Welcome to the 2024 college football season, where conference realignment and College Football Playoff expansion have taken over the sport.
Outside of the geographical changes for the Power 5 conferences, scheduling will have a new look once Week 0 kicks on Aug. 24. Nearly every FBS team has two bye weeks on the schedule this season, requiring any handicapper to assess how teams perform with extra rest.
There are a handful of variables to consider when handicapping a team off a bye week. Pass-heavy offenses that rely on timing can often fall out of sync without consistent repetitions.
Many head coaches approach bye weeks differently, whether that's setting structured workouts or allowing players to leave campus.
This article will look at against-the-spread records for individual head coaches off a regular-season bye week. Certain head coaches perform extremely well or poorly off a bye. For example, Dino Babers departs Syracuse with a 1-7 record against the spread when the Orange came off a bye week.
The 2024 schedule is filled with blockbuster games after major conference changes. Extra rest will be a key factor during the season, as some of the biggest situational spots feature teams coming off a bye week.
First, here are the current head coaches and their lifetime records:
Bye Week Notables for 2024
Manny Diaz is back as an ACC head coach after a disastrous inaugural run with Miami. The former Penn State defensive coordinator is now the Duke head coach, bringing an 0-5 against-the-spread record when coming off a bye week.
The Blue Devils have a conference schedule full of opponents that will be fresh, as nearly half the teams will have two weeks of rest. Florida State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech will have two weeks of rest before facing Duke. Specifically, Florida State's Mike Norvell has been fantastic with extra rest at FSU with an 8-2 record against the spread.
Florida head coach Billy Napier will face the toughest schedule in the nation, but the SEC did the Gators no favors in the bye week department. Florida will face three conference teams off a bye week in the month of November.
The "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" will continue to see both teams play off a bye week, as Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is 7-4 against the spread with extra regular-season rest with the Bulldogs.
The Gators also get Texas off a bye week in November. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian has accumulated a 9-5 mark with extra rest. With Ole Miss rounding out a brutal month of SEC play for Florida, it's also worth noting that Lane Kiffin also has a winning record against the spread coming off a bye week.
In the Big 12, the Holy War will continue as usual, with both BYU and Utah coming off bye weeks before their rivalry game on Nov. 9.
The extra rest trend favors the Utes, as Kyle Whittingham is 13-7 against the number off a bye week. In contrast, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake is 2-7 with the Cougars with a weekend off during the regular season.
