2021 and 2022 as well as an impressive Rose Bowl showing against Ohio State to cap the 2021 season. Can they finally put it together as a playoff contender from the Big 12?

Super Seniors

Sticking with Utah, starting quarterback Cam Rising returns for yet another season for the Utes. He is one of many players who have long exhausted their time in college football. Can Rising capitalize?

Did ACC get better or worse with additions?

The Atlantic Coast Conference is representing more than the Atlantic Coast. Pacific teams in Stanford and Cal join the conference in what will make for long road trips within the league. SMU also joins after making a resurgence under head coach Sonny Dykes and sustaining good football since his departure. Can the three teams contend in the new ACC?

Clemson's last shot?

The college football world appears to have passed by Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. The two-time national champion coach’s aversion to the transfer portal and NIL has prevented him from adapting to changes within the sport. The recruiting hasn’t been elite either. The Tigers had the No. 11 recruiting class according to the 247Sports composite in 2024. Swinney will need to win this season to get back among the nation’s elite in recruiting.

Nebraska's quiet climb

Head coach Matt Rhule went 5-7 in 2023. On the surface, that’s a bad season but the culture change and gradual on field improvement is there. Rhule flipped five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola from Georgia to provide the playmaker necessary to bring Nebraska back to winning football. An eight win season might not be far away for the Huskers.

Original Big 12 vs Newcomers

Will a longtime member of the conference win the Big 12 or a recent entry to the league? That’s probably the biggest story of the conference’s title race. Kansas State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State will play a role in the conference standings, but Utah, Arizona and other new members will battle original members for the top spot.

USC's schedule

USC’s schedule alone is worthy of a Top 20 storyline. It is perhaps the most interesting schedule in college football. The Trojans open with the LSU Tigers in Las Vegas to start the season. By week four USC faces the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor. The next three games see the team face Big Ten mainstays Penn State, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In the middle of the season, the team faces former Big East power Rutgers and former ACC member Maryland in consecutive games. The Trojans close with Washington, Nebraska, UCLA and Notre Dame.

Oregon, USC vs. the Big Ten

How will Oregon and USC fare against the smash mouth core of the Big Ten? We get to see USC face Wisconsin and Michigan early. The physical nature of Big Ten teams could wear on the Trojans, but new conference foes may struggle to defense Southern Cal head coach’s offense. Oregon is built to play physically as well as they play fast, but the new style of opponent will create noteworthy matchups.

Is Ole Miss a title contender?

Ole Miss claims three national titles. The most recent is the 1962 season. Since then, the Rebels haven’t been much of a national title contender. That could all change. Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin restocked in the transfer portal particularly on defense. His team is a legitimate national title contender in 2024.

Does Texas have staying power?

The above question is rhetorical, but it might not be viewed that way by all. Texas made the College Football Playoff, won 12 games and gave Alabama a memorable shellacking in Tuscaloosa. We don’t call Texas “back” around here, but the Longhorns should again make the playoff in 2024.

Georgia vs. the field

Alabama head coach Nick Saban retired. Washington and Michigan both lose their head coach after reaching the playoff. Who is going to beat Georgia this season? There are only a select few teams that can get it done. The Bulldogs should be the heavy favorite to win the title this season.

Florida State recovery from playoff snub

Florida State no-showed the Orange Bowl last season after being unceremoniously left out of the College Football Playoff. While we feel it was the right move to put the best four teams in the playoff, the team won its conference and went undefeated. The demoralizing end to the season had the Seminoles devastated. How do they respond?

Two losses makes the playoff?

This year, one loss isn’t the end of a contender’s season. Two losses might pass for a playoff berth in a 12-team playoff. If the season isn’t over after a loss and an injury doesn’t have to derail a season, you can expect more competitive play into November.

Colorado vs bowl eligibility

Colorado has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Shedeur Sanders. It could finally have an offensive line around him. The Buffaloes project to improve, but their schedule doesn’t get easy heading into the Big 12. The team faces FCS power North Dakota State and rising Nebraska in nonconference play. The Big 12 slate has the team facing Kansas State, Arizona, Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State, all of which should contend for the conference title. If the Buffaloes make a bowl game, they will have earned it.

What happens to Oregon State, Washington State?

The final two Pac-12 teams are relegated to the Group of Five. Oregon State and Washington State will still face in-state foes Oregon and Washington, but the majority of the schedule is made up of teams like Boise State, San Diego State, Nevada and New Mexico. It could be a path to the College Football Playoff as a Group of Five champion.

Third base bowl

Former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh once insinuated that Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was “born on third base” thinking he hit a triple. In other words, Harbaugh asserted that he took over a thriving program that Urban Meyer built. Well, Sherrone Moore takes over the national champion Michigan Wolverines in Harbaugh’s place next season. Who has the upper hand in the rivalry moving forward?

Life without Saban

Nick Saban has been a face of college football for over two decades with a brief hiatus as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He will no longer lead the Alabama Crimson Tide onto the field as head coach. That could certainly shake up the standings in the SEC as Kalen DeBoer sets his own culture and system. We’ll see the first college football season without the greatest of all time since 2006.

Where is conference realignment going?

Change has been a constant in college football for several seasons. The Pac-12 has disappeared like the old Big East and Southwest Conference. More realignment could be on the horizon, but how significant will those changes be?

Story originally appeared on Longhorns Wire