Throughout my life, you always knew where to find me on a Sunday afternoon: on my couch with Redzone on the screen, an unstarted homework assignment to my left, and maybe a sandwich in my hands. On Saturdays, however, this was not the case because college football never intrigued me as much as the NFL. Sure, I’d watch the biggest games and follow the most promising prospects, but NCAA football lacked one thing the NFL had down pat: competitive parity. Most years, there was a massive gap between the top three or four teams and everyone else. It made watching the sport less appealing, as a team like Alabama would demolish every team by 40 until the SEC Championship. You can only listen to the same song so many times.

2024 feels different. After a 2023 season in which the changes started to show, 2024 has brought a fire back to college football. It seems as if there are 10-15 teams that could be factors in January. Historic universities that have failed to be real competitors for years like Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Missouri have returned to the top of the sport. And in quarterback play, where there is often the largest gap between college and professional football, we’re seeing more dynamic players than ever, with guys like Cam Rising, Jaxson Dart, and Cam Ward as the leading new contenders. It has made my Saturdays a little bit more predictable because I can’t risk missing a matchup.

There’s a few possible explanations for why this shift has happened. For one, the overall talent level has increased, with expert coaching and training becoming more accessible in youth football. Additionally, conference realignment has consolidated the best universities, leading to more competitive match-ups. However, there’s a better, more difficult answer: the NCAA is finally making smart decisions.

The NCAA’s history has been littered with  scandals, inconsistent rule enforcement, and poor decisions regarding its players. Pairing that with the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) situation, where the NCAA had to have their hand forced by law to allow players to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness, the NCAA has had far from a favorable reputation. But with two additions, the expansion of the 12-team playoff and the transfer portal, college football has been revitalized.

While the transfer portal isn’t exactly new (it was created in 2018), when paired with NIL rules, it has been the main reason for increased parity. The transfer portal allows for players to have an organized recruiting process while considering moving schools, and unlike in the past, players can play directly after transferring. This is important for NIL, as each university only has so much money to dole out to players, and the players can find out their worth and move immediately through the portal. Take a player like Cam Ward, a strong-armed quarterback looking to transfer. In the past, he may’ve solely looked to go to the biggest team where he’d start, which would’ve been Ohio State or USC. Instead, Miami offered him the most NIL money, bringing a top talent to a very good team but not a recent blue blood. From a viewership perspective, it means more teams to watch that have high-level talents.

Furthermore, the transfer portal has evened out rosters. Ten years ago, a top team could have had four future NFL running backs, two of whom sat on the bench because they could not transfer without missing out on a year of eligibility. In the current landscape, the other two could find homes in other places and play right away. The result is more talent seeing the field and less sitting on the sidelines.

Unlike the transfer portal, expanding the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12 was a heavily debated issue, as the opposition argued it would devalue the regular season, harm the best teams that “deserve” an easier path, and lead to uncompetitive playoff games. Instead, there seems to be more on the line in the regular season, with the lower ranked teams in the top 25 having a real chance at the postseason. A team like Michigan, a talented squad with an early loss, no longer needs to win out. By the time the end of the season rolls around, there’ll be many more teams in contention for a spot, leading to more consequential games. And due to the increase in parity from the transfer portal, the playoff games appear as if they’ll be competitive.

While the 2024 season has shown promise, we’re only three games into the season. It’ll be a test to see if this current level of parity remains and the teams ranked 5 through 20 continue to show strength. But I wouldn’t be too concerned about the long-term future of college football, as the recent additions have transformed the game for the better.