First the Big Ten signed a new television contract last year, the SEC followed suit this year. The Pac-12, however, never got one. And of course, dozens of schools have changed leagues in the last two years alone.

All of this is leading to significant changes in the way we’ll watch college football this season, so here’s a guide to the biggest changes (all times are Eastern Time).

The SEC switches to ABC

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

Like CBS, ABC will air an SEC game every weeknight at 3:30 p.m., but it won’t necessarily be the biggest game in the league. ABC has the option to move some of those games to its Saturday prime-night schedule with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, along with various ACC and Big 12 contests.

And no, ABC didn’t get the rights to CBS’ college football theme song. But you’ll still hear it on Saturdays because…

CBS has a complete Big Ten program at 3:30 p.m.

The Big Ten’s new three-network agreement will be fully implemented this season, as CBS no longer has 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 broadcast Penn State vs. West Virginia, a Big 12 home game, at noon. And NBC will show the Florida State-Notre Dame game on Nov. 9 in prime time.

Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson will commentate on CBS Big Ten games.

Fox has more No. 1 picks in the Big Ten than the other two, but not every week. Fox used the first two No. 1 picks to secure Michigan vs. Ohio State on Nov. 30 and Texas vs. Michigan on Sept. 7. However, Fox traded away the third No. 1 pick. It is believed that NBC was the recipient and will air Ohio State vs. Oregon on Oct. 12 in prime time.

Saturday morning with Nick Saban

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

Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff team remains unchanged with Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn and Mark Ingram.

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TNT joins CFP

ESPN remains the primary rights holder for the new 12-team College Football Playoff, but has sublicensed two of the first-round games to TNT on Dec. 21. ESPN will keep the first two picks for its Friday and Saturday primetime broadcasts, while TNT will get the two Saturday afternoon slots — which coincidentally run concurrently with the 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 broadcasts a game weekly on Friday night

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

ESPN/ESPN2, FS1 and the Big 12 Network also have their share of Friday night games.

The CW has more college football

After The CW entered the sport last year with a package of ACC games, the team secured the rights to most of Oregon State and Washington State’s home games, as well as 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 television job since being caught using a homophobic slur during a 2020 Cincinnati Reds game, Thom Brennaman will be the lead commentator for ACC games. Ted Robinson and JB Long, formerly of Pac-12 Network, will commentate on the West Coast games.

New kick-off times in the SEC Network

As part of its new deal with the league, ESPN hopes to spread out SEC games in a way that hasn’t been possible before. Instead of the usual noon-3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. time slots, SEC Network will broadcast games at 12:45 p.m., 4:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

SEC fans will notice a helpful twist in this new era. Rather than waiting until six or twelve days in advance, ESPN recently announced which games on each team’s schedule will air in the early time slots (either 12:00 or 12:45 p.m.). Exact channels will be announced closer to kickoff.

Pac-12 After Dark lives on

The conference may be dead, but ESPN will still rely on the league’s former schools, as well as BYU, to fill those 10:30 p.m. slots. The first three weeks’ late-night windows include New Mexico at Big 12 foe Arizona on Aug. 31, Mississippi State at 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 the Notre Dame broadcasts

After the tandem of Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett was widely panned, NBC took Collinsworth out of the booth and brought back Dan Hicks, who held the main live commentator position from 2011 to 2016. Garrett remains the color comedian and Zora Stephenson returns as sideline reporter.

As in past seasons, NBC will broadcast one Irish home game exclusively on its streaming service Peacock. This year, that’s the game against 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 the ESPN and Fox booths

There are no drastic changes to the two networks’ commentary teams. But at ESPN, Roddy Jones replaces the recently fired Robert Griffin III alongside live commentator Mark Jones, and Louis Riddick joins Bob Wischusen. The Jones/Jones team will commentate on the opening game between North Dakota State and Colorado on Thursday night, while the Wischusen/Riddick team will commentate on the game between Florida State and Boston College on Monday night.

Meanwhile, former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner is the new co-commentator alongside Tim Brando for Fox’s No. 3 team. They play Western Michigan-Wisconsin on Friday.

Enjoy the season!

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