College football schedule: Why does every team get two bye weeks during the 2024 season?

No, it's not because of an expanded College Football Playoff

By Will Backus Sep 12, 2024 at 2:34 pm ET• 1 min read

A majority of FBS teams receive two bye weeks during the 2024 college football season, an odd scheduling kink highlighted by the fact that seven teams in the latest AP Top 25 have Week 3 off. And no, it isn't because of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, which, counting conference championships, could add as many as five games on top of a team's full regular season slate. 

Teams have two byes this year due to an NCAA bylaw that prohibits FBS programs from playing their first game of the season prior to the Thursday before Labor Day, which fell on Aug. 29 this year. That marked the official start of Week 1, with the first full Saturday of college football falling on Aug. 31. 

Between Aug. 31 and Nov. 30 -- the final Saturday in November -- there are 14 Saturdays to play 12 regular season games. That means a majority of FBS teams will be provided an extra week off. Some teams, like Florida State, will even have three bye weeks. 

Obviously, a handful of college football games were played before Aug. 29. That's because there's a few exceptions to the Labor Day rule. Hawaii and teams that play in Hawaii are offered the chance to play one week earlier than Labor Day. Additionally, FCS schools that play a non-conference opponent in a nationally televised game can also open their season in what's become known as "Week 0."