2024 college football predictions: Conference champions, Heisman Trophy and more

We are dangerously close to the start of college football season.

Week 0 kicks off in Dublin, Ireland with No. 10 Florida State playing Georgia Tech and ends in Hawaii — assuming Delaware State makes it to the islands in time.

That also means it’s time to make some extremely (in)accurate predictions on what we expect for the next few months. Our college football staff breaks down the Power 4 champions, the playoff field and more below.

Let’s get into it.

Big Ten Champion

Blake Schuster: Penn State

Yeah, let’s get weird. A new, innovative OC in Andy Kotelnicki will get the best out of Drew Allar and James Franklin will finally get the monkey off his back. It helps there are only two preseason ranked teams on the Nittany Lions’ schedule and they get to face one of them (Ohio State) in Happy Valley.

Christian D’Andrea: Oregon

Classic Big Ten.

Mitchell Northam: Oregon

Of the newcomers to this league, it feels like the Ducks are the most Big Ten-ready. And they’ve got preseason Heisman-favorite Dillon Gabriel at quarterback.

Tyler Nettuno: Ohio State

I’m all in on the Buckeyes this season. Ryan Day had the best offseason in the country, and this roster is absolutely loaded. That’s not even mentioning the addition of one of the sport’s best offensive playcallers in Chip Kelly. This one feels like it’s bordering on national title or bust territory.

Michelle Martinelli: Ohio State

To the delight of no one outside the state of Ohio, the Buckeyes will return to their Big Ten dominance, even in an expanded conference. Ohio State will drop a game this season — maybe on the road to Oregon or Penn State — but it’ll still be among the top-2 teams at the end playing in the conference title game. And winning it.

Big 12 Champion

Blake Schuster: Kansas

Jalon Daniels is (allegedly) healthy, which means KU is not only competing for the Big 12, but a playoff appearance, too. The Jayhawks also get the benefit of avoiding Utah, Oklahoma State and Arizona. There is only one preseason ranked team on KU’s schedule (at Kansas State) and it’s hard to imagine you’ll find Kansas more amped up to face its rival than you will this year. You squander a set up like this, and you think about it for the rest of your life.

Christian D’Andrea: Utah

Cam Rising finally finds the glory he deserves.

Mitchell Northam: West Virginia

This is a big dumb beautiful conference and I have no real sense of what’s going to happen here. But I did watch Garrett Greene tear it up in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl last year, and I also noticed that WVU doesn’t play Utah (which seems to widely be the preseason Big 12 favorite) in the regular season, which is a good break for the Mountaineers.

Tyler Nettuno: Utah

The Big 12 arguably became more intriguing with the departures of Texas and Oklahoma, but that also means the league’s two biggest blue bloods are gone. There’s a power vacuum here as programs look to establish themselves, and no one has done more in recent years than Utah. With quarterback Cam Rising and star tight end Brant Kuithe returning after missing 2023, it could be a big year if Utah stays healthy.

Michelle Martinelli: Utah

Without Oklahoma and Texas in the mix, the Big 12 title race feels wide open. Unfortunately for long-time members, I have a feeling that with a healthy Cam Rising, Utah will surge to the top of the conference, especially if it can get past Baylor and Oklahoma State early on.

ACC Champion

Blake Schuster: Clemson

Transfer portal or not, the Tigers are right where Dabo wants them. Cade Klubnik and Phil Mafah can carry the load on offense and the back end of the schedule sets up real nice with games against Virginia, Pitt and Wake Forest. It’s the early season matchups against No. 24 NC State and at No. 10 Florida State that have me more concerned.

Christian D’Andrea: Florida State.

Oh, they’re *big* mad now.

Mitchell Northam: N.C. State

Didn’t you notice? N.C. State [Expletive] is dead. This is The Year of the Wolf. N.C. State made the Final Four in both men’s and women’s basketball and sent its baseball team to the College World Series. Last year this team went 9-4 while playing musical chairs at quarterback. In the offseason, through the transfer portal, all they did was get better on offense. They landed three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Grayson McCall to plug-in at quarterback, improved their offensive line and installed other weapons on offense to compliment Kevin Concepcion. They have to figure out how to make up for the loss of Payton Wilson on defense, but defensive coordinator Tony Gibson seems well-equipped to sort that out. Also, they don’t play Florida State in the regular season. Other than an ACC opener at Clemson, it’s a pretty soft conference slate.

Tyler Nettuno: Florida State

FSU is poised to take a step back this fall, and I’m not entirely convinced that the portal additions of Roydell Williams and Malik Benson will be sufficient to replace Trey Benson and Keon Coleman. Quarterback DJ Uiagalalei also seems like he is what he is at this point, but that could still be good enough to carry Florida State in an ACC that looks especially weak entering 2024.

Michelle Martinelli: Clemson

Ugh. The thing is, if the Tigers can survive their toughest in-conference matchups by the end of the first weekend in October, they’re looking at a very manageable rest of the regular season and could cruise through undefeated in the ACC. Their first game, however, against Georgia could be a big indicator to whether this is an absurd or spot-on prediction.

SEC Champion

Blake Schuster: Ole Miss

I’d feel a lot better about this pick if Quinshon Judkins were still in Oxford, but while the rest of the SEC cannibalizes itself with early matchups like Georgia-Alabama and Tennessee-Oklahoma, Ole Miss is mostly playing cupcakes until traveling to LSU on October 12. It’ll either be a crushing loss or a statement of arrival for Lane Kiffin’s crew. There’s no in between. There never is.

Christian D’Andrea: Missouri

I cannot think of a funnier possible outcome than the SEC affirming its “superconference” status, then handing the league trophy over to Eliah by-god Drinkwitz. I’m here for the Luther Burden 3,000 yard experience.

Mitchell Northam: Texas

This team has Quinn Ewers on offense and Trey Moore on defense and the others do not.

Tyler Nettuno: Georgia

I strongly considered picking Texas for much of the offseason, but the CJ Baxter injury proved to be the thing that ultimately swayed me. The Bulldogs have a lot to replace after losing guys to the draft, as they do every year, but this roster remains loaded and could be special offensively relative to what Kirby Smart has produced in Athens in the past. Carson Beck is a legit early round draft prospect and could elevate the offense a lot this season, even without Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey.

Michelle Martinelli: Georgia

As much as I want to see Texas or Oklahoma come in and run the table in a conference that thinks it’s better than everyone else, it probably won’t happen because the SEC is, generally, sometimes, better than everyone else. So they’ll make a run for it — maybe one will even make the SEC title game — but ultimately, Georgia comes out on top again.

Heisman Trophy

Blake Schuster: Jalon Daniels, Kansas

I’m going to reverse-engineer this one and say if the Jayhawks win the Big 12, it’s because Daniels not only stayed healthy all year, but played at a superstar level. We know he has Heisman talent. We just need to see it for a full season.

Christian D’Andrea: Cam Ward, Miami (FL)

This is a pure talent pick, as I do not trust Mario Cristobal to keep things from collapsing around him. But in terms of raw ability, Ward’s got that Jayden Daniels aura about him.

Mitchell Northam: Omarion Hampton, North Carolina

This is a darkhorse pick, but consider this: Hampton carried the ball 253 times for 1,504 yards and 16 touchdowns last year with Drake Maye as his quarterback. This year, it’s totally unclear who is going to be undercenter for the Tar Heels for the majority of the season. Which means, UNC could rely on Hampton even more this season, giving him the opportunity to put up some wildly big numbers.

Tyler Nettuno: Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

Injuries are a large part of the reason that Gabriel is entering his sixth season of college football, but when healthy, he has proven himself to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country. After two quality years at Oklahoma, Gabriel joins an electric Oregon offense with better playmakers than he’s had the opportunity to join forces with at this point in his career. I think he could elevate the offense beyond what we saw from Bo Nix, a Heisman finalist last year, and if he does, he’ll certainly find himself in the mix.

Michelle Martinelli: Cam Ward, Miami (FL)

Honestly, I just picked someone at random because the Heisman race is truly impossible to predict at this point, and it’ll ultimately probably go to a player who’s hardly on anyone’s radar in the preseason. I will say though: Don’t bet on Dillon Gabriel because the preseason Heisman favorite ALMOST NEVER wins it. It’s happened once since 2009, so it’s likely going to be someone else.

College Football Playoff Field

Blake Schuster: Penn State, Kansas, Ole Miss, Clemson, UNLV, Notre Dame, Georgia. Kansas State, Ohio State, Florida State, Oregon, Texas A&M

Christian D’Andrea: Missouri, Oregon, Utah, Florida State, Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Wisconsin, Texas, Notre Dame, LSU, Boise State

Mitchell Northam: Texas, Oregon, Ole Miss, Ohio State, West Virginia, Utah, N.C. State, Florida State, Penn State, Georgia, Missouri, Appalachian State

Tyler Nettuno: Ohio State, Georgia, Utah, Florida State, Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Missouri, Boise State

Michelle Martinelli: Ohio State, Utah, Clemson, Georgia, Oregon, Notre Dame, Alabama, Texas, Michigan, Florida State, Kansas, SMU.

National Champion

Blake Schuster: Georgia

I hate it, too. But dynasties are dynasties for a reason and the Bulldogs have proven they know how to win the games that matter as well as any team in the country. The party rages on in Athens.

Christian D’Andrea: Oregon

Finally, the Ducks break through.

Mitchell Northam: Texas

They’re back, y’all. I think? Maybe?

Tyler Nettuno: Ohio State

Ryan Day, we can’t do this again. I’ve put way too much at stake defending you. Please, for the love of God, get the job done this time.

Michelle Martinelli: Oregon

The Ducks still make the playoff after missing out on their first possible Big Ten title and find redemption with a national championship.