Here in Colorado, the momentous 2024 college football season begins this week, with Colorado, Colorado State and Air Force all playing opening games.
If last Saturday’s games are any indication, it’s going to be a memorable fall.
The only ranked team in action, No. 10 Florida State, became the first upset victim (of many to come), losing to Georgia Tech, 24-21, on a 44-yard field goal on the last play. The Yellow Jackets were 10.5-point underdogs.
Hours later, New Mexico—a 14-point underdog—came within four-and-a-half minutes of upsetting Montana State, blowing a 31-21 lead by giving up a 93-yard touchdown run then an 11-play, 89-yard scoring drive. Montana State scored the game winner, a four-yard run on first-and-goal, with 10 seconds left.
This one’s noteworthy because Montana State plays in the Football Championship Subdivision and is a three-time FCS national champion. North Dakota State, CU’s opening opponent, is a 9-time FCS national champ. CU went in as the betting favorite by 10.
Both New Mexico and Colorado are FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) programs, which generally means they’re supposed to be bigger and stronger. Buffaloes beware.
At opposite ends of the opening spectrum, meanwhile, are Mountain West rivals CSU and Air Force.
The Falcons start with what should be a walkover: Merrimack College of Andover, Massachusetts, playing its second season in FBS. The Warriors went 5-6 in their first FBS go in 2023. They appeared in the FCS playoffs only once.
The Rams of CSU, meanwhile, will be in Austin to take on Texas, considered among the leading contenders to reach the FBS national championship game.
The Longhorns represent a couple of the many reasons the 2024 college football season marks the start of a new era.
Because of conference realignment, Texas now plays in the Southeastern Conference. So does Oklahoma.
Adding them to Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana State, Ole Miss, Florida etc. etc. makes the strongest conference in America that much stronger. The SEC’s third-place finisher could win the playoffs.
Also:
Four West Coast powers—Oregon, Washington, Southern Cal and UCLA—have joined the suddenly 18-school Big Ten, whose membership now stretches 2,907 miles from New Brunswick, New Jersey to Eugene, Oregon;
Bay Area arch-rivals Cal and Stanford have become members of the opposite coast’s top league, the Atlantic Coast Conference; and
Utah, Arizona and Arizona State have joined CU in changing the meaning of the number 12, giving the Big 12 Conference SIXTEEN members across 10 states.
All that movement should make for intriguing conference championship races. What makes these moves even more interesting is that more teams—eight more—will have a shot at playing for the national championship.
At this early stage of play, even all three of Colorado’s major football programs are in the hunt.
There’s a passing of the torch that’s worth noting, as well.
In 17 seasons at Alabama, Nick Saban won 87.659% of the games his teams played, losing only 29 of 235. His Crimson Tide won nine Southeastern Conference championships and a record six national titles.
He retired after the 2023 season, which means Kalen DeBoer, as Saban’s successor, has either the greatest opportunity or worst job in the history of college football.
Ever since Phil Bengtson flopped as Vince Lombardi’s heir, I’ve believed that the worst job possible is being the person who follows a legend.
Does anyone, for example, remember who followed John Wooden at UCLA? How many national championships did Gene Bartow win in his two years there? (Answer: none).
And where did he go when he left the high-pressure pinnacle of college basketball coaching at that time? (Answer: The University of Alabama-Birmingham, to START the program there.)
There are examples here, too.
Josh McDaniels followed Mike Shanahan and was fired before he completed his second season.
Between John Elway and Peyton Manning, the Broncos had 11 different starting quarterbacks.
Since Todd Helton retired after the 2013 season, the Rockies have had eight primary starting first basemen.
CU and CSU meet in Fort Collins Sept. 14, and CSU visits Air Force Oct. 19, which means head-to-head games could eliminate two of our locals from national contention by mid-season.
But these two games are significant for more than playoff implications. CU’s Deion Sanders and CSU’s Jay Norvell both have high expectations to live up to.
Should be a fascinating four months ahead.
Denny Dressman is a veteran of 43 years in the newspaper business, including 25 at the Rocky Mountain News, where he began as executive sports editor. He is the author of 16 books, nine of them sports-related. You can write to Denny at denny
dressman@comcast.net.