Who’s playing where? 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Mid-American Conference

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

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).

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).