College Football Realignment 2024: How Every School Changing Conferences Is Doing

College football has been forever changed after the latest wave realignment

In just a couple of months, college football as we know it will change forever. 

The Pac-12 which has been around in some capacity for over 100 years will transition into being a two-team conference and possibly extinction, the Big 12 lost Texas and Oklahoma, while the SEC and Big Ten are instances of the rich getting richer adding the biggest names from other Power 5 conferences.

With all of this movement flying around college football, I thought it'd be interesting to do an in-season check-in to see how the new additions of each Power conference are doing thus far. So, here is how the programs that are switching conferences are doing through nine weeks. They will be grouped with the conference they will be in next season.

SEC

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Programs Added: Texas and Oklahoma

The SEC got the party started in terms of realignment moves as they snatched away Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12. Both teams are 7-1 on the year with Texas' lone loss being to the Sooners. The Longhorns are ranked No. 7, while Oklahoma is ranked No. 10 after their recent loss, and the two look well on their way to colliding into one another in the Big 12 title game before they embark on their SEC journey. Their meeting earlier this season ranked No. 8 in views for this season, with Texas' matchup against Alabama ranking No. 9. The SEC added two of the biggest brands in college sports to their repertoire, and both programs are trending upwards on the field. 

Big Ten

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Programs Added: USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington 

While the Big Ten ended up bringing in four new programs it started with just the two Los Angeles schools. The Pac-12 had a chance, while it likely wasn't going to be ideal, to survive and they fumbled the bag in numerous ways. Starting with USC, the Trojans started the season as a playoff contender ranking as high as No. 5 in the country. They have since fallen from grace, losing two straight games in the past three weeks, and falling all the way to No. 24. Their defense is a mess, and Lincoln Riley is rumored to be eyeing the NFL. 

UCLA ranks as the No. 20 team in the country, and has fielded one of the best defenses in the country. They are also 6-2, and with a schedule that pits them against three unranked teams in the final four weeks, they are a team to look out for in the Pac-12 title race. 

Oregon ranks as the No. 6 team in the country and looks to be the most complete team in the country led by Heisman candidate Bo Nix at quarterback. They are 7-1 on the year, with their lone loss being to No. 5 Washington who outside of the past couple of weeks has looked like the best team in the conference. The Big Ten is the only conference bringing in teams who are all expected to finish above .500, let alone all of them being ranked. 

Big 12

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Programs Added: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah 

While the Big Ten got the four biggest brands, it was the Big 12 that pulled the jenga block that made the Pac-12 fall. Colorado was the first program to leave after USC and UCLA, which was about a year later. They got fed up with the Pac-12's inability to provide numbers for the media rights deal and bolted. Despite being 4-4, Colorado is the most famous team in college football thanks to Deion Sanders. They have four of the most-watched games of the season, as they were a part of the No. 1, 4, 6, and 10 most-watched games this year. They were ranked after starting 3-0, but have since fizzled.

Arizona is currently sitting at 5-3, and is the hottest team in college football. They have won three of their last five, with two of the wins over ranked opponents. They appear to be well on their way to making a bowl game, and also found a star in redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifita. 

Arizona State is 2-6 on the year, and has been plagued by injuries at the quarterback position. Kenny Dillingham appears to be the right guy for the job, he just has an uphill battle in Tempe.

Utah has been plagued by injuries all year, losing around a dozen to injury for the season. Even without their star quarterback and tight end, they are No. 18 in the country and 6-2. They also have a chance to win the Pac-12 title if everything falls their way. 

ACC

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Programs Added: Cal, SMU, and Stanford 

Stanford and Cal were the last two Pac-12 teams that had a chance of being added to a Power conference. While they may have at one point been viewed as Big Ten longshots, they eventually got into the ACC after North Carolina State gave them the votes necessary. SMU is a team that was Pac-12 bound if the conference stuck together, but instead will be joining the ACC for free essentially. 

Starting with Cal, they are 3-5 and have had some tough bounces. Justin Wilcox appears to be on the hot seat, and there is a belief that they may move on and start fresh with an impending conference move on the horizon. 

SMU is 6-2 on the year, and has also seen a boost in recruiting since the announcement. The program has wealthy enough donors to negate the lack of media rights money they will get, and they are now looking to return to the prominence they once had before the death penalty.

Stanford is 2-6 on the year under first-year head coach Troy Taylor. They have however seen an uptick in performance from this team that came into the year as the most inexperienced in the Power 5. They also are recruiting quite well, and could be a competitive ACC team in year one or two.