Found this on MAL

http://myanimelist.net/anime/20785/Mahouka_Koukou_no_Retto usei
Not yet aired and still no episodes though..
I think it will be aired on April??

________________
Tournament Round 1
Round 2

first ep is out, and guessing by the first 10 secs the first season will get pretty far into the story. it shows a bit of a scene that normally shouldnt have occurred until a flashbac near the end of the nine highschool competition(i think, a bit foggy on memory). anyway thus far the anime adaption definitely isnt bad, they did a good job on animation, voices, and in the fight choreography, and on top of all of that it is likely to get to the really juicy epic parts before the end of this season.

all in all unless madhouse intentionally f's this up the anime is set to be legendary.

________________
Few favs
Comedy:
Kyou kara ore wa!!, Mx0, Angel Densetsu, Skip Beat, Ai Kora, The Devil King is Bored

Romance:
Hana to Akuma, No bra, Shinigami Trilogy, kindan no koi de ikou, Usagi Drop, Threads of Time, Girl Friends

Most under rated:
Kindan no koi de ikou, kyou kara ore wa!.
m0r l83r... maybe >_>

First, let me start by saying: OMG OMG OMG!!

And I agree, the start is different. The pace of the anime seems to be very quick too so they cut out a lot of explanation, but in a good way. I feel while the light novel and even the manga had a lot of explanation, this explanation was often quite heavy and cumbersome. Judging by the ending, the series will probably cover up to the end of the nine school competition too. The flashback itself at the beginning though is after the nine-school competition and the filler volume, it is a part of the reminiscing arc.

I'll also take bets that this anime is going to be quite popular, I think along the same lines as SAO, OreImo and other such light-novel based animes.

Edit: I'd also like to add, I am extremely satisfied with the animation, combat pace, magic casting, appearances, and voices of all the characters so far. I was disappointed with the animation of nisekoi and Mahou Sensei Negima, so I'm glad they've executed this very well so far.

First episode released today.