A great man once said “life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” This also applies to the college football season, which has FLOWN by. It feels like it was only yesterday that Mike and I were writing conference previews and doing our first episode of the pod. Long before all the picks and the reactions and the drama, there was a preseason full of questions? Would the 12 team playoff be good? Were super conferences bad for the sport? Would the influx of money change the sport and its traditions? Can the transfer portal make you a winner?

Those were just some of the things we were going to find out over the course of a season that was truly uncharted territory. So, let’s talk about what we learned, all the best things from this memorable campaign, and what we still have to look forward to this season!

The Portal Builds Winners…Kind Of

The transfer portal becoming the wild west was one of the biggest changes for the 2024 season. There were no rules and no limits for the first time ever and with the players able to essentially pick and choose where they wanted to play their football, programs around the country looked to take advantage of it to build winning teams. The success rate was spotty at best as coaches around the power conferences openly discussed the lag time in adjusting to new teams in the wake of switching schools. For every Dylan Gabriel and Cam Ward, there was a DJ Uiagalelei and the entire Ole Miss Rebels disappointment of a team. Even players like Will Howard struggled when put in great positions like this year’s Ohio State team. It was all about being in the right place at the right time and that will likely remain the case in the future, which could temper transfers…but only time will tell.

Curt Cignetti is the Man!

Every college football season comes with its share of characters, but none were more entertaining this season than Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti. The former James Madison head coach arrived in Bloomington and transformed a basketball school into a viable playoff contender in just one short season. His team is full of likable transfer players and his maniacal laughter in halftime interviews when leading by 50 were pure gold. He’s like a modern-day Norman Dale for all you Hoosiers hoops fans out there, with a set of hard and fast rules for his team and a unique approach to dealing with people. We’re all better for having “coach Cig’ in the big time.

Coach Prime can in fact Coach

Last years version of coach Cig was Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes…minus the wins that is. But this year, much to “Coach Prime’s” credit, the Buff’s took a quantum leap on the field with a 9-3 record and a near berth in the College Football Playoff. Sanders cut out some of the silly chatter and increased the solid play by his team, a welcome change from the at times exhausting saga of a season ago. With Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders leaving for the NFL we’ll have to see if Colorado can keep this going next season, but fair play to them on a good campaign in 2024.

The More Things Change…The More They Stay the Same

For all this talk of change, there were some things that still haven’t changed at all. Ryan Day and his ego still can’t beat the Michigan Wolverines. Brian Kelly still can’t win a big game. Lincoln Riley can’t coach anyone at all as USC’s backwards slide continues in the BIG Ten. And sadly, for folks in Lincoln, the Huskers are still a complete and utter disaster. Don’t fear change folks…it isn’t happening that quickly for everyone.

Big Noon Kickoff Stinks

It’s another fabulous year of Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff cosplaying as College Gameday and failing miserably. The pregame show leaves a lot to be desired from a chemistry perspective and when they’re done, they hand the broadcast day off to the eye rolling tandem of Joel Klatt and Gus Johnson, who aren’t happy if they aren’t calling a Michigan game. To make matters worse, they continue to take exciting games out of the night window and put them on at noon, a crime against the football gods, as they took this year’s Penn State whiteout against Ohio State out of prime time.

College Gameday Still Rocks!

Meanwhile over on “the worldwide leader,” College Gameday had another fantastic season. For a show that seemed like it was trending in the wrong direction a short while ago, it’s now back up and running as a welcome start to our Saturday mornings. First off, I can’t say enough good things about Kirk Herbstreit, who takes care of Americas favorite coach Lee Corso each week and introduced us to everyone’s favorite canine Ben Herbstreit, who brought so much joy to the football season, before his passing. Fear not though, Herbie has his new buddy Peter patrolling the campus and sidelines.

There was of course a new edition to the Gameday family this season, legendary head coach, Nick Saban! Saban was a welcome addition to the crew as he let his guard down and had a blast on the desk. The former “ball coach” did everything from make fun of teams who got bad transfer players, to eating entire steaks while on air, and he even tried to keep Pat McAfee from misbehaving…emphasis on the word “try.”

Last but certainly not least, there is the one and only coach Lee Corso. Lee is not quite his old self anymore at the tender age of 89, but he’s still such a joyous presence on the air. Corso had his share of fun this campaign and the highlight of it was the shows trip to Indiana, where he worked as head coach for a number of years. The university took the time to honor him and reunite him with his former players, which was a beautiful occasion to see documented on the show. We love you coach…and we all still hate Desmond Howard.

Coach’s Need to Be Given a Chance

In the changing landscape of college football, there is a premium on immediate success, especially given how much is at stake monetarily. This leads to coaches being treated like NFL hires, put on notice to be fired if they don’t find success early on in their tenure’s, which at times is earned based on their work, but also doesn’t feel particularly fair considering they are tasked with building out an entire program. If given time, some coaches can prove they deserve to be given a chance to make things work long term. This season had three great examples, the first being embattled Florida head coach Billy Napier, who rescued a season from the ashes in route to a 7-5 finish, and he’ll be back next year! Kenny Dillingham wasn’t under that much pressure this year in Tempe, but he’s taken his alma mater from the depths of NCAA postseason suspension to a spot in the playoff! Finally, there is South Carolina coach Shane Beamer, who was rumored to be on the chopping block preseason before posting a 9-3 campaign with a loaded but youthful roster, that should be a force next season. All this is to say, patience is sometimes the best move!

Super Conferences=More Big Games

One of the other biggest changes to college football was large scale realignment, which came with its fair share of detractors, and at times rightfully so. The changes unfortunately put an end to some great rivalries, and even an entire conference in one case. However, the upside of it was something we all enjoyed as more “blue blood” programs locked horns with each other in the regular season which was really exciting to watch play out. This also bred more emphasis on improving your resume as a playoff contender, incentivizing marquee cross conference games and even independents going on the road to play the bigger programs to show they belonged. In those situations, the fans win!

The 12 Team Playoff (and its Drama) is Great!

Ahhh the twelve team playoff, the real focal point of all the changes this season. Sure, it had its detractors, as many felt twelve teams was too many (me included). People wondered if it would continue to hurt bowl season and the fun of marquee bowls like the Rose Bowl, which remains to be seen. But the chaos it, along with the portals balancing of the field, created for some really interesting debates and conversations about the sport we love so dearly. While some of the coverage on the major networks can become annoying, particularly when you realize just how little some of the “experts” actually watch the games, there is nothing better than talkin’ ball with your friends like Mike and I do on the podcast in a season so wide open.

You Can’t Kill Tradition

Before the season started, I wrote a special story about the wonderful traditions that make college football so special in comparison to the NFL. I wrote it, in part because I was worried that as the sport changed to be more reflective of pro sports, maybe things wouldn’t be quite as fun, and tradition would fall by the wayside…and boy was I gladly wrong. It seemed like this year, more than ever, fans around the nation got to enjoy the sports defining characteristics as they were brought directly into our homes by ESPN and the other networks. We counted down some of my favorite tradition’s preseason, so I thought we should so the same here as we saw some very special things that weren’t included last time!

Leading off is the Florida Gators awesome tradition of singing Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty when the fourth quarter starts. The track is a certified banger and the excitement in the stands only makes it better as the entire swamp belts it out. It really felt like a rallying cry for the Gators as this once downtrodden squad battled back to finish 7-5 this season!

Next up we go to Camp Randall, which has made House of Pain’s 90’s hype track Jump Around famous for years. I did of course feature it in my piece earlier this year, but this version below was too good to pass up. The Badgers unfortunately were a footnote this season with the team struggling on the field, which tempers Jump Around’s intensity. But, when they had a chance to upset number one Oregon late in the year, the fans went off, and even the Oregon players joined in!

From Camp Randall, we head south to College Station. You may be tired of me talking about Texas A&M and their fans, but can you blame when they provide content like the video below. This season’s creation of super conferences led to the return of the battle for the Lone Star State between Texas and Texas A&M, as the Horns came to Kyle Field in what was essentially a playoff game. The Aggie faithful made Kyle an absolute pit and everything about the clip below perfectly captures the passion that makes college football great!

Finally, I had to include a clip that became a sensation as the South Carolina Gamecocks returned to national relevance. Their entrance to Williams Bryce Stadium ranks amongst the best in the sport and the insanity of it was on full display for their early kick with LSU from the first month of the season. From the 2001: A Space Odyssey theme to the rally towels and their mascot Cocky emerging from the “cockaboose,” it’s hard not to have fun in Columbia. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the team is pretty good!

In closing I’d like to just thank College Football for being the best it has been in a long time. I didn’t love all the changes, I still don’t, and I know I’m not really alone in that. But, if the games are going to be this fun and unpredictable, and the playing field is going to be this balanced in the name of competition, I can certainly live with the changes. The most important thing is the product on Saturday’s, and the players combined with fans around the country to make this the most exciting slate we could have asked for. The good news is we still have Amry vs Navy, the Heisman ceremony and the inaugural edition of the expanded playoff to enjoy! We will have coverage of it all here on the site and on the podcast, so stay tuned everyone! As for the regular season, it’s so long and thanks, because as a great man once said…oh never mind, tell ‘em yourself Ferris…

On Twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon!