College football rivalries will air in unique viewing slots this fall as kickoff times and networks for the season’s first three weeks and special dates were unveiled Wednesday afternoon.
The Apple Cup, featuring Washington State at Washington, moved to Sunday, Sept. 6, and will kick off at 4 p.m. ET on NBC. The game serves as the curtain raiser to Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field (7:30 p.m. ET). NBC also announced two other rivalry primetime matchups: Iowa State at Iowa in Week 2, while Minnesota travels to Wisconsin on Black Friday.
In Week 1, ESPN will show UCLA at California (10:30 p.m.) in a reunion of two former Pac-12 rivals. Yale at Harvard moves to Boston’s Fenway Park on Nov. 21, with ESPNU televising at 3:30 p.m. ET. On Halloween in Foxboro, Mass., Navy and Notre Dame meet for the 99th time. The game kicks off at noon ET on either ABC or ESPN.
ABC/ESPN and Fox released a few of the biggest games on their schedules earlier this month, including Oklahoma at Michigan (Noon ET, Fox) and Ohio State at Texas (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) in Week 2, LSU at Ole Miss (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) in Week 3 and Michigan at Ohio State (Noon ET, Fox) on Thanksgiving Saturday. ABC also unveiled its Black Friday lineup earlier this month.
Here are a few scheduling highlights:
Week 0 (Aug. 29)
ESPN will broadcast two international games, including TCU-North Carolina in an international game in Dublin (noon) and NC State-Virginia in Rio de Janeiro (3:30 p.m. ET).
NBC selected the Big Ten opener with San Jose State traveling to USC (3 p.m. ET). This was a late addition for the Trojans after negotiations with Notre Dame broke down. In a pivotal game featuring two of the top Group of 6 programs, Memphis travels to UNLV for a 10 p.m. ET kickoff on Fox.
Week 1 (Sept. 3-7)
Defending national champion Indiana picked up the first Big Noon Kickoff on Fox with its home game against North Texas. Fox also airs a battle between former Big East foes when Boston College travels to Cincinnati (3:30 p.m.). FS1 shows Matt Campbell’s debut as Penn State’s coach against Marshall at 3:30 p.m. Ohio State opens on BTN against Ball State (12:30 p.m. ET) as one of its two mandated games on the network the league partially owns.
ESPN already announced most of its schedule earlier this month, highlighted with ABC games East Carolina at Alabama (noon ET), Baylor vs. Auburn in Atlanta (3:30 p.m. ET) and Clemson at LSU (7:30 p.m. ET) on Saturday, Sept. 5, Louisville-Ole Miss in Nashville (7:30 p.m. ET) on Sunday, Sept. 6 and SMU at Florida State (7:30 p.m. ET) on Labor Day.
NBC airs the Kyle Whittingham debut in Ann Arbor with Western Michigan visiting Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET). CBS picks up Boise State at Oregon (3:30 p.m. ET).
In its inaugural season with the Pac-12, USA features one of the nation’s oldest rivalries with Wyoming traveling to Colorado State (6 p.m. ET).
Week 2 (Sept. 10-12)
With Fox showing Oklahoma at Michigan at noon ET, ABC chose Arizona State at Texas A&M in the same time slot with Oregon at Oklahoma State on ESPN. ABC will air Alabama at Kentucky (3:30 p.m. ET), followed by Ohio State at Texas (7:30 p.m. ET). ESPN scheduled Tennessee at Georgia Tech (7 p.m. ET) in primetime and wraps up the night with Arkansas at Utah (10:15 p.m. ET).
Fox showcases one of the Big 12’s most pivotal matchups when Arizona plays at BYU (3:30 p.m. ET). Both teams will likely be ranked. FS1 broadcasts a pair of power-conference crossovers with Wake Forest at Purdue (noon) and Duke at Illinois (3:30 p.m. ET). CBS chose an SEC-Big Ten matchup with Mississippi State traveling to Minnesota (3:30 p.m. ET).
Week 3 (Sept. 17-19)
League play picks up in the ACC and SEC, starting with Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford, Miss., when LSU visits Ole Miss (7:30 p.m. ABC). Georgia at Arkansas (noon) kicks off Saturday on ABC, while Florida at Auburn lands in primetime on ESPN. In a return game from last year’s season-opening upset by Florida State, the Seminoles play at Alabama at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
The ACC action kicks off early in primetime with Syracuse at Pittsburgh (Thursday) and Miami at Wake Forest (Friday). Bill Belichick and North Carolina travel to Clemson (noon). Virginia faces West Virginia in Charlotte (7:30 p.m. ET) on the ACC Network, and SMU at Louisville (3:30 p.m. ET) airs on either ESPN or ESPN2.
Kent State at Ohio State opens the day on Fox, while USC travels to Rutgers (3:30 p.m.) on CBS. Fox and FS1 will air Virginia Tech at Maryland and Colorado at Northwestern at 7:30 p.m. ET, but neither network has been designated. Purdue travels to UCLA for an after-dark kickoff (11 p.m.) on BTN.
Arizona State-Kansas kicks off at noon ET from Wembley Stadium in London with FS1 televising the Big 12 matchup.
NBC previously announced it will broadcast Michigan State at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m.), which allows for an adjustment of its Big Ten schedule. Instead of airing a Big Ten game earlier in the day, NBC opted to stream three games on Peacock in unusual time slots: Eastern Michigan at Wisconsin (12:30 p.m. ET), Southern Illinois at Illinois (2 p.m.) and Western Kentucky at Indiana (4 p.m.).
Thanksgiving weekend
The Big Ten’s Friday doubleheader opens at noon with Nebraska visiting Iowa on CBS. It’s the 16th consecutive season the border foes meet on Black Friday. For the second time in three years, Minnesota plays at Wisconsin on Black Friday.
As previously announced, ABC has a Black Friday tripleheader kicking off with Mississippi State at Ole Miss (Noon), then Florida at Florida State (3:30 p.m.), followed by Texas at Texas A&M (7:30 p.m.). ESPN also carries TCU at Texas Tech on Thanksgiving (8 p.m.).
West Virginia travels to Utah on Black Friday with a 9 p.m. ET kickoff on Fox.