Are Undefeated College Football Seasons a Dying Breed?

As college football enters a new era in the 2024 season, will undefeated national champions become a thing of the past?

The Michigan Wolverines ended a decades-long drought on Jan. 8th when they defeated to Washington Huskies 34-13 to win the national championship. The Wolverines finished the 2023 season as kings of college football and were the third team in four years to do so with a perfect 15-0 record. 

Georgia defensive back Christopher Smith after winning the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Tony Walsh)

But as the 2023 season marked the end of a drought for the Wolverines, it also marked the end of an era for the entire sport of college football. The College Football Playoff format will be expanding from four teams to eight at the start of the 2024 season. This expansion means that teams with national championship aspirations will have at least one more game added to their schedules and increases the likelihood that a team could play more than once in a season. Which will make finishing undefeated that much harder. 

For reference, the NFL, which has a 17-game regular season and a 14-team season playoff has seen a team reach 16-0 just once in the entire history of the league. 

In addition to larger schedules, conferences within the sport have gone through some major changes with multiple high-profile programs joining different conferences. The additions have also caused nearly every power-5 conference to depart from divisions, making conference championship appearances that much harder and decreasing the likelihood of finishing undefeated. 

Finally, more so than ever the transfer portal has become a major catalyst in the sport of football. Highly talented players migrate from different rosters to fill the needs of other programs. Leading to a more even talent distribution among teams. More even talent distribution of course means more difficult schedules and a higher chance of losing at some point in the season. 

The sport of college football has been rapidly developing and becoming increasingly more competitive. With that, the chances of an undefeated season will likely decrease as a result. 

Other Georgia News:

• All-American Honors Roll In for Standout Georgia Freshman
• Georgia Bulldogs Could Surpass 2023 Totals in This Year's NFL Draft
• OL Tate Ratledge Returning to Georgia For 2024 Season

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