CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 2024 season

Ohio State finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 14–⁠2 under Ryan Day, after it beat Notre Dame 34–⁠23 in the CFP National Championship. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 Oregon 45, No. 3 Penn State 37 (Dec 7, 2024). 67 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado, who also won the Walter Camp, Biletnikoff, Hornung and Bednarik.

The Heisman vote: Travis Hunter 2,231 points, Ashton Jeanty 2,017
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Travis Hunter WR/CB, Colorado2,23155226153
Ashton Jeanty RB, Boise State2,01730951756
Dillon Gabriel QB, Oregon5162452340
Cam Ward QB, Miami (FL)229624163
Cam Skattebo RB, Arizona State170318125
Bryson Daily QB, Army693746
Tyler Warren TE, Penn State521735
Shedeur Sanders QB, Colorado471730
Kurtis Rourke QB, Indiana222310
Kyle McCord QB, Syracuse9017

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

The 2024 Holy Cross team
The 2024 Holy Cross team: The Crusaders lost to the Wildcats, 20–⁠21Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The 2024 Holy Cross season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Ohio State (56)Big Ten
2Notre DameFBS Independents
3OregonBig Ten
4TexasSoutheastern Conference
5Penn StateBig Ten
6GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference
7Arizona StateBig 12
8Boise StateMountain West Conference
9TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
10IndianaBig Ten
11Ole MissSoutheastern Conference
12SMUAtlantic Coast Conference
13BYUBig 12
14ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
15Iowa StateBig 12
16IllinoisBig Ten
17AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
18MiamiAtlantic Coast Conference
19South CarolinaSoutheastern Conference
20SyracuseAtlantic Coast Conference
21ArmyAmerican Athletic Conference
22MissouriSoutheastern Conference
23UNLVMountain West Conference
24MemphisAmerican Athletic Conference
25ColoradoBig 12

Biggest upsets

Sep 7, 2024Northern Illinois 16, 5Notre Dame 14Northern Illinois +27.5
Oct 5, 2024Vanderbilt 40, 1Alabama 35Vanderbilt +23.5
Nov 16, 2024Stanford 38, 22Louisville 35Stanford +21
Nov 30, 2024Michigan 13, 2Ohio State 10Michigan +19.5
Sep 2, 2024Boston College 28, 10Florida State 13Boston College +16.5
Dec 31, 2024Michigan 19, 11Alabama 13Michigan +16.5
Sep 28, 2024Kentucky 20, 6Ole Miss 17Kentucky +15
Oct 5, 2024Arkansas 19, 4Tennessee 14Arkansas +14
Nov 23, 2024Oklahoma 24, 7Alabama 3Oklahoma +14
Nov 2, 2024Texas Tech 23, 11Iowa State 22Texas Tech +13.5
Nov 23, 2024Florida 24, 9Ole Miss 17Florida +13
Sep 21, 2024Buffalo 23, 23Northern Illinois 20Buffalo +13

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

Most exciting games

Dec 24, 2024South Florida 41, San José State 39
Dec 26, 2024Toledo 48, Pittsburgh 46
Sep 20, 2024Washington State 54, San José State 52
Nov 23, 2024Auburn 43, 15Texas A&M 41
Sep 14, 2024Eastern Michigan 37, Jacksonville State 34
Oct 12, 202413LSU 29, 9Ole Miss 26
Nov 23, 2024Texas Tech 56, Oklahoma State 48
Oct 5, 2024Oregon State 39, Colorado State 31

By CollegeFootballData.com’s excitement index: how far each team’s chance of winning swung, play by play. Games with an FBS team, decided by 16 points or fewer.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 2024, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalIndiana: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 23, Wk 7 No. 18, Wk 8 No. 16, Wk 9 No. 13, Wk 10 No. 13, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 10, Wk 15 No. 9, Wk 16 No. 9, Final No. 1010 IndianaTennessee: Wk 1 No. 15, Wk 2 No. 14, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 11, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 10, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 6, Wk 16 No. 7, Final No. 99 TennesseeBoise State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 No. 25, Wk 6 No. 21, Wk 7 No. 17, Wk 8 No. 15, Wk 9 No. 17, Wk 10 No. 15, Wk 11 No. 12, Wk 12 No. 13, Wk 13 No. 12, Wk 14 No. 11, Wk 15 No. 10, Wk 16 No. 8, Final No. 88 Boise StateArizona State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 unranked, Wk 10 unranked, Wk 11 unranked, Wk 12 unranked, Wk 13 No. 21, Wk 14 No. 14, Wk 15 No. 12, Wk 16 No. 10, Final No. 77 Arizona StateGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 5, Wk 16 No. 2, Final No. 66 GeorgiaPenn State: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 8, Wk 3 No. 8, Wk 4 No. 10, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 3, Wk 16 No. 5, Final No. 55 Penn StateTexas: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 2, Wk 16 No. 4, Final No. 44 TexasOregon: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 9, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Wk 16 No. 1, Final No. 33 OregonNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 7, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 18, Wk 4 No. 17, Wk 5 No. 16, Wk 6 No. 14, Wk 7 No. 11, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 12, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 4, Wk 16 No. 3, Final No. 22 Notre DameOhio State: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 7, Wk 16 No. 6, Final No. 11 Ohio State
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Arizona Stateunranked → No. 7
  2. Boise Stateunranked → No. 8
  3. Indianaunranked → No. 10
  4. SMUunranked → No. 12
  5. BYUunranked → No. 13

Fell

  1. MichiganNo. 9 → unranked
  2. Florida StateNo. 10 → unranked
  3. UtahNo. 12 → unranked
  4. LSUNo. 13 → unranked
  5. AlabamaNo. 5 → No. 17

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

The College Football Playoff

First Round

Quarterfinal

Semifinal

National Championship

Champion: Ohio State

National leaders

Passing yards

  1. 1Kyle McCord Syracuse4,779 yds
  2. 2Cam Ward Miami4,313 yds
  3. 3Jaxson Dart Ole Miss4,279 yds
  4. 4Shedeur Sanders Colorado4,134 yds
  5. 5Garrett Nussmeier LSU4,039 yds

Passing touchdowns

  1. 1Cam Ward Miami39 TD
  2. 2Shedeur Sanders Colorado37 TD
  3. 3Cade Klubnik Clemson36 TD
  4. 4Will Howard Ohio State35 TD
  5. 5Kyle McCord Syracuse34 TD

Rushing yards

  1. 1Ashton Jeanty Boise State2,601 yds
  2. 2Cameron Skattebo Arizona State1,715 yds
  3. 3Omarion Hampton North Carolina1,660 yds
  4. 4Bryson Daily Army1,653 yds
  5. 5Tre Stewart Jacksonville State1,636 yds

Rushing touchdowns

  1. 1Bryson Daily Army32 TD
  2. 2Ashton Jeanty Boise State29 TD
  3. 3Tre Stewart Jacksonville State25 TD
  4. T4Dylan Sampson Tennessee22 TD
  5. T4R.J. Harvey UCF22 TD

Receiving yards

  1. 1Harold Fannin Bowling Green1,550 yds
  2. 2Nick Nash San José State1,382 yds
  3. 3Tetairoa McMillan Arizona1,319 yds
  4. 4Jeremiah Smith Ohio State1,315 yds
  5. 5Travis Hunter Colorado1,258 yds

The NCAA’s official leader is Harold Fannin Jr. (Bowling Green), with 1,555 yds; our source has him at 1,550 yds.

Receiving touchdowns

  1. 1Nick Nash San José State16 TD
  2. T2Jeremiah Smith Ohio State15 TD
  3. T2Travis Hunter Colorado15 TD
  4. 4Kyle Williams Washington State14 TD
  5. 5Eric Rivers Florida International12 TD

Tackles

  1. 1Shaun Dolac Buffalo168 tkl
  2. 2Khalil Murdock Buffalo156 tkl
  3. 3Carson Schwesinger UCLA136 tkl
  4. 4Jackson Woodard UNLV135 tkl
  5. 5Colin Ramos Navy129 tkl

Sacks

  1. 1Michael Green Marshall17 sacks
  2. 2Antwuan Powell Virginia Tech15.5 sacks
  3. 3Donovan Ezeiruaku Boston College13.5 sacks
  4. 4Eric O’Neill James Madison13 sacks
  5. 5J.T. Tuimoloau Ohio State12.5 sacks

Interceptions

  1. 1Nohl Williams California7 INT
  2. T2Xavier Watts Notre Dame6 INT
  3. T2Zah Frazier UTSA6 INT
  4. T4A.J. Haulcy Houston5 INT
  5. T4Andrew Mukuba Texas5 INT

FBS players; season totals from CollegeFootballData.com player statistics.

Conference champions

FBS

American Athletic Conference
Army
Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson
Big 12
Arizona State
Big Ten
Oregon
Conference USA
Jacksonville State
Mid-American Conference
Ohio
Mountain West Conference
Boise State
Pac-12
Oregon State
Southeastern Conference
Georgia
Sun Belt Conference
Marshall

FCS

Big Sky
Montana State
Big South–OVC Football Association
Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin (shared)
Coastal Athletic Association
Rhode Island and Richmond (shared)
Ivy League
Columbia, Dartmouth and Harvard (shared)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
South Carolina State
Missouri Valley Football Conference
North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State (shared)
Northeast Conference
Central Connecticut and Duquesne (shared)
Patriot League
Holy Cross and Lehigh (shared)
Pioneer Football League
Drake
Southern Conference
Mercer
Southland Conference
Incarnate Word
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Jackson State
United Athletic Conference
Abilene Christian

Division II and below

Northeast 10
New Haven

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

25 playersAll 11 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2024 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2024 All-America teams page.

The 2024 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Ohio State 65 on the staff list

Support staff (54)

Analysts and quality control

  • Billy Fessler quality control, analyst
  • Tim Drevno quality control (offense)
  • Brent Zdebski quality control – defense
  • Rob Keys quality control – kicking
  • Sam McGrath quality control – defense
  • Joe Lyberger quality control – defense
  • Tony Johnson senior advisor, analyst
  • Riley Larkin Program assistant – offense
  • Devin Jordan Program assistant – offense
  • Gunner Daniel Program assistant – special teams
  • Gerren DuHart Program assistant – defense
  • Joshua Chorba Program assistant – defense

Strength and conditioning

  • Mickey Marotti associate AD, director of football Sport performance
  • Doug Calland associate AD, sports performance
  • Zachary Higgins Asst. director, football strength & conditioning
  • Luke Rose associate director, strength and conditioning
  • Antonio Turner associate director, strength and conditioning

Operations and recruiting

  • Quinn Tempel chief of staff & assistant to the head coach
  • Brian Voltolini associate athletic director, football operations
  • Tim Hinton executive director for football relations, special assistant to the head coach
  • Mark Pantoni General manager, player personnel
  • Sam Petitto assistant AD, player personnel
  • Parker Wereb assistant director of player personnel
  • C.J. Barnett assistant athletic director for player development and External Affairs
  • Billy Homer College scouting coordinator
  • Ed Terwilliger director of high school relations
  • Morgan Phillips director, football recruiting and Events
  • Nick Murphy assistant director, recruiting Strategy
  • Ryan Mayhew Program assistant (recruiting)
  • Austin Edwards assistant director, football operations
  • Kayla Hackenberg coordinator, football administration, operations
  • Madison Marotti coordinator, FB Admin, Events
  • Madison Lowe football Front Office assistant
  • Justin Kume associate athletic director for Compliance
  • Carey Hoyt senior associate AD

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Shaun Barnhouse assistant athletic director for athletic training
  • Solomon Campbell associate director, athletic training
  • Adam Stewart Physical Therapist, athletic trainer
  • Kaila Olson performance Dietitian

Equipment

  • Kevin Ries director, football equipment services
  • Kevin Nerl assistant director, football equipment services
  • Rob Lachey senior director of equipment services
  • Eric Buchanan associate director of equipment services

Video, communications and other staff

  • George Momirovic director, football video & Technology
  • Nairan Normand assistant video coordinator
  • Ethan Miller director, creative & Branding
  • Michael Good associate director, creative media
  • Peter Fortunato assistant director, creative media
  • Zachery Kelly assistant director, creative design
  • Tony Tucker director, Student Well-Being
  • Jerry Emig associate AD, communications
  • Mike Basford director, athletics communications
  • Sean Perkins assistant AD, Indoor Facilities
  • Don Patko associate AD, Facilities operations

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

The selection committee

The College Football Playoff committee that ranked the teams and picked the field in 2024, as Wikipedia lists its members by season (CC BY-SA). The list doesn’t name that season’s chair.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 14, 2024South Alabama 30, Western Michigan 23Salute to Veterans Bowl
Dec 17, 202425Memphis 42, West Virginia 37Frisco Bowl
Dec 18, 2024James Madison 27, Western Kentucky 17Boca Raton Bowl
Dec 18, 202424UNLV 24, California 13LA Bowl
Dec 19, 2024Sam Houston 31, Georgia Southern 26New Orleans Bowl
Dec 20, 2024Ohio 30, Jacksonville State 27Cure Bowl
Dec 20, 2024Florida 33, Tulane 8Gasparilla Bowl
Dec 20, 20243Notre Dame 27, 9Indiana 17CFP First Round
Dec 21, 20245Penn State 38, 12SMU 10CFP First Round
Dec 21, 20244Texas 38, 13Clemson 24CFP First Round
Dec 21, 20246Ohio State 42, 7Tennessee 17CFP First Round
Dec 23, 2024UTSA 44, Coastal Carolina 15Myrtle Beach Bowl
Dec 23, 2024Northern Illinois 28, Fresno State 20Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Dec 24, 2024South Florida 41, San José State 39Hawai’i Bowl
Dec 26, 2024Toledo 48, Pittsburgh 46GameAbove Sports Bowl
Dec 26, 2024Kansas State 44, Rutgers 41Rate Bowl
Dec 26, 2024Arkansas State 38, Bowling Green 3168 Ventures Bowl
Dec 27, 2024Navy 21, Oklahoma 20Armed Forces Bowl
Dec 27, 2024Vanderbilt 35, Georgia Tech 27Birmingham Bowl
Dec 27, 2024Arkansas 39, Texas Tech 26Liberty Bowl
Dec 27, 202422Syracuse 52, Washington State 35Holiday Bowl
Dec 27, 2024USC 35, Texas A&M 31Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 28, 2024UConn 27, North Carolina 14Fenway Bowl
Dec 28, 2024Nebraska 20, Boston College 15Pinstripe Bowl
Dec 28, 2024TCU 34, Louisiana 3New Mexico Bowl
Dec 28, 202418Iowa State 42, 15Miami 41Pop-Tarts Bowl
Dec 28, 2024Miami (OH) 43, Colorado State 17Arizona Bowl
Dec 28, 2024East Carolina 26, NC State 21Military Bowl
Dec 28, 202417BYU 36, 20Colorado 14Alamo Bowl
Dec 28, 202419Army 27, Louisiana Tech 6Independence Bowl
Dec 30, 202423Missouri 27, Iowa 24Music City Bowl
Dec 31, 2024Michigan 19, 11Alabama 13ReliaQuest Bowl
Dec 31, 2024Louisville 35, Washington 34Sun Bowl
Dec 31, 202421Illinois 21, 14South Carolina 17Citrus Bowl
Dec 31, 2024LSU 44, Baylor 31Texas Bowl
Dec 31, 20245Penn State 31, 8Boise State 14Fiesta Bowl, CFP Quarterfinal
Jan 1, 20254Texas 39, 10Arizona State 31Peach Bowl, CFP Quarterfinal
Jan 1, 20256Ohio State 41, 1Oregon 21Rose Bowl, CFP Quarterfinal
Jan 2, 20253Notre Dame 23, 2Georgia 10Sugar Bowl, CFP Quarterfinal
Jan 2, 202516Ole Miss 52, Duke 20Gator Bowl
Jan 3, 2025Texas State 30, North Texas 28First Responder Bowl
Jan 3, 2025Minnesota 24, Virginia Tech 10Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Jan 4, 2025Buffalo 26, Liberty 7Bahamas Bowl
Jan 9, 20253Notre Dame 27, 5Penn State 24Orange Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Jan 10, 20256Ohio State 28, 4Texas 14Cotton Bowl, CFP Semifinal
Jan 20, 20256Ohio State 34, 3Notre Dame 23CFP National Championship

Rule book changes

Every rule book

There’s no 2024 rule book in the dataset. The changes in the 2026 book took effect between 2024 and 2026.

Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).