Just past the halfway mark of the 2024 regular season, there are 28 Power 4 programs with two losses or fewer, meaning around 40% of the Power 4 is still hanging on to hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff.
The expanded, 12-team playoff has made the field of aspiring postseason contestants broader. But as of the fourth week in October, there's also a large swath of the country's FBS programs standing firmly on the outside looking in, trudging through the back half of the regular season with at least one eye already fixed on hopes of something better in 2025.
Those programs will likely hit the portal heavily in December, but answers to their 2024 troubles could also come in the 2025 recruiting classes they'll sign when the early signing period opens on Dec. 4. Here's a look at six struggling programs and the incoming prospects that fill a big need or help lift them toward conference and/or playoff contention this time next year.
