Guide to new College Football Playoff, realignment & more

We are fast approaching the start of a college football season unlike any other, ever.

The combination of conference realignment and playoff expansion has set the stage for three months of drama that will far exceed anything the 155-year-old sports has known.

Keeping up with all the changes isn’t easy.

Here’s a handy guide to understanding the season:

1. Conference math

The Power Five is now the Power Four after the collapse of the Pac-12 and the dispersal of 10 schools to other leagues.

The Big Ten now has 18 teams with the arrival of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

The ACC has 17 teams thanks to the additions of Cal, Stanford and SMU.

The Big 12 lost two schools (Texas and Oklahoma) but gained four with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah — for a total of 16.

The SEC also has 16 with the Longhorns and Sooners finally aboard.

And the Pac-12 — yes, it still exists — has two members: Washington State and Oregon State are competing as a two-team league with the same access to bowl games as the 10 departed schools. (More on that below.)

2. New faces, new places

The GOAT is gone. For the first time since 2006, someone other than Nick Saban is coaching Alabama. The man under the microscope is Kalen DeBoer, who led Washington to the championship game seven months ago.

Washington’s new coach is Jedd Fisch, formerly of Arizona.

Arizona’s new coach is Brent Brennan, formerly of San Jose State.

And San Jose State’s new coach is Ken Niumatalolo, formerly of Navy.

Other notable new faces at the head coaching level include Michigan’s Sherrone Moore, UCLA’s DeShaun Foster, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko, Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith and Oregon State’s Trent Bray.

3. In the spotlight

Thanks to the transfer portal, hundreds of players have changed schools — we won’t plunge into those weeds.

But know that Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, formerly of Oklahoma, is the current betting favorite for the Heisman Trophy.

The other top-tier contenders, according to BetMGM, are quarterbacks, as well: Carson Beck (Georgia), Quinn Ewers (Texas), Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Jaxson Dart (Mississippi) and Will Howard (Ohio State).

4. CFP expansion, explained

Get comfortable, because this will take a few paragraphs.

Thankfully, the four-team College Football Playoff has given way to a 12-team tournament. In our view, it’s the most significant competitive change in the history of the sport — more significant than the shift from the Bowl Championship Series to the four-team CFP a decade ago. Expansion is guaranteed to make more teams, and games, meaningful in the second half of the season.

The CFP participants will be determined by the selection committee’s rankings in early December, as has been the case for the past 10 years. But everything else is new.

The five highest-ranked conference champions earn automatic bids, with the seven highest-ranked non-champions receiving at-large berths.

Because of its Independent status, Notre Dame will be considered an at-large team if the Irish are ranked high enough to qualify.

Washington State and Oregon State are positioned similarly in the two-team Pac-12: They don’t have CFP access as automatic qualifiers and must use the at-large route.

Key point: There is no limit to the number of at-large teams from a single conference, so expect the Big Ten and SEC to gobble the majority of bids.

Also, the collection of automatic qualifiers will include the highest-ranked champion from the Group of Five leagues (Mountain West, American, Conference USA, Sun Belt and Mid-American).

5. CFP expansion, explained (part II)

The four highest-ranked conference champions will be the top four seeds and receive opening-round byes. Teams seeded No. 5 through No. 12 will play in the opening round (Dec. 20-21) on the home field of the higher seed.

Don’t expect the rankings and seeds to match perfectly. The Big Ten runner-up, for example, could be ranked higher by the committee than the ACC champion. But the seeding structure will remain in place, with the lower-ranked ACC winner receiving a top-four seed and the higher-ranked Big Ten runner-up being cast into the at-large pool as a No. 5 through 12 seed (and forced to play an opening-round game).

The quarterfinal matchups will be hosted by the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve and the Rose, Sugar and Peach Bowls on Jan. 1.

The semifinals will take place at the Orange and Cotton Bowls on Jan. 9-10. (That’s a Thursday and Friday, by the way.)

The national championship game is Jan. 20, in Atlanta.

6. Pac-12 bowls: Alive and well

There are 41 bowl games, including the six scheduled to host playoff games.