NCAA
NCAA: When does the college football season begin?
Everything you need to know about when the college football season starts, and the full 2023 schedule
The 2023-2024 NCAA college football season starts on Saturday, Aug. 26, better known as “Week 0” even though most teams officially begin their college football season on Saturday, Sept. 2.
“Week 0″ marks the opening of the season for 14 schools, including Idaho State, Jacksonville State, and Vanderbilt. Ten Division I games are scheduled this weekend, featuring some high-profile teams joining the first-weekend lineup this year: Notre Dame will face Navy in Dublin, and USC will host San Jose State.
Across the nation, college football fans will get together to kick off the start of the season celebration. Below are all of the games that start the season on Aug. 26, as well as the ones that start later:
“Week 0″ Games
- FIU vs. Louisiana Tech
- Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt
- Ohio vs. San Diego State
- Navy vs. Notre Dame
- San Jose State vs. USC
- UMass vs. New Mexico State
- UTEP vs. Jacksonville State
For most other teams, their first game will take place the following week, commonly known as “Week 1.” On Thursday, Aug. 31, the Florida Gators will go head-to-head against the Utah Utes. In last year’s Week 1 matchup, Florida secured a victory over Utah with a score of 29-26.
“Week 1″ Games
- Florida vs. Utah
- Elon vs. Wake Forest
- Nebraska vs. Minnesota
- Missouri State vs. Kansas
- Kent State vs. UCF
- NC State vs. UConn
Friday, Sept. 1
- Stanford vs. Hawaii
- Louisville vs. Georgia Tech
- Central Michigan vs. Michigan State
- Miami (OH) vs. Miami (FL)
Sat. Sept. 2
- Tennessee State vs. Notre Dame
- SE Louisiana vs. Mississippi State
- South Dakota vs. Missouri
- Sam Houston vs. BYU
- Texas Tech vs. Wyoming
- Rice vs. Texas
- Portland State vs. Oregon
- Old Dominion vs. Virginia Tech
- Ohio State vs. Indiana
- Texas State vs. Baylor
- Northwestern vs. Rutgers
- Virginia vs. Tennessee
- Wofford vs. Pittsburgh
- Western Carolina vs. Arkansas
- West Virginia vs. Penn State
- Washington State vs. Colorado State
- UTSA vs. Houston
- Toledo vs. Illinois
- Utah State vs. Iowa
- UT Martin vs. Georgia
- UMass vs. Auburn
- Towson vs. Maryland
- Northern Iowa vs. Iowa State
- Alabama A&M vs. Vanderbilt
- Colgate vs. Syracuse
- Coastal Carolina vs. UCLA
- Central Arkansas vs. Oklahoma State
- Cal vs. North Texas
- Buffalo vs. Wisconsin
- East Carolina vs. Michigan
- Boise State vs. Washington
- Ball State vs. Kentucky
- Arkansas State vs. Oklahoma
- Colorado vs. TCU
- Eastern Kentucky vs. Cincinnati
- NIU vs. Boston College
- Mid Tenn vs. Alabama
- Northern Arizona vs. Arizona
- North Carolina vs. South Carolina
- New Mexico vs. Texas A&M
- Nevada vs. USC
- Mercer vs. Ole Miss
- Fresno State vs. Purdue
Sun. Sept. 3
- LSU vs. Florida State
- Oregon State vs. San Jose State
Mon. Sept. 4
Clemson vs. Duke