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Heather Dinich, ESPN Elder Author
With less than 100 days up until the start of the college football season, the bulk of the September schedule has actually been settled, as ESPN on Wednesday revealed the dates and times for the very first 3 weeks of the season in addition to the network’s bowl season schedule.
Week 1 starts Thursday, Aug. 31, with Florida at Utah (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) as the headliner and starts 5 straight days of video games. The opening week goes through Labor Day and consists of LSU dealing with Florida State in the Outdoor Camping World Kickoff in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, Sept. 3 (7:30 p.m., ABC), and Clemson at Duke on Monday, Sept. 4 (8 p.m., ESPN).
Saturday, Sept. 2, will include a psychological return for the Virginia football group, which will be playing its very first video game given that the deaths of 3 colleagues Nov. 13, 2022, in a school shooting. Virginia, which canceled its last 2 video games of the 2022 season as it grieved D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr., will deal with Tennessee at Nissan Arena in Nashville (midday, ABC).
As formerly revealed, Texas at Alabama (7 p.m., ESPN) on Sept. 9 will highlight Week 2. It will be their last video game as nonconference challengers prior to the Longhorns and fellow Huge 12 co-founder Oklahoma sign up with the SEC in 2024. In 2015, Alabama left Texas with a 20-19 win after a 33-yard basket with 10 seconds staying.
Week 2 likewise consists of Notre Dame at NC State (Twelve Noon, ABC) followed by Texas A&M at Miami (3:30 p.m., ABC). In Week 3, the Yard Brawl in between border competitors Pitt and West Virginia in Morgantown will be included on Sept. 16 on ABC (7:30 p.m.).
ESPN wasn’t the only network today exposing dates and times for marquee video games, as CBS Sports on Tuesday revealed its “SEC on CBS” broadcast windows. CBS will once again transmit the yearly Florida- Georgia video game in Jacksonville, Florida, on Oct. 28. The last season of the SEC on CBS will debut Sept. 16 with South Carolina at safeguarding nationwide champ Georgia. The SEC television bundle will relocate to ESPN in 2024.
The four-team CFP returns for many years 10, with the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Championship game set for 5 p.m. on Jan. 1 (ESPN), followed by the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m. (ESPN). The College Football Playoff Championship game provided by AT&T is likewise set for ESPN on Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
The Brand-new Year’s 6 bowls begin Dec. 29 with the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at 8 p.m. on ESPN. On Dec. 30, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is at midday followed by the Capital One Orange Bowl at 4 p.m., both on ESPN. New Year’s Day video games on ESPN start with the Vrbo Feast Bowl at 1 p.m.
ESPN will provide the ACC, American, Big 12, MAC, Pac-12, Sun Belt and SWAC national championship the very first weekend of December. The Pac-12 national championship will have the ABC spotlight on Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. The Huge 12 national championship starts Champion Saturday action from Arlington, Texas, at midday, with the ACC national championship liquidating the day at 8 p.m. from Charlotte, North Carolina.
ESPN platforms will likewise display Saturday’s champion play from the MAC (midday, ESPN), American (4 p.m., ABC or ESPN), Sun Belt (4 p.m., ABC or ESPN) and SWAC (4 p.m., ESPN2).