Nearly 1K college FB games set for ESPN outlets

DESTIN, Fla. — ESPN on Thursday announced it will show approximately 1,000 college football games across all platforms this season starting in Week 0 of the regular season and concluding with the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T on Monday, Jan. 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The Red River Rivalry in Dallas between Texas and Oklahoma — their first as members of the SEC — is Oct. 12 at 3:30 ET on ABC or ESPN. ABC will have a triple-header on Black Friday (Nov. 29) featuring Oklahoma State at Colorado (noon), Mississippi State at Ole Miss (3:30 p.m.) and Georgia Tech at Georgia (7:30 p.m.).

Several teams will be making their home debuts on ESPN in 2024 as members of new conferences. Deion Sanders and Colorado begin their Big 12 campaign hosting nine-time FCS champion North Dakota State at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29.

Oklahoma and Texas have home games as newcomers to the SEC. The Sooners welcome Temple at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30, before the Longhorns host Colorado State at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31.

Joining the ACC this summer, Stanford welcomes 2023 CFP runner-up TCU to the Farm at 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30. Arizona plays New Mexico as a member of the Big 12 at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31.

New Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer will lead the Crimson Tide for the first time against Western Kentucky at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, on ESPN. On ESPN+, Utah, California and SMU all make their home debuts in their new conferences by hosting in-state opponents. Utah takes on Southern Utah on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, while the Bears and Mustangs make their debut on ACCNX/ESPN+ by welcoming UC Davis and Houston Christian, respectively.

The Big Ten announced the Minnesota-Wisconsin game, which has been played on the final Saturday of the regular season or earlier in the fall, will shift to Black Friday, Nov. 29, for a noon ET kickoff on CBS. The Nebraska-Iowa game, which had been played during a midday slot on Black Friday, will now be played that night for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on NBC. Minnesota and Wisconsin, who have played the longest uninterrupted rivalry in the FBS, have played on the final regular-season Saturday every year since 2013.

“Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One” returns to the Duke’s Mayo Classic, this time featuring a Week 2 matchup between Tennessee and NC State at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 7, from Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. At 3:30 p.m., SEC on ABC features its first all-SEC showdown between South Carolina and Kentucky from Kroger Field. Kicking off Week 2 in the noon ABC window is a renewed rivalry between Arkansas and Oklahoma State from Stillwater. The teams met nearly 50 times between 1912 and 1980 but haven’t faced off in more than four decades.

Week 2 on ESPN also features Alabama in prime time for the second straight week as it hosts South Florida at 7 p.m., followed by Mississippi State on the road against Arizona State at 10:30 p.m.

Week 3 ushers in an SEC on ABC tripleheader, the first of the new conference rights agreement. LSU travels to South Carolina for a noon matchup from Williams-Brice Stadium. At 3:30 p.m., Florida hosts Texas A&M in The Swamp. Kentucky hosts Georgia on “Saturday Night Football” at 7:30 p.m.

Week 3 on ESPN starts with Arizona State at Texas State at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12. UNLV and Kansas play on Friday the 13th at 7 p.m., before a four-game schedule on ESPN for Saturday, Sept. 14. Florida State and former Memphis head coach Mike Norvell welcome Memphis at noon on ESPN, followed by either Oklahoma and Tulane or the Backyard Brawl between West Virginia and Pittsburgh at 3:30 p.m.

In prime time, Texas hosts UTSA at 7 p.m., and California hosts San Diego State at 10:30 p.m. On ESPN2 in the late window, Liberty travels to New Mexico State to take on the Quick Lane Bowl champion Aggies at 10:15 p.m.

As announced in December, ESPN’s “College GameDay Built by The Home Depot” will kick off the 2024 college football season in Dublin, Ireland, when ACC rivals Florida State and Georgia Tech play at noon on ESPN in the 2024 Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium on Aug. 24. The show’s trip overseas marks its first outside the United States.

Historic rivalries and entertaining matchups will fill ESPN’s Saturday schedule throughout the season, including Georgia at Alabama (Saturday, Sept. 28, at 7:30 p.m., ABC), Notre Dame vs. Navy (Saturday, Oct. 26, at noon, ABC or ESPN), Florida vs. Georgia (Saturday, Nov. 2, at 3:30 p.m., ABC), and Yale at Harvard (Saturday, Nov. 23, time and platform TBD).

ESPN will also showcase the ACC, American, Big 12, MAC, SEC, Sun Belt and SWAC championship games the first weekend of December as ESPN platforms conclude their signature coverage of conference action. The American gets the ABC action started on Friday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. The SEC championship will be broadcast on ABC for the first time since 2000, scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7. The ACC championship and the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship will both be broadcast Saturday on ABC with times TBD.

ESPN platforms will also feature championships from the MAC (noon, ESPN), Sun Belt (7:30 p.m., ESPN) and the SWAC (time TBD, ESPN2).

There is also a new scheduling format for SEC games across all ESPN platforms, with the opportunity for teams and fans to know approximate start times for the entire season. Television windows (i.e., early noon to 1 p.m. ET start, afternoon 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET start, or night 6 to 8 p.m. ET start) will be announced for all remaining SEC-controlled games on June 11, with select games tagged as flex games between the afternoon and night windows.

Each SEC school will continue to play one nonconference game of its choosing on the ESPN+/SEC Network+ digital platform. The rest of the games will be released on June 11.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.