First, the Big Ten started a new television contract last year, and the SEC did so this year. Meanwhile, the Pac-12 never got one. And of course, dozens of schools have changed leagues in the past two years.

All of this adds up to some major changes in the way we watch college football this season. Here’s a guide to the biggest changes (all times Eastern).

The SEC goes to ABC

After 28 years with a Game of the Week on CBS, ABC/ESPN now owns the entire SEC lineup. You’ll notice the change starting in Week 1, when ABC airs a Saturday doubleheader of Miami at Florida (3:30 p.m.) and Notre Dame at Texas A&M (7:30 p.m.).

Like CBS, ABC will air an SEC game each week at 3:30 p.m., but it won’t necessarily be the league’s biggest game. ABC has the option to move some of those games into its Saturday prime-time package featuring Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, along with several ACC and Big 12 games.

And no, ABC did not get the rights to the CBS college football theme. But you can still hear it on Saturdays, because…

CBS has a full Big Ten schedule at 3:30 p.m.

The Big Ten’s new three-network arrangement will be fully implemented this season now that CBS no longer carries the SEC. Most Saturdays, you’ll see a Big Ten home game at noon on Fox, 3:30 p.m. on CBS and 7:30 p.m. on NBC. But not always. In Week 1, for example, Fox will air Penn State vs. West Virginia, a Big 12 home game, at noon. And NBC will air the Florida State-Notre Dame game on Nov. 9 in primetime.

Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson cover CBS Big Ten games.

Fox has more No. 1 picks in the Big Ten than the other two, but not every week. It used its first two No. 1 picks to pick up the Nov. 30 Michigan at Ohio State matchups and the Sept. 7 Texas at Michigan matchups. However, it traded the third No. 1 pick. NBC is believed to have been the recipient and is expected to air the Oct. 12 Ohio State at Oregon game in prime time.

Saturday Mornings with Nick Saban

The now-retired seven-time national champion coach made his ESPN “College GameDay” analyst debut in Ireland on Saturday. He’ll be in your cities all season, along with familiar faces like Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Desmond Howard and Lee Corso. They’ll spend Week 1 in College Station prior to the Notre Dame-Texas A&M game.

Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” team remains intact, featuring Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn and Mark Ingram.

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TNT enters the CFP

ESPN remains the primary rightsholder for the new 12-team College Football Playoff, but has sublicensed two of the Dec. 21 first-round games to TNT. ESPN will retain the top two picks for its Friday and Saturday primetime broadcasts, while TNT gets the two Saturday afternoon slots — which coincidentally face Texans-Chiefs on NBC and Steelers-Ravens on Fox.

Although the games are broadcast on a different network, they are still produced by ESPN.

Fox will air a weekly game on Friday nights

Fox, which no longer airs WWE’s “Smackdown,” is turning its Friday night slot into a college football showcase, starting Sept. 13 with Arizona vs. Kansas State. The lineup includes nine Big Ten games — including Rutgers vs. USC at 11 p.m. on Oct. 25, two Big 12 games and the Mountain West championship on Nov. 29.

ESPN/ESPN2, FS1 and the Big 12 Network also have their own games on Friday nights.

The CW has more college football

After entering the sport last year with a slate of ACC games, The CW has picked up the rights to most Oregon State and Washington State home games and seven Mountain West games. Two “Pac-2” home games, Texas Tech-Wazzu on Sept. 7 and Oregon-Oregon State on Sept. 14, will air on Fox.

In his first TV job since being caught using a homophobic slur during a Cincinnati Reds game in 2020, Thom Brennaman will be the primary play-by-play voice for ACC games. Ted Robinson and JB Long, formerly of the Pac-12 Network, will cover West Coast games.

New kickoff times on SEC Network

As part of the new contract with the league, ESPN hopes to spread out SEC games in a way that wasn’t possible before. Instead of the usual 12:00-3:30-7:30 p.m. schedule, SEC Network will air games at 12:45, 4:15 and 7:45 p.m.

SEC fans will notice a helpful twist in this new era. Instead of waiting six or 12 days in advance, ESPN recently announced which games on each team’s schedule will air in the early windows (either noon or 12:45 p.m.). The exact networks will be announced closer to kickoff.

Pac-12 After Dark Lives On

The conference may be dead, but ESPN will still be relying on the league’s former schools, as well as BYU, to fill those 10:30 p.m. time slots. The first three weeks of the late-night windows are New Mexico vs. Big 12 opponent Arizona on Aug. 31, Mississippi State vs. fellow Big 12 school Arizona State on Sept. 7 and, believe it or not, an ACC nonconference game, with San Diego State visiting Cal.

Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA may be spared because they are no longer part of an ESPN-affiliated conference.

A Change in Notre Dame Broadcasts

After the duo of Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett were widely panned, NBC pulled Collinsworth from the booth and brought back Dan Hicks, who starred on the play-by-play program from 2011 to 2016. Garrett will remain the lead, with Zora Stephenson returning as a sideline reporter.

As in previous seasons, NBC will air one Irish home game exclusively on its streaming service, Peacock. This year, it’s Louisville on Sept. 28. You’ll also need Peacock to watch several Big Ten games, including Washington vs. Washington State on Sept. 14.

New Voices in ESPN and Fox’s Game Booths

There are no drastic changes to the announcing teams at either network. But at ESPN, Roddy Jones replaces the recently fired Robert Griffin III alongside play-by-play voice Mark Jones, with Louis Riddick joining Bob Wischusen. The Jones/Jones team will call Thursday night’s North Dakota State-Colorado opener, while the Wischusen/Riddick team has Florida State-Boston College Monday night.

Meanwhile, former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner is the new color analyst alongside Tim Brando on Fox’s No. 3 team. They have Western Michigan–Wisconsin on Friday.

Enjoy the season!

(Photo of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Florida: James Gilbert/Getty Images)