The 150th year of college football comes with the plenty of changes — and not just on the field.

Alabama no longer stands alone as the standard-bearer preseason favorite after Clemson annihilated it 44-16 in last year’s national title game. Urban Meyer left the Ohio State sidelines to join Fox Sports’ pregame show that will lead into its newly emphasized noon slot for games. Former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and outspoken Colts punter Pat McAfee were among ESPN’s notable hires this offseason. ESPN also launched the ACC Network last week.

Clemson and Alabama, who have played each other in three of the past four title games, are bringing back the top two quarterback prospects in the sport. Trevor Lawrence dissected the Crimson Tide in last year’s title matchup, while Tua Tagovailoa’s college career hit its first speed bump.

“The biggest thing that changes is that everybody expects Clemson to be on that same par as Alabama,” ESPN analyst Todd Blackledge said. “There is no separation between those two. They are right there. That’s evident. That was the worst loss Nick Saban ever suffered at Alabama. There’s going to be an attitude adjustment with that team. … Clemson has all the skill players, but they lost a lot on defense.”

Tagovailoa’s emergence pushed Jalen Hurts to the backup position, and in the offseason he transferred to Oklahoma, where he will be Lincoln Riley’s latest quarterback. Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray won the past two Heisman Trophies while leading the Sooners to the College Football Playoffs.

“It will be fascinating to watch how Lincoln Riley uses Jalen Hurts and his skill sets,” Blackledge said. “He’s a different guy than Kyler Murray or Baker Mayfield. He’s not as pure a passer like those two guys, but he’s an incredible runner, particularly his ability to break tackles and improvise and make plays with his legs.

“Kyler Murray would make plays with his legs, but he was just faster than everybody else and when he would get near contact he would run out of bounds or slide. Jalen Hurts is a little bit of a different animal.”

Blackledge said he is confident Ohio State’s transition from Meyer to Ryan Day will be seamless, given the talent left behind.

On the broadcast front, Meyer was the prize addition to Fox’s pregame show that also will feature Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush and Rob Stone. Quinn, who switched from the booth to the studio, said he thinks their show can compete with ESPN’s “College GameDay,” which has Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and Rece Davis.

“They’ve done a tremendous job in terms of what they’ve been able to build has been incredible,” Quinn, the former Notre Dame quarterback said of ‘GameDay.’ “A lot of people are going to habitually tune into that show because for years they’ve built a lot of equity with fans.

“But we have a coach [Meyer] who literally just stepped down from one of the top programs in college football and won three championships and just has so much knowledge to share. That’s something that audiences aren’t getting right now. When you have players who are more relevant and more recent to today’s game and can explain in more detail what these players are going through and how the game has changed, that’s different. It’s pretty straight forward.”