2023 has been a crazy year for sports. Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field. Bill Belicheck coached his final season for the Patriots. The Texas Rangers and Denver Nuggets both won their first titles. However, none of these sports match the craziness of the 2023 college football season.
2023 was filled with interesting storylines and new memories. For starters, this season was the last time we saw the PAC-12 as we know it. The Power 5 conference lost every team except for Oregon State and Washington State. 4 teams are leaving for the Big Ten, along with 4 more to the Big 12. Cal and Stanford will find a new home in the ACC. 3 Pac-12 teams finished the season ranked, all inside the top 11. This is a huge change to the future of college football, and it doesn’t stop there.
2023 was the biggest season yet for conference realignment. Along with the movement in the Pac-12, Texas and Oklahoma are joining the SEC after this season. These two powerhouses add on to an already stacked SEC. Furthermore, SMU will join the ACC while BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UFC are added to the Big 12. With so many changes to these conferences, college football in 2024 will be almost unrecognizable.
Even though so many teams changed conferences, the biggest change to college football is the retirement of Alabama head coach and future Hall of Famer, Nick Saban. Saban has won 7 national titles as well as 12 conference championships. He coached 4 Heisman Trophy winners and earned a 297-71-1 record. Saban is arguably the greatest college football head coach of all time, and was the head of Alabama’s dynasty the last 15 years. College football will miss his presence.
Obviously, Alabama needed a replacement for their head coach. They settled on former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoar. DeBoar led Washington to a National Championship appearance and holds a 104-12 record in his career.
Lastly, the National Championship was the most watched in the last four seasons and it’s highest rated in the last six seasons, drawing in 25 million viewers. Michigan topped Washington 34-13, winning its first title since 1948. Michigan finished with a 15-0 record, including marquee wins over Ohio State, Penn State, Alabama, and Washington. It was an incredible season.
The 2023 college football season was a wild ride with a lot of goodbyes. The sport will not be the same as we have known it. 2024 will include a lot of firsts for the sport and we are excited to see what it will bring.
