The 2024 college football season is the most anticipated in the history of the sport. There are a number of major changes in store for the game, be it the 12-team playoff, campus playoff games, new coaches in new places, transfers, and much more.

In this episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr take turns drafting the best and worst college football changes this year and discussing the impact that each will have on the game and its fans.

Rundown

Tony Gerdeman’s Little League team and coach, with mentions of smoking and tank tops. 0:00
- Tony Gerdeman shares a childhood photo of himself in a Little League uniform, looking about 10 years old.
- Tom Orr observes the coaches in the photo and imagines their backstories.
- Tom and Tony reminisce about their Little League days, including their coach’s smoking habits.
- The conversation shifts to the actual topic of the show, which was Tom’s idea and may be terrible.
College football changes, including home playoff games and lawsuits between coaches and players. 5:23
- Tony and Tom draft the best and worst changes in college football, including a 12-team playoff and new coaching staffs.
- Tony and Tom discuss players suing coaches for breaching contracts.
- Tom is excited about home playoff games, particularly a team like Miami facing Wisconsin in cold weather.
College football playoffs, odds of teams making the playoffs, and potential matchups. 11:15
- Tony and Tom discuss the potential for exciting matchups in the college football playoffs, including Miami vs. Nebraska.
- They speculate on the likelihood of these teams having good seasons and playing each other in the playoffs.
- They discuss the potential teams that could make it to a 12-team college football playoff, with Orr expressing concerns about the selection process.
- Gerdeman provides his playoff prediction of teams from different conferences.
College football scheduling and playoff system. 16:33
- Tom expresses frustration with college football playoff system.
- Orr wonders how teams will handle playing in these games if they’re not fully healthy, potentially leading to players being held out or sitting out to prioritize playoff preparation.
College football scheduling, Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, and potential matchups. 20:49
- Tony and Tom discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of eliminating divisions in college football conferences, including the possibility of Ohio State and Michigan playing each other multiple times in a season.
- The hosts highlight the precedent set by the ACC’s divisions, which were created to increase the frequency of rivalry games between Florida State and Miami, but ultimately resulted in the teams not meeting in a conference championship game for many years.
- Tom expresses dislike for back-to-back weeks between Ohio State and Michigan games, preferring a month-and-a-half gap between possible matchups in the regular season and playoff games.
- Orr believes Michigan’s lack of success this season will solve the problem of scheduling conflicts between the two teams.
College GameDay with Nick Saban, EA Sports college football game return, and football X’s and O’s. 25:35
- Tony and Tom discuss the potential impact of Nick Saban joining College GameDay as a analyst.
- They reflect on the X’s and O’s segments of Big Noon Kickoff, which made football strategies more approachable and easy to understand.
- They discuss Nick Saban’s impact on ESPN’s Game Day, with Tom praising Saban’s ability to make organizations better.
- EA Sports college football game is returning in July, with trailer release sparking excitement but concerns about gameplay.
College football with a focus on new matchups and conferences. 30:41
- Tony and Tom discuss the potential for microtransactions in CFB25, including unlocking specific touchdown celebrations.
- Orr highlights exciting matchups between old college football teams in new places, such as Ohio State at Oregon and Michigan hosting USC.
College football coaches in new positions, conference realignment, and player transfers. 34:57
- Tony Gerdeman mentions Caleb Downs, a top safety from Alabama who transferred to Ohio State, as a big name in college football and somebody to be excited about.
- Tom Orr highlights the unusual fit of Cal, Stanford, and SMU in the ACC, with potential negative consequences for the teams involved.
- Tony jokes about Beano Cook rising from the dead to talk about Riley Leonard.
- Tom speculates on the possibility of former ACC quarterbacks winning the Heisman again.
- Tom discusses new college football coaches and their challenges at their respective schools.
- Orr is skeptical of Michigan’s chances under new coach Sherrone Moore.
College football changes, including helmet communications and two-minute warning. 41:53
- Tony Gerdeman discusses Michigan State football, including new head coach Jonathan Smith and quarterbacks Aiden Charles out of the transfer portal.
- Tom is surprised that the Two-Minute Warning wasn’t Tony’s first pick, considering its potential impact on halftime food lines.
- Tom discusses the new helmet communications and its impact on time management.
- Orr predicts potential impact on game decisions and strategies, but notes teams are still figuring things out.