A reminder of the new rule changes for the 2024 college football season

On Saturday, a nation full of college football fans got their first taste of the sport. A top-10 upset, an FCS squad taking down a FBS team, and a 4th quarter comeback from a College Football Playoff hopeful were all part of the condensed week 0 schedule, and fans from teams all across the nation can't wait for next weekend already.

Some fans may have noticed, though, that there were a few rules that were different from what they are used to seeing. This offseason, the NCAA put into place a few rule changes that will change the way college football is played in the 2024 season.

Some of the most prominent rule changes are listed below:

Two-Minute Warnings and Consecutive Timeouts

Though not officially called "two-minute warnings," college football games will face a mandatory timeout with two minutes to play in each half, just like the NFL.
Consecutive timeouts, barring injury situations, are outlawed.

In-Helmet Communication

Teams now will have the ability to put coach-to-player communication in one player's helmet on offense and one player's helmet on defense. Players with this type of capability will have a green dot on their lids, and having more than one green dot on the field at a time will be a penalty.
Sideline tablet use, with limitations, will be allowed for the first time.

More Official Coaches

For years, graduate assistants and analysts have had blurry lines and unenforced standards behind what they were allowed or not allowed to do as they help coach college football teams. That will no longer be the case as there is no limit now to how many coaches can be named official assistant coaches. There will still be limits on how many coaches can go out on the road recruiting, however.

College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff has expanded from a 4-team invitational to a 12-team tournament. The top-4 seeds will be the four highest-ranked conference champions (likely from the SEC, BIG Ten, Big 12, and ACC) and will receive byes to the 2nd round. The rest of the field will be made up of at-large selections with the caveat that at least one Group of 5 conference champion (the highest-ranked of the bunch) will make the field.