Each new college football season brings about some changes to how the game is played. Some are minor and unnoticeable, others are more prominent and obvious.

This will once again be the case for the 2024 season. The biggest one, though not exactly a rule, is the expansion of the College Football Playoff, ballooning from four teams to 12 and a longer bowl season to boot. Last year's national championship game between Michigan and Washington was held Jan. 8. This year's final is Jan. 20.

The playoff will be comprised of the five highest-ranked conference champions along with the next seven highest-ranked teams. Four teams will receive first-round byes. First round games will be held at campus sites, the quarterfinals at the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl.

Semifinals matchups will be Jan. 9 in the Orange Bowl and Jan. 10 in the Cotton Bowl. The championship game will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

More: How does Texas Tech football OC Zach Kittley feel about in-helmet communications?

One rule that won't be coming to college football this year is the change to kickoff rules you'll see at the NFL level. This season in the pros, kickers will kick from their own 35-yard line and the ball must land between the 20-yard line and the goal line. All other players will remain stationary at their respective 35s until the ball is touched by the returner or the ball hits the ground.

College football will still have the tradition kickoff rules of the past, but could adopt this change if it's successful in the NFL for the 2024 season.

Here are some of the rule changes fans should know about.

Helmet communications

The biggest rule change is the adoption of on-field helmet communications between coaches and one designated player on each side of the ball. Generally, these will go to the team's quarterback and a middle linebacker or safety who can see the whole field.

Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley said this spring he and Tech quarterbacks have loved the helmet comms, which the team used during the Independence Bowl last December.

The communication line will be cut off with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock. Players who are equipped with the comms can be identified with a green dot on the back of their helmets. The rule was officially adopted in April.

Two-minute warnings

Have you felt like college football games just aren't long enough? You're in luck.

Back in April, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the implementation of two-minute warning the NFL has used for decades. These will occur in the second and fourth quarters.

Horse-collar tackles

Horse-collar tackles that occur within the tackle box (the space between the two offensive tackles, usually in the middle of the field) will now be assessed as a 15-yard penalty.

Unlimited coaches

Sometimes it seems like there are more coaches than players on a football team with a number of teams adding more and more new job titles to bring in more bodies to man all the responsibilities. However, most of these created positions were limited in what they could do, many, such as quality control coaches, were not permitted for on-field instruction for practices and games.

That has now changed.

The Division I council approved a new rule last month permitting teams to have as many on-field coaches as they please. Teams are still limited to 10 coaches plus the head coach who are able to do off-campus recruiting. But for games and practices, it's all hands on deck.

This probably won't be too noticeable to the naked eye, aside from seeing a few more bodies on the sidelines for games. However, this allows every coach who has some sort of impact on the game plan being able to interact directly with players. The previous rule allowed only 10 coaches to have on-field instruction.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: CFP expansion leads 2024's biggest changes to college football