College football has seen drastic changes in recent years. Most notably were divisional changes and a shift to a bracket system for the playoffs.
The landscape of the PAC-12 looks the most different with only Washington State and Oregon State remaining. USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon left to join the Big Ten. The Big Twelve is absorbing Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado. CalTech and Stanford are set to join the ACC.
This shaves the power five conferences down to a core four of the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, and Big Twelve. It is unclear what will happen to the remnants of the Pac-12 as the other four conferences become increasingly expansive. In regards to the Big Ten, this move not only dissolved the East and West divisions but could also be detrimental to the athletes at these institutions. UCLA and USC are now in the same conference making it literally coast to coast and requiring lengthy travel that will have adverse effects on athletes in both their sports and academics.
The NCAA college football playoffs were riddled with controversy; it left out FSU that both had a perfect record and were ACC champions. However you feel about the teams selected, the consensus was that the system of choosing the playoff teams needed a major overhaul. It got one: the new playoff system is being expanded to twelve teams. The six highest ranked conference champions will automatically be included, the top four getting an automatic bid to the quarterfinals. The change will go into effect in the 2024-25 season.
